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Episode 50: On progress with Australia Together and strategies for electoral reform in Australia.
This is the final episode in ACFP's series of conversations with a range of inspiring Australians about Targets and Strategies in Australia Together.
Australia Together is the nation’s first long term, integrated plan for a better future for everyone. It is being progressively developed by Australians for Australians so that we can tell our governments what we want them to do for us as a cohesive, democratic community.
Last week Bronwyn posted an article on the Strategies currently in Australia Together for electoral reform. The article shows how strategies to stop corruption of elections are necessary to achieve political equality for Australians. Find the article at this link: https://bronwynkelly.substack.com/p/looking-into-australia-together-part-f84?r=2e33fk
In this episode ACFP’s Executive Director David Kelly and Founder Bronwyn Kelly discuss progress with the Australia Together project and barriers to its implementation, chief among them being Australia’s laws on electoral funding which are undermining the ability of Australians to participate as political equals in their own democracy.
Ideas raised during the series will be translated into Issue No. 8 of Australia Together, due for release by August 2024.
Listen to the full series of Conversations about Australia Together at this link: https://bronwynkelly.substack.com/podcast
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bronwynkelly.substack.com -
Introduction from Bronwyn Kelly, Founder of Australian Community Futures Planning:
In this series of the Australia Together Podcast we’re interviewing a range of people about the issues we can resolve by developing a long term integrated plan for a better future for Australia. We’re looking into a draft of such a plan - Australia Together - and canvassing views about strategies that are or should be included in it.
Last week I published an article summarising the key strategies currently in Australia Together for achieving fairness in Australia including a National Accord on Wealth, Welfare and Wellbeing and a Universal Basic Income. Find the article at https://bronwynkelly.substack.com/p/looking-into-australia-together-part-c76?r=2e33fk
In today’s episode I interview Dr John Tons from Flinders University’s Philosophy Department. Dr Tons is an expert on social justice and a passionate supporter of policies aimed at achieving fairness in society such as a Universal Basic Income. We talk here about one of the world’s most important philosophers on the topic of social justice - John Rawls - and about how strategies in Australia Together can be designed to help Australians implement a socially just future where there is fairness for all.
For more information on the proposal in Australia Together for a National Accord on Wealth, Welfare and Wellbeing view the ACFP Fact Sheet at https://www.austcfp.com.au/facts-about-australia-together
Want to know more about Australia Together?
Australia Together is the nation’s first community designed and driven long term, integrated plan for a better future. It’s designed to help Australians make the best future we can imagine in the 2020s a reality by 2050 or sooner.
Browse the latest issue of Australia Together at https://www.austcfp.com.au/australia-together
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bronwynkelly.substack.com -
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Introduction from Bronwyn Kelly:
In this series of the Australia Together Podcast we’re interviewing a range of people about the issues we can resolve by developing a long term integrated plan for a better future for Australia. We’re looking into a draft of such a plan - Australia Together - and canvassing views about strategies that are or should be included in it.
Last week I published an article summarising the key strategies currently in Australia Together for achieving peace, security and independent defence of Australia. Find the article at https://bronwynkelly.substack.com/p/looking-into-australia-together-part-d8a?r=2e33fk
In today’s episode I interview former diplomat and academic Dr Alison Broinowski on some key strategies we will need in Australia Together if we are to secure ongoing peace.
Alison outlines how Australian governments are steering defence policy in ways that are exposing Australia to the risk of involvement in ongoing and unwinnable wars. We discuss how the government’s new statutory joint parliamentary committee on defence will reduce (not increase) transparency and parliamentary scrutiny of the executive government’s decisions on defence and war, and how Australia’s alliance with America and the UK is dangerous for Australians. We then focus on strategies for keeping Australians safe in a time of increasing superpower confrontations.
Disclosure: Bronwyn Kelly and Alison Broinowski are committee members of Australians for War Powers Reform.
Want to know more about Australia Together?
