The Foundation for National Renewal   The Constitutional Convention of February 1998

Federal Election October 2004: Which Candidates Trust the People?

TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS
Friday, 13 February 1998
Page 14

CHAIRMAN- Prior to moving on, I would like to ensure that all ballot papers have been properly put in their envelopes and sealed. All counts and the names of those who voted will be recorded and distributed in the Hansard of today's proceedings.

In the federal House we have a proceeding normally called a special adjournment at the end of a sitting and it seemed appropriate that we might have a similar procedure at this Convention. On behalf of all delegates, I should say to you that the Deputy Chairman and I have prepared a memorandum which we are about to present to the Prime Minister. Because of the vote having just been taken, we are trying to get it updated. It will then be distributed and, while we are having these special adjournment proceedings, all delegates will have some chance to have a look at that aide-memoire. Essentially, it reports no more than the votes taken and the proceedings of the Convention and makes the recommendations which you have just passed to the government and to the parliament.

On wider issues, there are a few matters that I would like to cover. I might then call on the Deputy Chair to speak and I have notice of a motion from Kirsten Andrews, to be seconded by Mr Graham Edwards, on the general question of those who have attended.

On behalf of us all, I would like to start by saying to the Australian public: you have been wonderful. For most of us it has really been quite an extraordinary experience. Those of us who have been in parliament for a while expect more brickbats than bouquets. I think all of us have found it incredible that so many in the wider community have been interested in our proceedings. There have been something like 80,000 visits to the Internet home page, something over 17,500 visitors to the public galleries in the course of the few days of the Convention- that was to last night- there have been more than 1,000 written submissions from the Australian public, more than 300 people have been through the public gallery per hour and there has been, in many other ways, involvement of the wider community. I think it appropriate that, therefore, we all thank you first.

Secondly, I commend each of you as delegates on what has been quite a fun occasion. Barry and I are used to the adversarial circumstances of parliament. It has amazed me that so many have presented their cases eloquently, with good humour and with considerable effect. I commend you for that. I think it has been quite a remarkable demonstration of Australian democracy.

The other list of people that I need to identify is extensive. I want to run through them because they have all been important. First, Prime Minister, to you and your government, I thank you for the catalyst which enabled this to take place at all. There is no doubt that while many were cynical about the nature of a convention, it has been a very important part of the process of preparing Australia for the next century. I commend you, Prime Minister, and your government for that. I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the endorsement that he and his team gave. It may have been a bit jaundiced at first but the bill got through, and you have certainly participated wholeheartedly and thoroughly, and we appreciate that.

I thank Senator Nick Minchin, the minister responsible for the Convention. He has really ensured that all your administrative arrangements worked as they should, and far more. To Bill Blick, who sits on my left, John Doherty and their team, we all owe a particular debt of gratitude. There is an enormous amount of administrative detail necessary for an event like this. We particularly appreciate what you do and have done. In that same category I would like to extend our thanks to the Hon. Howard Nathan QC and Peter King, who have been the counsel assisting both Barry Jones and myself, and of course our own personal staff, in particular, Andrea Hess, who has been so magnificent. So much would not have happened if I had not had her assistance.

A number of others have been absolutely essential to this Convention. To the ACM and the ARM and all others of you who, as elected delegates, had volunteers and other supporters and contributors, this convention also owes a debt. But for them, you would not be here and but for them, the quality and quantity of your argument would have been significantly inhibited. So I thank you.

There is then within this place another horde of people who have been most significant. The media have looked down on us and pried into what we think of as the fishbowl of politics. You will know now why we feel so often as though we are swimming out there in a small pool and you observe our every movement. We thank you because without you, again, the public would have been inhibited in their participation. Among you- and unusually for me- I would like to commend the ABC. Your involvement in this event has been extraordinary. Your coverage has been excellent and, what is even more amazing, so too has been your reporting. I think for that we should all be both thankful and grateful and commend them.

To other people- the attendants, the bus drivers, the taxi drivers, the Comcar drivers, certainly Hansard and Bernie Harris- I extend my thanks. I offer Lyn Barlin, the former Clerk of the House of Representatives, a special thanks. He came back from retirement to keep Barry and me on the straight and narrow and he has done it well.

There are many other volunteer staff and supporters around this place. One that I did want to identify is Castle Catering. Those of you who are not as familiar with the place on the hill that we customarily eat in, I can tell you that it is nowhere as well served as you have served us during the course of this fortnight. Thank you, and a job well done.

