Awareness and understanding of our Constitution, referendums and constitutional matters is disturbingly low amongst Australian citizens – both school students and the public alike.
Labor welcomes recommendations in this report that are aimed to increase public literacy about Australia’s Constitution, our constitutional framework and Australia’s democratic system.
But this increase in awareness should be met with increased public engagement.
Labor Members note that the evidence the Committee received strongly supports the contention that holding regular Constitutional Conventions or other deliberative processes with citizen involvement, contributes to a better understanding of Australia’s constitutional framework.
This evidence is mapped out clearly in Chapter 3 of this report.
Labor Members are disappointed with the lack of recommendations to reflect this weight of evidence for increased public engagement.
Labor Members wish to put on record our preference for an additional recommendation that would see the Australian Government establish a process for regular Constitutional Conventions.
We note that in designing the Constitutional Convention process, the Government should have consideration of the Irish constitutional reform process and Australia’s First Nations Regional Dialogues and National Constitutional Convention (known as the ‘Uluru dialogues’).
Sadly, this additional recommendation for regular engagement with the Australian people on constitutional matters was rejected by Government Members of the Committee.
Regardless, Labor Members concur with the weight of evidence received by the Committee in support of regular Constitutional conventions.
Australia’s Constitution was brought into being via a series of Constitutional Conventions, but the history of constitutional review in Australia is ad hoc and has met with very limited success to date. It is not unreasonable to suggest that Australia is seriously out-of-practice when it comes to Constitutional review.
As detailed in Chapters 2 and 3 of this report, ‘inquiry participants were in broad agreement about the potential value of Constitutional Conventions not just as a mechanism for constitutional reform, but also to inspire community engagement and strengthen public awareness about the Constitution’ (see paragraph 3.37, p. 35).
It is the view of Labor Members that we need to inspire Australians to engage with our Constitution – to understand its significance as the founding document, to seek reforms to ensure its relevance to contemporary Australia, and to debate how it might better shape our nation going forward. Moreover, this engagement should be on a regular basis – to help strengthen public knowledge and participation in all matters relating to our Constitution.
The Constitution is indeed our national birth certificate, but it is not a static historic document, set in stone. As John Quick and Robert Garran observed in their authoritative text on the Australian Constitution – a constitution which does not contain ‘provision for its amendment with the development, growth, and expansion of the community which it is intended to govern, would be a most inadequate and imperfect deed of partnership’.
The Australian Constitution is necessarily a living document, that can be adapted to meet the needs of Australians now and in the future. That’s what the original framers intended and that’s the evolving nature of nationhood.
Ms Sharon Claydon MPMs Peta Murphy MP
Deputy ChairMember
Dr Mike Freelander MP
Member