1 September

The Senate Inquiry on the Republic releases its 181 page report: “The Road to a Republic”. One third of the 24 recommendations are aimed at improving community engagement in and education about constitutional matters urging the involvement of adult learning organisations and federal, state and local government. It is further recommended to use a variety of means/media to educate voters paying particular attention to ethnicity, gender and age. The report recommends that special efforts need to be made to ensure that Indigenous people are fully consulted and involved in the proposed process. Later recommendations on the process for the republic propose three compulsory votes including two non-binding ones (plebiscites). The first vote would indicate whether Australia would become a republic; if “yes”, the second one would indicate voters preferred way of choosing the head of state. The next step would be a Drafting Committee, assisted by constitutional experts, to sort out the remaining issues and come up with the wording for the final referendum. The Committee’s report is available at http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/legcon_ctte/republic03/report/index.htm. The Committee had three female members: Senators Marise Payne (Liberal NSW), Linda Kirk (Labor, SA) and Natasha Stott-Despoja (Democrats, SA) all of whom attended the 1998 Constitutional Convention.