There are then but a few other thank yous to make. The one that is important is to Barry Jones, who as my deputy has been quite outstanding. For your good humour, your rather effervescent approach to the proceedings and for the professional way in which you have handled your task, I extend my thanks. The professional conference organisers have also been very significant in making things happen.

Finally, but by no means least, a thank you to our families, including my wife. I know your partners have all missed you in the course of the fortnight. They may or may not be glad to see you return, but I can tell you that home comforts will look great after a fortnight- for some of you- in this rather restricted environment. Above all, can I say it has been a remarkable occasion, and for your participation I offer my personal thanks.

DELEGATES- Hear, hear!

CHAIRMAN- I would like Mr Barry Jones to say a few words before we hand the Communique to the Prime Minister.

Mr BARRY JONES- Mr Chairman, at our first function out in Kings Hall on the Sunday night of the reception, I said that my great hope, as Deputy Chairman of the Convention, would be that delegates would leave with a feeling that they had been treated fairly and had had an opportunity to express their points of view. I hope that this is true of the overwhelming majority- an absolute majority, certainly- of delegates, although this afternoon I have had the feeling, and I concede, that it may not be a unanimous view.

I would have to say that for myself the hardest thing was to sit in the chair and not make helpful suggestions and corrections of fact to the speakers. I must say it has all been intellectually very stimulating, but I have heard some astounding things said on both sides of the House.

As I remarked last night when we had our dinner, it took an astonishingly short period to turn this diverse group of 152 delegates into something really very close to a parliamentary or a quasi-parliamentary forum with all the differences on party lines and sometimes people looking around a bit uncertainly to see which way that they were expected to vote. Sometimes there were some unlikely politicians or quasi-political figures emerging, including Arvi Parbo, Geoffrey Blainey, the twin archbishops and so on who played a very interesting role.

I must say, too, that the experience as Chairman of the Resolutions Group was something I will never forget; it will certainly be worth a chapter in the memoirs. But, in fact, I think there has been a high level of civility and goodwill. I think that in a way we have done something to augment the sense that the political process is viable, but we have to perhaps look at many issues, not just this one, in different ways; we have to be more inclusive, we have to be more welcoming and we have to be more open.

I think this has been a very good exercise for the Australian polity, and I am grateful to all of you who have put so much into it. I conclude by expressing my gratitude to Ian Sinclair, who I think has provided superb leadership.

DELEGATES- Hear, hear!

The Chairman and the Deputy Chairman having presented the communique to the Prime Minister-

CHAIRMAN- I will call the Prime Minister first, and I then have notice of two resolutions. I will then call Mr Beazley.

Mr HOWARD- His Grace the Archbishop of Melbourne said that God had had a pretty good Convention. Without in any way wishing to belittle the Almighty's success, I think Australia has had an even better one. This Convention has demonstrated the truth of a proposition that I have always held very dear, and that is that the things that unite us as Australians are greater than the things that divide us.

I ask myself: what have I learnt from the last two weeks? I have learnt something that I was not so sure of at the beginning: I have no doubt that Australia can conduct a referendum on this issue with vigour, with passion and with meaning, and yet in a way that does not undermine or fracture the essential values of our society.

I have learnt from this Convention that the Australian way of doing things is special and unique. I have not experienced anything like this in all the years that I have been in public life. The bringing together of so many people in different ways, with different backgrounds, with different contributions, with different views was something that at the beginning one might have though was fraught with danger- anything could have happened and anything could have emerged.

In terms of the positions that were taken, I suppose that, at various stages, that appeared possible but, in a great display of civility and good humour, and with great integrity in many areas, it was possible for us to live out what has been a moment in Australia's history- a moment that I am sure everybody has treasured.

I have been a member of the federal parliament since May 1974. I have been immensely privileged to come to the highest elected position in this country and to be given the greatest honour that can ever become the lot of any Australian man or woman, and that is to be the Prime Minister of our wonderful country. I would, therefore, have thought that in terms of that sense of excitement and exhilaration, I had enjoyed it all, but there was something special about this gathering, something which showed in the looks on people's faces.

I share Geoffrey Blainey's response to the look on the faces of Malcolm Turnbull, Neville Wran and Janet Holmes a Court. They are not people with whom I have identified very closely on this issue, but they obviously have an enormous enthusiasm for it and they felt a sense of exhilaration and happiness when what they had worked to achieve was, in fact, achieved.

I also pay particular tribute to Lloyd Waddy and Kerry Jones, the leaders of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy. I know the difficulties they have endured in putting forward a cause which, for a long time, received very little support or recognition in commentaries on this issue. I know about their lack of resources. I know what was said and suggested at the beginning about their propensity to vote strategically. I salute the immense integrity of the way in which they have handled themselves throughout the entire debate.