Australia Together is the nation’s first community designed and driven long term, integrated plan for a better future. It’s designed to help Australians make the best future we can imagine in the 2020s a reality by 2050 or sooner.
Browse the latest Issue of Australia Together - Issue No. 7 - at https://www.austcfp.com.au/australia-together .
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bronwynkelly.substack.com -
Introduction by Bronwyn Kelly
In this series of the Australia Together Podcast we’re interviewing a range of people about the issues we can resolve by developing a long term integrated plan for a better future for Australia. We’re looking into a draft of such a plan – Australia Together.
Last week I published an article summarising the key strategies in Australia Together for stopping climate change.
In today’s episode I interview prominent science writer and researcher Julian Cribb on some key strategies that we will need in Australia Together for dealing with the significant environmental disasters we are facing in the age of climate change. We focus on strategies for transitioning our current unsustainable agriculture systems to systems that create an endless, renewable food supply for everyone.
Read Australia Together at https://www.austcfp.com.au/australia-together
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bronwynkelly.substack.com -
In this series of the Australia Together Podcast we’re interviewing a range of people about the issues we can resolve by developing a long term integrated plan for a better future for Australia. We’re looking into a draft of such a plan – Australia Together.
In today’s episode David Kelly interviews Bronwyn Kelly about one of the big ticket items in the plan – the need for constitutional reform. Bronwyn talks about how Australia’s current Constitution is a barrier to democracy in Australia but also how this can be fixed by Australians themselves if they organise collaboratively to build a new Constitution where the people of Australia can have a rightful share of power as equals.
Find information about this process in the Fact Sheet on the ACFP website called Making a new Australian Constitution – by collaboration. https://www.austcfp.com.au/collaborative-constitutional-convention
For a summary of targets and strategies for constitutional reform view this article: Looking into Australia Together Part 2: Strategies for reform of Australia’s Constitution. https://bronwynkelly.substack.com/p/looking-into-australia-together-part-56d?r=2e33fk
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bronwynkelly.substack.com -
Introduction from Bronwyn Kelly:
Australia Together is the nation’s first long term, integrated plan for a better future for everyone. It is being progressively developed by Australians for Australians so that we can tell our governments what we want them to do for us as a cohesive, democratic community.
The plan is in its starting draft phase but it already contains data and information about more than 300 indicators of our current wellbeing, environmental health, economic strength and resilience, democratic health, international standing, national security, and our capacity for peace. It also contains Targets and Strategies for every one of those indicators. When we put these together they add up to the safe solutions we need to overcome the challenges.
Key to those safe solutions are the Strategies for fixing Australia’s housing crisis. If Australians are to be able to deal with other challenges in the 21st century like climate change and democratic decline, they will need to ensure everyone has security in basic needs like housing.
Who’s speaking in this episode?
In today’s podcast ACFP Founder Bronwyn Kelly is speaking with Maiy Azize, Deputy Director of Anglicare Australia, spokesperson for the national campaign group on housing, Everybody’s Home, and author of a recent report recommending changes to tax and investment policies for housing.
Browse the last Issue of Australia Together - Issue No. 7 - here.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bronwynkelly.substack.com -
Introduction from Bronwyn Kelly:
Australians are due to go to the polls in 2025 to elect their 48th federal parliament.
Australian Community Futures Planning (ACFP) is working to ensure it’s easy for everyone to find the factual information they need to decide whether the current parliament has been working well for them or not, and then decide who they’ll vote for in the next parliament.
The information they need will be provided in The State of Australia 2025. This is an independent report to be collated by ACFP which will contain the evidence about whether, during the term of the current parliament and government, Australia moved towards or further away from the future that Australians have said they prefer. This preferred future is described in Australia Together, Australia’s first long term, integrated plan for a better future for our nation. This plan is not emerging from political processes or parties. It’s being developed by Australians for Australians.
Last week I posted an article on how Australia Together helps Australians to elect parliaments that work for them. Todays’ podcast is the first in a new series of conversations expanding on that article.
