 Hill , on the other hand , argued that : " The United Kingdom was not a foreign power at Federation , is not a foreign power now and never will be a foreign power while the Constitution remains in its present form . " Hill said that because the Constitution was enacted as part of a statute of the British Imperial Parliament it derived its validity from British law . Further , she argued that because section 128 of the Australian Constitution provides that the Constitution cannot be changed except in accordance with that section , then only a constitutional referendum could change this special status of the United Kingdom , and the Australia Act had no effect , " so long as the United Kingdom retained any residual influence upon legislative , executive or judicial processes in Australia , it could not be regarded as ' foreign ' to Australia . " 