The reason why this Convention has been a success and the reason why it has captured, to a very significant degree, the interest and imagination of the Australian people is that, despite our differences, we all smell the same eucalypt, we all the know the same dust, and we all feel the same salt in the same ocean. Those things which are dear to one side of the argument are equally dear to the other.

What has struck me more than anything else about this Convention and the whole debate is the integrity of the Australianism that has been expressed by all the delegates. I will go away from this Convention an even more idealistic Australian, one with an even greater passion to allow our democracy to flourish. We will have a vote next year. The Australian people will decide the outcome of that, and we will all accept the verdict of the Australian people with grace and goodwill- all of us, whatever the result may be.

It was always my fervent wish that this issue could be resolved in the sense of it not being on the agenda when we celebrate the centenary of our federation. If Australia is to become a republic, it ought to become a republic on 1 January 2001. If Australia is not to become a republic at that time, let it be off the agenda for the celebration of the centenary of our Federation so that we can share together the jubilation, the gratitude and the affection that we feel for what this country has meant to us over the last 100 years.

That does not mean to say that the issue, if it is rejected next year, will not necessarily return. It is in the nature of a democracy that that is always open to the people, but this is the celebration of 100 years of the Australian nation, with all its achievements, and acknowledging all of its blemishes. On that point, one of the things which has enriched this Convention has been the contribution of the representatives of the first Australians- the indigenous people. I hope that in some way this is a sign to you, Lois, Gatjil, Nova, Pat, George, Neville and David, from all of us that you occupy a very special place in our community.

I think we can look forward with great hope and in a very positive way to the conduct of this referendum. This Convention has spoken very clearly. It is the intention of my government, if it is returned at the next election, to hold the referendum before the end of 1999. In the meantime, in the nature of things, other issues will flood back to the stage of public debate. I imagine that there will be a period in which the debate on this issue might go slightly onto the backburner, particularly in so far as some of the more active political players are concerned, but that, once again, is in the hands of the Australian public.

We will not backtrack on the commitments that we have given, and I have given in the name of my government. I said before the last election that we would have a convention. I promised the Australian people a vote before the year 2000. I said at the opening of this Convention that if a clear view emerged about a republican model the Australian people would have a referendum. I repeat my promise that that will occur. I repeat again that the members of the Liberal Party of Australia and therefore, in practice, the members of my government, will be allowed an open or free vote during that campaign.

I am proud that my party, the Liberal Party of Australia, allowed a conscience vote on this issue. I do not say that to criticise the other parties. I simply say that it is a mark of the maturity of my party that we did that. This is an issue that is atypical; it is different; it does not follow the normal conventions and canons of political behaviour. I am very proud that the Liberal Party is mature enough and strong enough to allow people an open and free vote on this issue.

I want to say to you, Ian, that you have adorned the proceedings of this Convention in a way that has won everybody's admiration. There is nobody, and I repeat nobody, in this room- and I am not normally noted for modesty in these things- whose parliamentary skills and management skills in a chamber such as this are as consummate as yours and you have demonstrated that.

Barry, you brought with you your particular role as National President of the Australian Labor Party but also, because of who you are, the character that you are and what you mean to many people in Australia, you brought an added quality as Deputy Chairman of the proceedings. I also salute very warmly the contribution that you made.

I would like to thank Nick Minchin in particular who has carried the ministerial burden. Nick has two specific responsibilities- and many others- in my government. The two specific ones he has have been very lively of late. One has been the Constitutional Convention and the other has been native title. He has worked very hard and has been a great source of support and strength to me in this. I would also like to thank a member of my personal staff, Catherine Murphy, who has been of particular help to me and to Nick and has kept me informed.

Can I join in thanking the secretariat and, in particular, Bill Blick, who is from my department, who has headed up the secretariat. To Lyn Barlin, whose work as Clerk I admired immensely, I am delighted that he has been able to help us out.

There is not a lot more I can say. I am really so happy that we have been able to hold something so different, so special. We have come through it as better Australians; we are all the happier for the experience. The memories that I will take away from this include the lovely grace sung last night by George and his wife, which was a beautiful touch and a reminder of the special diversity of our country, and the immense intelligence, dignity and bearing of the younger delegates to the Convention with their variety of views. But we should not forget that the aged cohorts at the other end of the range were also very well represented. Their contribution was considerable and we are greatly in their debt.