Over the next few weeks I’ll be following through with more articles and podcast conversations about some of the most important Targets and Strategies currently in Australia Together. They’ll cover strategies for: fixing Australia’s housing crisis; reforming Australia’s Constitution; stopping climate change; achieving peace, security and independent defence of Australia; ensuring prosperity through lifelong educational opportunities; establishing a National Accord on Wealth, Welfare and Wellbeing between Australians and their parliaments and governments, including a social wage or "universal basic income" for all adult Australians; and reforming Australia’s electoral systems and their funding.
Australia Together is the nation’s first community designed and driven long term, integrated plan for a better future. It’s designed to help Australians make the best future we can imagine in the 2020s a reality by 2050 or sooner.
Browse the latest Issue of Australia Together - Issue No. 7 - here.
Who’s speaking in this episode?
Today’s episode features a conversation between ACFP’s Founder Dr Bronwyn Kelly and Dr David Kelly.
David is the Executive Director Editorial and Production at ACFP. As an academic David worked in the Department of English at Sydney University, where he pioneered interdisciplinary studies in literature and cinema. He became Chair of the Department of English and Head of Film Studies, and for many years was the editor of the academic journal Sydney Studies in English. In 2015 he established the Camera-Stylo Conference, an international event for the study of literature and cinema. He is Bronwyn’s husband and partner in the development of both Australia Together and Australian Community Futures Planning.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bronwynkelly.substack.com -
Find the full transcript: Episodes 40, 41, 42 & 43: Saving Australian democracy and sovereignty by building a new Constitution - An essay in four parts by Bronwyn Kelly.
Introduction from Bronwyn Kelly:
Subscribers familiar with my writing will be aware of my most recent book, The People’s Constitution: the path to empowerment of Australians in a 21st century democracy. I’d like to thank readers for their positive comments. But now it is time to think about how we might begin to make a people’s constitution a reality.
In Episodes 40, 41, 42 and 43 of the Australia Together Podcast I’m reading a new major essay which builds on much of the research in The People’s Constitution, taking it to the next step. The essay sets out a practical way forward for the making of a new Constitution by the collaboration of Australians. I suggest in the essay that if we learn how to do this well as a nation - and we can - then we can rescue our democracy and sovereignty, both of which are very much at risk of loss at the moment.
I pose four questions in this essay and suggest answers that will help Australians transition from a constitutional monarchy to a constitutional democracy wherein we can achieve a peaceful coexistence of sovereignties and self-determining political equals. The questions are:
1. Why does Australia need a new Constitution? (Part 1, Episode 40)
2. What’s wrong with our democracy? (Part 2, Episode 41)
3. How can Australians take back their democracy and sovereignty? (Part 3, Episode 42)
4. How can Australians achieve a peaceful coexistence of sovereignties and self-determining political equals? (Part 4, Episode 43)
What’s in this Episode?
In Episode 43 I read Part 4 of the essay on Saving Australian Democracy and Sovereignty by Building a New Constitution. I ask, How can Australians achieve a peaceful coexistence of sovereignties and self-determining political equals? Short answer: by establishing terms of trust with the parliaments they elect.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bronwynkelly.substack.com -
Find the full transcript: Episodes 40, 41, 42 & 43: Saving Australian democracy and sovereignty by building a new Constitution - An essay in four parts by Bronwyn Kelly.
Introduction from Bronwyn Kelly:
Subscribers familiar with my writing will be aware of my most recent book, The People’s Constitution: the path to empowerment of Australians in a 21st century democracy. I’d like to thank readers for their positive comments. But now it is time to think about how we might begin to make a people’s constitution a reality.
In Episodes 40, 41, 42 and 43 of the Australia Together Podcast I’m reading a new major essay which builds on much of the research in The People’s Constitution, taking it to the next step. The essay sets out a practical way forward for the making of a new Constitution by the collaboration of Australians. I suggest in the essay that if we learn how to do this well as a nation - and we can - then we can rescue our democracy and sovereignty, both of which are very much at risk of loss at the moment.
