Originally Posted by
Lead Balloon
The interstate trade and commerce power, the corporations power and the incidental power cover a lot of aviation safety regulatory ground, too, but not completely.
There are a number of sub-sections of s51 that add on the end "... and similar matters...."
You'd think with hot air balloons already existing and the likelihood that the aeroplane would be a reality within 3 years of the Constitution being enacted that "... and similar matters...." added on the end of shipping and navigation would have covered it but no.
Needless to say, the external affairs power (not the foreign affairs power as I erroneously identified it) has come in very handy for establishing a right to legislate in matters that the Constitution is silent on.
While s128 is onerous, I tend toward supporting it on the basis that if it were much easier to amend the constitution, goodness knows what governments of both stripes would have done to it over the years.
I do however think that a dual system, such as having a second amendment method based on that in the US Constitution (extremely erroneous in their political landscape) where the Parliament must pass something by a special majority (2/3rds), then it must be ratified by the legislatures of 2/3rds of the States might still retain the check on unbridled changes, while allowing a bit more evolutionary change to occur.