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Stephen Mayne, John Thwaites, Fran Bailey, OurCommunity.com.au, CC
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Ged Kearney, ACTU, Secure Jobs. Better Future., Josh Peak
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Cr Cathy Oke, City of Melbourne
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“Rio Plus 20 Agenda”
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Crikey, House of Representatives, Adam Bandt MP, Your question
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“The People's Question”
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Campbell Newman
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“The Queensland Agenda”
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Andrew Demetriou, Amanda Vanstone, Charlie Pickering
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“The Australian Republic”
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Anna Bligh
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“The Queensland Agenda - Part 1”
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Prof. Noam Chomsky, Deakin University
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“Contours Of Global Order”
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666 ABC Canberra, UC, Canberra Refugee Support, Julie Posetti
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“Reporting Refugees”
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John Merritt, EPA
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“EPA Victoria”
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Robert Manne, The Quarterly Essay
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Andrew Demetriou, Kevin Sheedy, Matthew Richardson
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The Climate Agenda, Michael Bachelard, Misha Schubert, Deborah Gough
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You?, Greg Hywood, Mark Scott, Sophie Black
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“Australian Media Leaders”
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Kelly O’Dwyer, Deb O’Neill , Larissa Waters
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“Women in Politics”
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David Thodey
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“Telstra CEO David Thodey”
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The Hon. Martin Dixon MP, Vic SRC
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“Victorian Education Minister”
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Margaret Simons, Anna Krien, Tim Soutphommasane
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Malcolm Fraser
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“Renewing Democracy”
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Q&A
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“Q&A - After The Budget - May 16th”
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The Australian Republic
Some say an Australian Republic is the final step in a journey towards independence and nationhood for our country. It will have a resident Australian citizen as Head of State, chosen through a process that reflects Australian values such as equality, fairness and democracy.
If you are interested in the role of a future Australian Head of State, OurSay is offering you the opportunity to ask the big questions about what it means for Australia to one day become a Republic.
Working with the Australian Republican Movement (ARM) the top 5 questions on OurSay will be discussed by the featured panelists at the ARM Victorian Republican Conference held at Deakin University (Melbourne Campus) on Saturday 4th February 2012. You can download a flyer for the event here.
The Question
An Australian Republic is singularly the greatest Constitutional Reform since Federation. My question is; why stop there?
Anyone with any knowledge of the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia knows that it is extremely hard to amend, it is achiac and badly in need of repair. That it was written at a time that is worlds apart from the modern, progressive Australia in the technical age.
Why not initiate a whole swathe of badly needed Constitutional Reform? Why not introduce a Preamble, introduce a 'Bill of Rights' instrument and introduce greater inclusivity of the citizens within our framework of Government?
This is our greatest opportunity to not only assert our full independence but also reinforce and preserve our democracy. We need fully inclusive Constitutional Convensions that engages every citizen across Australia; let's start from there.
Excellent proposal. One problem we have with current referendums is giving unequal weight to votes from different states. It should be one vote one value for all and the requirement for a majority in the majority of states should be eliminated. There is no reason why multiple questions can't be asked at the same time. Another: Why not eliminate State governments?
Thanks for the feedback. I think we would be hard-pressed eliminating State Governments out of indivudual state pride in the people also I think there would be considerable resistance to one centralised Government. However I do agree on the unfairness of referendums which underpins the importance of holding nation-wide Constitutional Conventions designed to cover a whole swathe of Constitional Reforms.
This is a great ideal but in the present political situation is not an urgent priority either for the parties or the community. Before this had much chance of happening we'd need a government with a stable majority ,strong responsive and inspirational leadership ,an absesce of more pressing issues as well as an expert and community- representative and consultative steering committee.
Why is the Constitution out of date? That is another issue. The first point is the Republic and the relationship between the Senate and House of representatives and the republican head of state.