It has been a very special experience. I have loved every minute of it. I feel privileged to have been the Prime Minister who brought it about. I think it has brought us together as Australians, whatever the outcome of the referendum might be, in a very special way. Thank you very much.

DELEGATES- Hear, hear!

Mr BEAZLEY- Mr Chairman, the train is still running. There was no train wreck. The Convention produced an outcome, and produced it, I believe, very well indeed. So, Prime Minister, if I could, through you, I congratulate your ministers, your staff and our public servants on the organisation of a magnificent Convention.

One of the things I note most about it is that they were most keen to give us a sense of history about it- both in our surrounds and in the medals and the briefcases they gave us. There was a wonderful sense of occasion organised here for all of us. We are getting better and better at doing our history. This is a Convention which has been graced with all the proper accoutrements as well as what went on on the floor.

I also congratulate the delegates. This has been an extraordinary two-week parliament. We did not like the way it was appointed and we had our complaints about it, but it turned out some pretty good people. My office over the last couple of weeks has had a steady roll of correspondence from Australians saying things about what they have seen of this Convention on the ABC and portrayed elsewhere, and it has been enormously flattering, particularly of the younger delegates- and deservedly so. I am grateful I have had 18 years in politics because I can feel the hot breath of Generation X on the back of my neck after this particular gathering.

There are some very talented people in politics outside the major parties in this nation. I can only hope that they make a choice to involve themselves in our affairs. I believe if they do that they will contribute massively to the good governance of the nation. One of the things this Convention has teased up is the knowledge in all the political parties that there are still faults in their recruitment procedures, because there is work to be done to ensure that the best of Australians have the opportunity to serve in what I sincerely believe to be the best of all parliaments.

I congratulate, firstly, my republican colleagues and the ones who have actually carried the battle in this. This has been carried by Malcolm Turnbull and his team. It has been carried by the dissident republicans as well. They may not have been among the numbers of the republicans, but they have had their views. Some of them have paid a great deal of their personal funds, in terms of the election campaign expenses, to be here. I know Malcolm did it in relation to his team in ARM, and I know Clem did it. Between the two of you, you have probably seen the best part of $600,000 devoted from your personal resources to the republican cause. I think that bespeaks well of your commitment and your passion. With that sort of spirit and passion I think we will see a great deal as this debate proceeds.

Let me say at the outset that if the party I lead are in opposition, we will support this referendum and, if we are in government, we will put it. I think that the procedures that have taken place here have to be honoured by all sides of the political process, and they will be. As the Prime Minister said, they will be honoured by us and they will be honoured by him. You have honoured the commitment that you have undertaken in your performance here and the way in which the procedures have been conducted.

After 18 years, I know a deal about parliamentary processes and I know basically what we were presented with was a possibility of anarchy. You may think things here have proceeded rather well and so they have, but let me tell you that it is a close-run thing. The Chairman had ideas about what must be done and the government had an idea about what had to be done, but the chairpersons and the government have no majority here, and what happened was a spontaneous establishment of a parliamentary procedure and orderly disciplined processes.

I particularly want to congratulate the committee that was responsible basically for all the motions that came before us, and the role that they played. Barry chaired it. I want to thank my deputy, Gareth, for the role that he played in this, Daryl Williams for the role that he played in that regard as well and the other members who served on that committee. They have ensured that what could have been an extraordinarily difficult process proceeded in an orderly and disciplined way, and they did very well by it. There are always great risks at a convention like this and we have come through it, I think, exceptionally well.

I join the Prime Minister, too, in congratulating what might be termed the `other' categories of delegates who were here, and I start with our indigenous people. We have not found the right way yet to ensure that our indigenous people are represented properly in the mainstream of Australian political life. We have not found the method for that. The method needs to be found, and perhaps that will come out of the reconciliation process. But they certainly have had the proper role here- there is no question about that- and have taken full advantage of it to express the feelings of their people to the nation. And, in the circumstances of a convention on the republic, what better place to do it?

I congratulate the category of delegates who came from the states- my own party colleagues, the Liberals, the Nationals and others who are represented here. They have done their particular state bodies proud. They have had a view. The view has been broader than themselves, and they have argued that view here very effectively and very logically indeed. I congratulate also those who have represented here the fact that we are a multicultural nation. This is probably more representative of the true character of the Australian nation- both in age distribution and multicultural background- than any other forum of the nation. That has been a noted contribution to the debate and it has been incorporated within it. I include in that regard the religious component as well who have made an extraordinarily good contribution. I also congratulate the delegates who represented the monarchical position. This is a difficult convention for them as these are difficult times for them and they conducted themselves with very great dignity. They did very well from that point of view.