I pose four questions in this essay and suggest answers that will help Australians transition from a constitutional monarchy to a constitutional democracy wherein we can achieve a peaceful coexistence of sovereignties and self-determining political equals. The questions are:
1. Why does Australia need a new Constitution? (Part 1, Episode 40)
2. What’s wrong with our democracy? (Part 2, Episode 41)
3. How can Australians take back their democracy and sovereignty? (Part 3, Episode 42)
4. How can Australians achieve a peaceful coexistence of sovereignties and self-determining political equals? (Part 4, Episode 43)
What’s in this Episode?
In Episode 42 I read Part 3 of the essay on Saving Australian Democracy and Sovereignty by Building a New Constitution. I ask, How can Australians take back their democracy and sovereignty? Short answer: by establishing terms of trust with the parliaments they elect.
Full transcript of this series on Saving Australian Democracy and Sovereignty by Building a New Constitution
Click here for a full transcript of Episodes 40, 41, 42 and 43 on Saving Australian Democracy and Sovereignty by Building a New Constitution. Or find the transcript at the ACFP website at https://www.austcfp.com.au/major-essays
Other links: National Agreement on Human Rights and Obligations.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bronwynkelly.substack.com -
Find the full transcript: Episodes 40, 41, 42 & 43: Saving Australian democracy and sovereignty by building a new Constitution - An essay in four parts by Bronwyn Kelly.
Introduction from Bronwyn Kelly:
Subscribers familiar with my writing will be aware of my most recent book, The People’s Constitution: the path to empowerment of Australians in a 21st century democracy. I’d like to thank readers for their positive comments. But now it is time to think about how we might begin to make a people’s constitution a reality.
In Episodes 40, 41, 42 and 43 of the Australia Together Podcast I’m reading a new major essay which builds on much of the research in The People’s Constitution, taking it to the next step. The essay sets out a practical way forward for the making of a new Constitution by the collaboration of Australians. I suggest in the essay that if we learn how to do this well as a nation - and we can - then we can rescue our democracy and sovereignty, both of which are very much at risk of loss at the moment.
I pose four questions in this essay and suggest answers that will help Australians transition from a constitutional monarchy to a constitutional democracy wherein we can achieve a peaceful coexistence of sovereignties and self-determining political equals. The questions are:
1. Why does Australia need a new Constitution? (Part 1, Episode 40)
2. What’s wrong with our democracy? (Part 2, Episode 41)
3. How can Australians take back their democracy and sovereignty? (Part 3, Episode 42)
4. How can Australians achieve a peaceful coexistence of sovereignties and self-determining political equals? (Part 4, Episode 43)
What’s in this Episode?
In Episode 41 I read Part 2 of the essay on Saving Australian Democracy and Sovereignty by Building a New Constitution. I ask, What’s wrong with our democracy? Short answer: it’s exclusive and it prohibits self-determination.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bronwynkelly.substack.com -
Find the full transcript: Episodes 40, 41, 42 & 43: Saving Australian democracy and sovereignty by building a new Constitution - An essay in four parts by Bronwyn Kelly.
Introduction from Bronwyn Kelly:
Subscribers and others familiar with my writing will be aware of my most recent book, The People’s Constitution: the path to empowerment of Australians in a 21st century democracy. I’d like to thank readers for their positive comments. But now it is time to think about how we might begin to make a people’s constitution a reality.
In this and my next three posts on the Australia Together Podcast I’ll be reading a new major essay which builds on much of the research in The People’s Constitution, taking it to the next step. The essay sets out a practical way forward for the making of a new Constitution by the collaboration of Australians. I suggest in the essay that if we learn how to do this well as a nation - and we can - then we can rescue our democracy and sovereignty, both of which are very much at risk of loss at the moment.
