Professor Larissa Behrendt of UTS Sydney says three rights should be added to the Constitution: due process before the law; equality; and freedom from racial discrimination. She also says that the current Constitution doesn’t protect basic human rights even though most people think that it does and contends that Indigenous people should be recognised in the Preamble if there really was a new relationship with the Australian State after the 1967 Referendum – which should have brought about a new era of non-discrimination against Indigenous people. Other speakers at the “A Constitution for all Australians” forum held at Parliament House in Canberra were Professor Carmen Lawrence, former High Court judge Michael Kirby and Professor Greg Craven. Michael Kirby said we shouldn’t be fixated on celebrating the 100th anniversary of Gallipoli in 2015, or engaging in faraway wars, but should concentrate instead on giving people rights.
Woman for an Australian Republic, Adelaide Ironside, republican poet and artist 1831-1867
Self portrait 1855, Newcastle Art Gallery NSW