Lastly, I come down to you, Mr Chairman, and your deputy. I was at one of the numerous gatherings organised once by the National Party to try to tell you that your career ought to be terminated. I presented you at that occasion- many years ago now- with a picture of the heavy cruiser Australia after the action in Leyte Gulf when it became one of the first victims of the kamikaze campaign of the Japanese. It was a bit of a wreck, it has to be said, and I thought it sort of represented you after the years in politics. So I presented it to you with a sign which said, `This is, we think, an appropriate picture of you. From your detractors in the Labor Party.' The guns were silent, the bridge was knocked out, the funnels were askew, but the ship moved on.

You too have moved on and have graced this chamber with your presence in the final session of your political career which still has perhaps other phases to it but not in parliament. You do look very properly ensconced in that chair. Can I thank my colleague the Labor Party President who has been the Deputy Chairman here. It would be a foolish person in this Convention who would take a historical point on Barry and probably even a procedural point on him. You will not necessarily get an accurate answer but the volume will shut you up. He has- as in everything he does- really graced this chair.

My final word of thanks goes to you, Prime Minister. I did not like the particular proposition that you put together and I still have some doubts about it, but you took a few risks with this. I just hope we see you on the hustings with us when this vote finally comes to be put before the Australian people.

CHAIRMAN- If only parliaments at the federal and state level in Australia could agree to the same degree of unanimous acceptance, it would be remarkable. I have two delegates who have asked whether they can raise matters. One is a matter to be raised by Kirsten Andrews and supported by Mr Graham Edwards, and I understand Sir Richard McGarvie also wishes to move a motion.

Ms ANDREWS- I want to express appreciation on behalf of the delegates. We have heard a thankyou to the many staff who have served us and assisted us over the last two weeks. I think there is one thing that we all agree on, and that is that there has probably been more than 152 delegates worth of egos in this room over the last week or so, and it has been incredibly hard. The media have noticed that some of the tempers that we have been dealing with have been difficult. We have worked extremely long hours. One thing I am aware of is that, no matter how long the hours were that we have worked, those in the secretariat, the catering staff- whether we are trying to send a fax or an e-mail or obtain a vegetarian meal- have served us with diligence and goodwill and that has certainly been appreciated by me, by Mr Edwards and by many other delegates. I would like to express on the record my appreciation on behalf of the delegates. Thank you.

Mr McGARVIE- Mr Chairman, I move a motion supported by my good friends Lloyd Waddy and Malcolm Turnbull. I am moving this partly because I am judged to have more white hair than anyone else here, partly because I am not aligned, and partly because my two colleagues think it is about time I moved a motion that I will be able to get up in this Convention. I move:

That this Convention expresses deep appreciation for the great contribution made to the success of this Convention and to this nation by the outstanding, fair and tolerant chairing of this Convention by the Rt Hon. Ian Sinclair and the Hon. Barry Jones, the arduous and effective work of the Resolutions Group, the skilled and demanding services provided by the honorary advisers, Mr Peter King and the Hon. Mr Justice Howard Nathan, the ever patient and skilled services and assistance of the staff of the Convention secretariat, the staff of the Attorney-General's Department, the staff of Old Parliament House, the efficient Hansard staff and the outstanding internal and external television coverage of sessions in this historic Old Parliament House. The detailed coverage of the public proceedings of the Convention is testimony to the public interest in the issues involved.

I speak only on one item of that, and that is the way in which this Convention has been chaired. People asked me before the Convention how it would go. I thought it would go well, and I told a number of people it would depend entirely on the way it was chaired. All my aspirations and hopes have been satisfied. I am sure that I speak on behalf of every delegate when I say that what could have been a failure has been a tremendous success in Australian national life, and this nation owes a very deep debt of gratitude to you, Mr Chairman, and you, Mr Deputy Chairman.

CHAIRMAN- A number of other people have asked to speak, but I think we are probably all talked out, unless they really want to speak.

DELEGATES- Hear, hear!

CHAIRMAN- I missed mentioning one person who has been terribly important in the whole deal, a man called George Scarfe. George is currently responsible for managing and maintaining this wonderful old building. I say to George, we thank you for allowing us to bring it alive, and long may this wonderful venue continue to serve for conventions and meetings of this order. Would you now all please rise to sing the national anthem.

Delegates sang the National Anthem.

CHAIRMAN- Thank you, Delegates. I hereby declare the Convention terminated.

Convention adjourned at 4.08 p.m.

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Last updated: 21 October 2000