It will not be surprising that the new type of Constitution I’m proposing is one which gives a reasonable share of power to a party in our democracy who currently has none – the people. But to establish some practical ways of achieving progress towards that, I pose four questions in this essay and I’ll suggest answers over the next four episodes of the Podcast. The questions are:
1. Why does Australia need a new Constitution? (Part 1, Episode 40)
2. What’s wrong with our democracy? (Part 2, Episode 41)
3. How can Australians take back their democracy and sovereignty? (Part 3, Episode 42)
4. How can Australians achieve a peaceful coexistence of sovereignties and self-determining political equals? (Part 4, Episode 43)
At the outset, it is worth noting that the answer to the last two questions is the same: the answer to how we can take back our democracy and sovereignty and achieve a peaceful coexistence of sovereignties and self-determining political equals is for the people of Australia to establish what I call “non-exclusive terms of trust” with the parliaments they elect. This will need to be done by mounting what in other writing I’ve called a National Collaborative Process for the Development of a New Australian Constitution. This is a process that should be run by the people of Australia, independent of politics. The function of this essay is to help develop an understanding of the sorts of statements we will need to include in these terms of trust and how any and all Australians can become involved in the process of specifying them.
Listeners will note that the essay starts from a premise that Australians may well have already lost control over the one power they had under the Constitution – the power to choose who shall govern them. It is likely that this premise will be disputed, particularly by Australia’s two major political parties, although I cite substantial evidence for it. But disputes about it do not detract from the need to reverse or at least stem the loss, and on this basis I have suggested in the essay that the most urgent questions of our times are:
How do we wrest back control over the choice of who governs us and how do we establish some control over what they may rightly do with power?
If we answer these questions well, we can save our democracy and put the nation on a path to achievement of a peaceful coexistence of cultures, self-determining political equals, and sovereignties in a post-colonial world.
What’s in this Episode?
In Episode 40 I read Part 1 of the essay on Saving Australian Democracy and Sovereignty by Building a New Constitution. I ask, Why does Australia need a new Constitution? The short answer is: to save our democracy and sovereignty.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bronwynkelly.substack.com -
Introduction from Bronwyn Kelly:
On 28 September 2023, representing Australian Community Futures Planning, I addressed the federal Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights as a witness in its Inquiry into Australia’s Human Rights Framework. I made a case in support of a Human Rights Act but stated that the Constitution is a barrier to security of the human rights of Australians.
After my appearance at the Inquiry, Indigenous independent Senator Lidia Thorpe asked me two Questions on Notice. They’re really great questions and the answers go to the heart of how we should understand: (a) the very limited form of democracy we have in Australia, (b) how that is impacting our human rights, and (c) what we can do to make the Constitution fit for a 21st century democracy – one where everyone has political equality and is secure in all the human rights they need.
These answers have been published and are available on the federal parliamentary website at https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Human_Rights/HumanRightsFramework/Additional_Documents
Senator Thorpe’s questions were: (1) Can you confirm your submission that unless a Bill or Charter of rights is constitutionally enshrined, there is no domestic legal way to hold the executive government accountable for passing laws that abuse human rights beyond the government of the day choosing how they are held accountable for breaches through [sic.]? and (2) What is the biggest danger in pursuing the weaker AHRC [Australian Human Rights Commission] proposal as opposed to the constitutional model?
What’s in this Episode?
In Episodes 37 and 38 of this podcast series on Insights into Human Rights and Democracy in Australia, I provided my answer to Senator Thorpe’s first question. In this Episode 39 I answer her second question. In summary, I have suggested that the the biggest danger of “pursuing the weaker AHRC proposal as opposed to the constitutional model” is the risk of executive overreach which has the potential both to eliminate the democratic rights of Australians, and expand the governmental abuse of rights already evident on the record.
I also list and substantiate five reasons why Australians must all have human rights in the Constitution. In no particular order they are:
(1) A stable treaty with First Nations will not be possible unless human rights are first assured for all Australians equally in the Constitution.
(2) Future referendums for constitutional amendment are unlikely to succeed unless Australians are first assured that human rights are the property of all as equals.
(3) Australians would trust both parliaments and legislation more if they knew that laws were being made consistent with their stated rights and interests.
(4) Unless Australians have rights in the Constitution, we cannot have responsible government.
