The Senate Committee on Legal and Constitutional Affairs sets up an Inquiry into Nationhood, National Identity and Democracy. It was proposed by the unlikely pairing of Senator Kim Carr (Labor Vic) and Senator Amanda Stoker (Liberal Qld). The deadline for submissions to the…
Here is another article about this case published on Independent Australia. The excessive secrecy surrounding these documents both in Australia and at the behest of the Queen in England tells us much about our fraught – and unclear – constitutional…
Professor Jenny Hocking’s long-running case against the National Archives of Australia for the release of letters between the Governor-General and our Head of State before the dismissal of the Prime Minister in 1975 and the ensuing constitutional crisis enters another stage. The…
In the cold light of day, commentator Michelle Grattan, lines up the political ducks, the lie of the land and possible strategies. She assesses what it will take to get any national vote on Indigenous Recognition over the line and a majority in four…
It did not take long. Things started getting ominous as soon as Ken Wyatt had delivered his speech on the proposed referendum the day before. By mid August, it was all but done for. Here, however, is a pertinent commentary from a…
Newly appointed Minister for Indigenous Australians, Ken Wyatt from WA, announces at the National Press Club in Canberra that the Government intends to hold a referendum on Indigenous Recognition within this term, so by 2022. This is one of the first major announcements made…
For NAIDOC Week comes the welcome news that the South Australian Labor Opposition proposes to take a plan for a state version of the Uluru Statement, including a Voice to Parliament, to the next State election in 2022.This follows the negotiations in progress for a Treaty…
In Britain, unlike Australia where political timidity and inactivity are the main stumbling blocks to a Republic, the monarchy has applied itself to the task since the destabilising Diana years. This century, the British royals have shored up their position by a) understanding that…
Today we found out, with the ALP’s defeat in the federal election, that it will be at least another three years, maybe even another six or seven, before there’s any possibility of a vote on the Republic.
With much silliness – and acres of column inches – over the birth of the latest British royal, seventh in line to our throne, this article in The New York Times nails it. We just have to keep the royals in perspective: there’s…
