http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/constitution/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/we-need-a-strong-constitution-to-tackle-racism/ It will be a shameful day for Australia if it does not change its Constitution to both prohibit racial discrimination and recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The proposed changes are, individually, both worthy and overdue. But together they become complex enough to threaten the success of any referendum. The recommendations are to remove the “race power” section, prohibit racial discrimination, but allow positive discrimination “for the purpose of overcoming disadvantage, ameliorating the effects of past discrimination or protecting the cultures, languages or heritage of any group”, to recognise indigenous Australians in the Constitution itself (rather than in a preamble), and to acknowledge indigenous languages. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/we-need-a-strong-constitution-to-tackle-racism/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/we-need-a-strong-constitution-to-tackle-racism/#item7572 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 It is likely that the 2013 federal election will be accompanied by three referendum questions. The last 110 years have not been very successful in terms of changing the Constitution; only eight of 44 referendum questions have received the required double majority. One likely question concerns local government - the third attempt! Referendums in 1974 and 1988, on whether local government should be recognised in the Constitution, were soundly defeated. The third attempt, planned to allow the Commonwealth to directly fund local government, deserves to be passed. It has bipartisan support, and unless state governments fight to retain their power over the local sector, it may be successful. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Time-for-our-morning-constitutional-change/ It is likely that the 2013 federal election will be accompanied by three referendum questions. The last 110 years have not been very successful in terms of changing the Constitution; only eight of 44 referendum questions have received the required double majority. One likely question concerns local government - the third attempt! Referendums in 1974 and 1988, on whether local government should be recognised in the Constitution, were soundly defeated. The third attempt, planned to allow the Commonwealth to directly fund local government, deserves to be passed. It has bipartisan support, and unless state governments fight to retain their power over the local sector, it may be successful. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Time-for-our-morning-constitutional-change/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Time-for-our-morning-constitutional-change/#item7166 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 It is likely that the 2013 federal election will be accompanied by three referendum questions. The last 110 years have not been very successful in terms of changing the Constitution; only eight of 44 referendum questions have received the required double majority. One likely question concerns local government - the third attempt! Referendums in 1974 and 1988, on whether local government should be recognised in the Constitution, were soundly defeated. The third attempt, planned to allow the Commonwealth to directly fund local government, deserves to be passed. It has bipartisan support, and unless state governments fight to retain their power over the local sector, it may be successful. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/time-to-rid-australia-of-the-burden-of-tasmania-and-sa/ A debate about GST distribution in Australia is a debate about our future as a federation. Some states – notably Western Australia – contribute far more than their fair share to the national purse. Others – notably South Australia and Tasmania – take far more than they give. For example, WA gets about 68c in the dollar back from the Federal Government, while SA gets around $1.30. It’s obvious that horizontal fiscal equalisation is unfair, and that the GST has moved beyond an Australian ‘fair go’ and more towards an inequitable redistribution of wealth. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/time-to-rid-australia-of-the-burden-of-tasmania-and-sa/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/time-to-rid-australia-of-the-burden-of-tasmania-and-sa/#item5534 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 It is likely that the 2013 federal election will be accompanied by three referendum questions. The last 110 years have not been very successful in terms of changing the Constitution; only eight of 44 referendum questions have received the required double majority. One likely question concerns local government - the third attempt! Referendums in 1974 and 1988, on whether local government should be recognised in the Constitution, were soundly defeated. The third attempt, planned to allow the Commonwealth to directly fund local government, deserves to be passed. It has bipartisan support, and unless state governments fight to retain their power over the local sector, it may be successful. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-republic-debate-is-about-more-than-just-the-royals/ On April 29 this year, Prince William will marry Kate Middleton. In October, the Queen will visit Perth for the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting. As the person responsible for media at the Australian Republican Movement (ARM), I predict that these will be my two busiest times of the year. Whenever anyone mentions royalty in an Australian context, the media then thinks “republic” and more often than not gives me a call. This is as it should be, since the media knows that the majority of Australians want Australia to be a republic now or at the end of the Queen’s reign - at least 60 per cent, according to most polls. On the other hand, it means that the ARM sometimes spends more time talking about royal personalities and personages rather than the things that really matter to us - why an Australian Republic is so important to Australia. The fact is, we have nothing against the personalities - it is the institution that is the problem. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-republic-debate-is-about-more-than-just-the-royals/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-republic-debate-is-about-more-than-just-the-royals/#item5034 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 It is likely that the 2013 federal election will be accompanied by three referendum questions. The last 110 years have not been very successful in terms of changing the Constitution; only eight of 44 referendum questions have received the required double majority. One likely question concerns local government - the third attempt! Referendums in 1974 and 1988, on whether local government should be recognised in the Constitution, were soundly defeated. The third attempt, planned to allow the Commonwealth to directly fund local government, deserves to be passed. It has bipartisan support, and unless state governments fight to retain their power over the local sector, it may be successful. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/indigenous-recognition-in-the-constitution-is-about-respect/ A brief glance at Australia’s history shows that changing our constitution is never easy. Only eight of 44 referendums held since Federation have been successful. But I am optimistic that we can achieve nation-wide consensus on the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Constitution. Constitutional recognition of Indigenous people will be a significant step towards building an Australia based on strong relationships and mutual respect. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/indigenous-recognition-in-the-constitution-is-about-respect/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/indigenous-recognition-in-the-constitution-is-about-respect/#item4522 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 It is likely that the 2013 federal election will be accompanied by three referendum questions. The last 110 years have not been very successful in terms of changing the Constitution; only eight of 44 referendum questions have received the required double majority. One likely question concerns local government - the third attempt! Referendums in 1974 and 1988, on whether local government should be recognised in the Constitution, were soundly defeated. The third attempt, planned to allow the Commonwealth to directly fund local government, deserves to be passed. It has bipartisan support, and unless state governments fight to retain their power over the local sector, it may be successful. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/electing-judges-would-totally-undermine-our-legal-system/ Earlier this year Tony Abbott warned us that we should be wary of taking seriously those comments he makes about policy when speaking off the cuff. Presumably, his suggestion in a community forum this week that Australia might consider moving to elect its judges falls into this category. We can only hope that is the case.  Anxiety over perceived leniency in criminal sentencing is never too far from the surface of public discussion and as a result we might expect that politicians have given the issue some thought before they express an opinion. Certainly it is hard to credit that a political figure as senior as Mr Abbott would be caught off guard when quizzed about judges, sentencing and community values, as he was at the Brisbane forum.  What exactly did the Leader of the Opposition say? “I never want lightly to change our existing systems, but I’ve got to say if we don’t get a better sense of the punishment fitting the crime, this is almost inevitable. If judges don’t treat this kind of thing appropriately, sooner or later, we will do something that we’ve never done in this country. We will elect judges. And we will elect judges that will better reflect want we think is our sense of anger at this kind of thing.” feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/electing-judges-would-totally-undermine-our-legal-system/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/electing-judges-would-totally-undermine-our-legal-system/#item4452 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 It is likely that the 2013 federal election will be accompanied by three referendum questions. The last 110 years have not been very successful in terms of changing the Constitution; only eight of 44 referendum questions have received the required double majority. One likely question concerns local government - the third attempt! Referendums in 1974 and 1988, on whether local government should be recognised in the Constitution, were soundly defeated. The third attempt, planned to allow the Commonwealth to directly fund local government, deserves to be passed. It has bipartisan support, and unless state governments fight to retain their power over the local sector, it may be successful. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/admitting-that-you-may-be-a-monarchist-is-tough/ When I was in my first year of university I consented to attending some forum where politicians talk to young people about politics and spirituality. This was achieved through a combination of hassling by my parents, and an idea that I may be able to pick up some attractive young female leader type impressed with my attendance at such a deep thinking event. Having entered the room and scanned through the earnest polar fleeced mini-lawyers, I quickly realised this was an asexual event more concerned with signing up for the Liberal or the Labor Right, and as such, planned to quietly head back down to the bar where the demarcation between male and female was more obvious and less sober. Unfortunately I was spotted by a friendly tutor who was happy one of his students had turned up, so I stuck around and we were introduced to that week’s guest speaker: Tony Abbott MP. I can’t remember much of what was said, except for the fact that afterwards at dinner Tony and I got into an argument about the prospect of an Australian republic. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/admitting-that-you-may-be-a-monarchist-is-tough/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/admitting-that-you-may-be-a-monarchist-is-tough/#item3924 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 It is likely that the 2013 federal election will be accompanied by three referendum questions. The last 110 years have not been very successful in terms of changing the Constitution; only eight of 44 referendum questions have received the required double majority. One likely question concerns local government - the third attempt! Referendums in 1974 and 1988, on whether local government should be recognised in the Constitution, were soundly defeated. The third attempt, planned to allow the Commonwealth to directly fund local government, deserves to be passed. It has bipartisan support, and unless state governments fight to retain their power over the local sector, it may be successful. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/making-the-swill-less-unrepresentative/ Some years ago the BBC produced a brilliant documentary series about the House of Lords which chronicled the strange existence of those hereditary peers who by dint of their birth had wound up being underemployed for life in this absurd parliamentary chamber. There was one chap aged only in his 30s who was not only completely loaded, he was also completely smashed, living in the rundown country estate his late father had left to him where the only functioning room appeared to be the cellar. Every morning he would wake up, put on his tweed trousers and a silly cravat, and start working his way through bottle after bottle of 1950s French burgundy. His face was dotted with burst capillaries and he sat in his comfy chair like that Uncle Monty from Withnail and I, rabbitting about how one felt a sense of duty in maintaining one’s family traditions by serving as a Lord. It now seems that even the Brits have realised their Upper House is an elitist anachronism and a waste of money. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/making-the-swill-less-unrepresentative/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/making-the-swill-less-unrepresentative/#item2631 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 It is likely that the 2013 federal election will be accompanied by three referendum questions. The last 110 years have not been very successful in terms of changing the Constitution; only eight of 44 referendum questions have received the required double majority. One likely question concerns local government - the third attempt! Referendums in 1974 and 1988, on whether local government should be recognised in the Constitution, were soundly defeated. The third attempt, planned to allow the Commonwealth to directly fund local government, deserves to be passed. It has bipartisan support, and unless state governments fight to retain their power over the local sector, it may be successful. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-prince-william-effect-republican-celebrity-converts/ Prince William’s coming visit seems to have resulted in the dramatic conversion of a republican celebrity. This is none other than the editor and media personality Ms. Ita Clare Buttrose AO OBE, who campaigned for the politicians’ republic during the 1999 referendum. Readers of the Wentworth Courier, which circulates in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs, were surprised then by her harsh dismissal of the No case and indeed of constitutional monarchists. Ms Buttrose was the founding editor of Cleo which, with its nude male centrefolds, was aimed at young single women. She later edited the more conservative Australian Women’s Weekly and the Daily and Sunday Telegraphs. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-prince-william-effect-republican-celebrity-converts/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-prince-william-effect-republican-celebrity-converts/#item2171 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 It is likely that the 2013 federal election will be accompanied by three referendum questions. The last 110 years have not been very successful in terms of changing the Constitution; only eight of 44 referendum questions have received the required double majority. One likely question concerns local government - the third attempt! Referendums in 1974 and 1988, on whether local government should be recognised in the Constitution, were soundly defeated. The third attempt, planned to allow the Commonwealth to directly fund local government, deserves to be passed. It has bipartisan support, and unless state governments fight to retain their power over the local sector, it may be successful. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/if-our-next-king-thinks-we-should-be-a-republic-then/ Harry M Miller’s revelation that Prince Charles wondered why Australia remained a constitutional monarchy will come as no surprise to those of us who have been reporting on and watching the British royals for some time. If there’s one thing that senior members of the royal family detest it’s the fawning and groveling of those they meet, and Australia heads the list of major offenders in that department. As an example, some years ago the Queen decided that the last century habit of women dropping a curtsy was no longer necessary but the individuals could continue to bend the knee if it made them happy. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/if-our-next-king-thinks-we-should-be-a-republic-then/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/if-our-next-king-thinks-we-should-be-a-republic-then/#item1751 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 It is likely that the 2013 federal election will be accompanied by three referendum questions. The last 110 years have not been very successful in terms of changing the Constitution; only eight of 44 referendum questions have received the required double majority. One likely question concerns local government - the third attempt! Referendums in 1974 and 1988, on whether local government should be recognised in the Constitution, were soundly defeated. The third attempt, planned to allow the Commonwealth to directly fund local government, deserves to be passed. It has bipartisan support, and unless state governments fight to retain their power over the local sector, it may be successful.