(5) Unless Australians have rights in the Constitution, we cannot restore a proper balance of power between the parliament, the executive government, and the courts.
Full transcript of this series on Insights into Human Rights and Democracy in Australia
Click here for a full transcript of Episodes 37, 38 and 39 on Insights into Human Rights and Democracy in Australia.
Or find the transcript at the ACFP website at https://www.austcfp.com.au/supporting-activities
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bronwynkelly.substack.com -
Introduction from Bronwyn Kelly:
On 28 September 2023, representing Australian Community Futures Planning, I addressed the federal Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights as a witness in its Inquiry into Australia’s Human Rights Framework. I made a case in support of a Human Rights Act but stated that the Constitution is a barrier to security of the human rights of Australians.
After my appearance at the Inquiry, Indigenous independent Senator Lidia Thorpe asked me two Questions on Notice. They’re really great questions and the answers go to the heart of how we should understand: (a) the very limited form of democracy we have in Australia, (b) how that is impacting our human rights, and (c) what we can do to make the Constitution fit for a 21st century democracy – one where everyone has political equality and is secure in all the human rights they need.
These answers have been published and are available on the federal parliamentary website at https://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Committees/Joint/Human_Rights/HumanRightsFramework/Additional_Documents
Senator Thorpe’s questions were: (1) Can you confirm your submission that unless a Bill or Charter of rights is constitutionally enshrined, there is no domestic legal way to hold the executive government accountable for passing laws that abuse human rights beyond the government of the day choosing how they are held accountable for breaches through [sic.]? and (2) What is the biggest danger in pursuing the weaker AHRC [Australian Human Rights Commission] proposal as opposed to the constitutional model?
What’s in this Episode? In Episode 37 of this podcast series on I provided Part 1 of my answer to Senator Thorpe’s first question. In this Episode 38 I’m providing Part 2 of that answer. I’m also providing a more detailed answer to a question I received from the Chair of the Committee, Mr Josh Burns MP. He asked:
"No member of the committee is a member of the executive but, in your submission and your opening statement, you talk about how a member of the committee would feel if a future executive were to make contrary decisions. I would put to you that absolutely they should have the right to; that any future government should have the right to completely disband any piece of legislation or make changes, as they see fit, and there shouldn't be a restriction on any future government making decisions as the government of the day. You speak about protecting the democratic rights of Australians, and to not have that would be a gross violation of the democratic rights of Australians, wouldn't it?" [My emphasis and Mr Burns’.]
My answer to Mr Burns can be summarised as follows: he is describing autocratic rule, not democracy. Governments should not - and under Australia’s Constitution do not - have the power to “disband” any piece of legislation. That is the right of the parliament. Mr Burns’ rendering of “democracy” undermines the rightful balance of power that should pertain under the Constitution. Governments have been able to sideline the parliament and completely neuter the courts in their ability to protect Australians from abuses of human rights by governments. In this episode I explain how this idea of the supposed “absolute” power and rights of executive governments is fundamentally undemocratic and has opened the way for loss of human rights in Australia.
I go on to make a suggestion about the type of constitutional reform we need to remedy the situation before Australians lose all access to their human rights in law. The mode of reform is not a Bill or Charter of Rights in the Constitution (partly beneficial though that may be). The necessary form of constitutional law on human rights is a National Agreement between all enfranchised Australians on Human Rights and Obligations. This is a different form of constitutional law to a charter or bill of rights. It is a much safer, fairer and just form of law on human rights in a democracy.
Full transcript of this series on Insights into Human Rights and Democracy in Australia: Click here for a full transcript of Episodes 37, 38 and 39 on Insights into Human Rights and Democracy in Australia. Or find the transcript at the ACFP website at https://www.austcfp.com.au/supporting-activities
Find the seven-step program of nation-wide community engagement and collaboration to build a Constitution fit for a 21st century democracy of political equals.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bronwynkelly.substack.com -
Introduction from Bronwyn Kelly:
On 28 September 2023, representing Australian Community Futures Planning, I addressed the federal Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights as a witness in its Inquiry into Australia’s Human Rights Framework. I made a case in support of a Human Rights Act but stated that the Constitution is a barrier to security of the human rights of Australians.
