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"Drafting a New
Constitution for Australia: A Grass Roots Approach"
has now been published. It documents the drafting process, based on
the Tasks set out below.
This important contribution to the debate on constitutional reform is
available in two forms:
1. In electronic form as a PDF
download (1.9 megabytes)
2. As a professionally-published 490 page book in hard or soft cover:
Download and print out the Order Form. |
In conjunction with our role of stimulating education
and debate on constitutional issues, the Foundation is in the process of
crafting a “Model Constitution” for Australia. The aim is to craft
a constitution that will articulate exactly the sort of society Australians
would aspire to if we could ‘start from scratch’. To do this, we
are involving Australians from all walks of life including those from NES
and ATSI backgrounds. (Our society is no longer the mono-cultural
society our current Constitution was drafted to serve.)
The purpose of this ‘Model Constitution’ is to
provide a focus and a context for future debate on amendment or replacement
of the existing Constitution.
As each item of the ‘Model Constitution’ came
up for discussion during the crafting process, the Foundation issued a
discussion paper. These papers usually include:
- What our current Constitution says on each
subject and a plain language explanation of what it means.
- Several views on what deficiencies, if any, are
perceived.
- What a number of other constitutions say on the
matter.
- Perhaps some suggestions as to what a ‘Model
Constitution’ might say.
This stage of the Model Constitution process has now
been completed. Members have expressed their views on the following topics:
Task 1: The
Preamble
Task 2: A
Table of Contents
Task 3: Definitions
Task 4: Citizen
Rights and Responsibilities
Task 5. Basic
Laws of Society
Task 6. Amending
the Constitution
Task 7. Structure
of Government
Task 8. Delivery
of Government Services
Task 9. Elections
Task 10. Electorates
and Voting Systems
Task 11. The
Executive
Task 12. Regional
Parliaments
Task 13. The
Courts
Task 14. Trial
by Jury
Task 15. International
Treaties
Task 16. Taxation
Task 17. War
and Other Emergencies
Task 18. The
National Parliament
Task 19. National
MPs - Election and Remuneration
Task 20. Enhanced
Representation
Task 21. Ownership,
Control and Exploitation of Australia's Natural Resources
Task 22. The
Governor General
Task 23. Citizen
Initiated Constitutional Change
Task 24. Election/Appointment
of the Governor General
Task 25. Fiscal
Arrangements
Task 26. Banking
and International Trade
Task 27. Indigenous
People
Task 28. Delineating
Regions
Task 29. Elect
the President
Task 30. The
Penal System
Task 31. Amending
the Constitution: Candidate Pledges
Task 32. Monarchy
or Republic?
Task 33. The
Media
Task 34. The
Monetary System
A Draft Constitution has now been formulated,
following feedback from members and other interested persons.
A Synopsis
of the draft is available on this website.
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