18 July

Democrat Senator Natasha Stott Despoja describes the Prime Minister’s insistence on the word “mateship” in his draft preamble as “ridiculously obstinate”. Further she said, “Personally, I do not believe ‘mateship’ has a place in our Constitution. It is an exclusive word, objectionable to women as well as highlighting a generational difference”.
There is speculation that the Democrats are willing to trade a reference to “mateship” for inclusion of “custodianship” in the draft preamble but Democrat sources have reported that the party feels strongly about both terms and is unlikely to agree to any trade-off.