After my appearance at the Inquiry, Indigenous independent Senator Lidia Thorpe asked me the following two Questions on Notice:
(1) You say the AHRC [Australian Human Rights Commission] proposal does not go far enough and unless human rights are constitutionally enshrined abuse of human rights will continue and we will see government enabled climate change, new stolen generations, state sanctioned violence, homelessness, poverty, health issues, pollution, corporate exploitation, and war. We look around and see this all currently happening and worst of all for First Peoples on our own land. Can you confirm your submission that unless a Bill or Charter of rights is constitutionally enshrined, there is no domestic legal way to hold the executive government accountable for passing laws that abuse human rights beyond the government of the day choosing how they are held accountable for breaches through [sic.]?
(2) What is the biggest danger in pursuing the weaker AHRC proposal as opposed to the constitutional model?
In my appearance at the hearing I did indeed suggest that a Human Rights Act was a weaker proposal than constitutional enshrinement of rights, at least from the point of view that legislation can confer rights on Australians but unfortunately it won’t secure them. Without constitutional enshrinement of rights Australians will still be vulnerable to abuse or loss of their rights by executive government decisions when it is neither necessary nor just.
However, I didn’t suggest that the solution would be a bill or charter of rights in the Constitution. We need to do something new in the Constitution, but it isn’t a bill or charter. Quite a different form of constitutional enshrinement of human rights is required if we are to build a human rights framework that safely and equitably secures rights for Australians in democracy.
In my recent book, The People’s Constitution: the path to empowerment of Australians in a 21st century democracy, I have suggested that the necessary form of constitutional law on human rights is a National Agreement between all enfranchised Australians on Human Rights and Obligations. This is a different form of constitutional law to a charter or bill of rights.
This is not something that was discussed in my appearance before the parliamentary committee. So in this and the next two episodes of the Australia Together Podcast I’m providing my answers to Senator Thorpe’s questions in full. They’re really great questions and the answers go to the heart of how we should understand: (a) the very limited form of democracy we have in Australia, (b) how that is impacting our human rights, and (c) what we can do to make the Constitution fit for a 21st century democracy – one where everyone has political equality and is secure in all the human rights they need.
For a full transcript of Episodes 37, 38 and 39 on Insights into Human Rights and Democracy in Australia visit the ACFP website at https://www.austcfp.com.au/supporting-activities
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bronwynkelly.substack.com -
On 28 September 2023, ACFP's Founder Bronwyn Kelly addressed the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Human Rights in their inquiry into Australia’s Human Rights Framework. She made a case in support of a Human Rights Act but stated that the Constitution is a barrier to security of the human rights of Australians.
Dr Kelly testified that executive governments can - and they do - all too easily reduce or revoke human rights because rights are not enshrined in the Constitution. But with a process of nation-wide community engagement to build a new Constitution, Australians can finally secure the rights that have long been denied to them in Australian law. Read the full opening statement and the supporting material submitted by Bronwyn Kelly here.
The supporting material contains: (1) Five reasons why Australians must all have human rights in the Constitution; and (2) A seven-step program to safely enshrine the rights of Australians in a Constitution fit for a 21st century democracy.
This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit bronwynkelly.substack.com -
In Episode 35 Bronwyn Kelly reads the final chapter of her book, The People's Constitution: the path to empowerment of Australians in a 21st century democracy. She states that: Australia can establish a safe and prosperous future for all its peoples but only if it reconstitutes itself as an inclusive, full democracy – one in which the people have their rightful share of power and can establish a much better relationship of trust and productive collaboration with those they elect to represent them in parliament. The current Constitution cannot make that possible simply because it excludes the people from their essential share of power – the power of self-determination – and from the agency that can only be exercised if they and their will are fully and respectfully acknowledged as the source of the sovereignty.
She elaborates on how a coherent statement about the sovereign will of the people can be set out in terms of trust that can be issued to parliaments. This statement can contain our national values, an agreement human rights and obligations, a national people’s voice and an Indigenous Voice. She also outlines how terms of trust in this form can assist Australians to transform their system of merely representative government into a system of truly responsible government.
Bronwyn concludes by showing how a people’s constitution will be an enormous benefit to both everyday Australians and those they elect, particularly if Australians accept the invitation in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. She says: If as a nation we wish to start again, and this time give ourselves the best chance that all our children and all those we love will flourish, there is no better time to accept the gracious invitation from First Nations to walk with them towards a better future. Our willing assent to a people’s constitution which enshrines our political equality by means of enshrining our values, rights, obligations and voices is the key to that better future. We are limited in taking up this invitation to empower all our selves only by the extent of our imagination. We are not limited by any lack of means, practical incapacity, or legal strictures. We are not even limited by political short-sightedness. That will always be present but it need not obscure the truth for us – the truth that our nation is what we make it.
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In Episode 34 Bronwyn Kelly reads Chapter 9 Parts 1, 2, 3 and 4 of her book, The People's Constitution: the path to empowerment of Australians in a 21st century democracy. She discusses the democratic processes by which Australians might alter their Constitution and examines potential obstructions to those processes. Bronwyn then suggests options for overcoming these obstructions. She also highlights the fact that time is running out for Australians to secure their rights and freedoms and to secure their future safety in the face of climate change and global conflict.
Relevance to the referendum on the Indigenous Voice: For those who are still considering whether they should vote Yes or No in the referendum on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, this chapter of The People’s Constitution may provide some insight into why inclusive types of constitutional reform like the Indigenous Voice are so important for Australia’s ability to transition to an enabling form of democracy where everyone has political equality and a greater share of influence over the decisions that affect them. A Yes vote for a constitutionally enshrined Indigenous Voice is essential to a democracy of political equals. This will pertain regardless of whether the referendum passes next week.
This Chapter 9 shows why an enabling form of democracy is a must-have for all Australians, not just Indigenes. It also shows how we can make that necessary transition by establishing an orderly, nation-wide collaborative process for development of a people’s constitution.
A Yes vote next week will make the transition to an enabling form of democracy for all easier and quicker. A No vote will slow it down but it will not remove the need for the transition. The good news is that regardless of the result at the referendum, Australians can still rescue their democracy if they collaborate to build a people’s constitution.
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In Episode 33 Bronwyn Kelly reads Chapter 8 Parts 5, 6 and 7 of her book, The People's Constitution: the path to empowerment of Australians in a 21st century democracy.
In Part 5 she discusses the last of four essential changes to the Constitution - the need to eliminate the clauses that enable racism. She recounts how the group most affected by these clauses - Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples - has encountered difficulties in developing ways to safely remove them without increasing the chance of adverse discrimination. Bronwyn then suggests that safe removal of the races clauses would be possible if all Australians were granted the right of self-determination in the Constitution.
In Part 6 Bronwyn discusses how it is fundamental to Australia’s future as a cohesive, fair and prosperous society that the racist provisions in the Constitution should be repealed. But to ensure a safe repeal, Australian parliaments and executive governments will need to release some part of their grip on the paternalistic power they have enjoyed and, sadly, often misused under the current Constitution. The part of their grip on power that needs to be released is the part that prevents Australians from exploring what they can do for their communities with self-determination. Bronwyn argues that: "Self-determination may be viewed in an entirely positive light as a straightforward reform that has more capacity than any other to enhance the effective functioning of the state. As such, it is time that politicians and Australians both began exploring what it can do for them."
She concludes in Part 6 that self-determination is the missing ingredient in the national project. It is the right by which a nation’s people may express their sovereign will. Smart governments will enhance our quality of life and increase the stability of the nation if they seek out the people’s will and adapt their sphere of power to ensure it is realised.
In Part 7 Bronwyn explains that the objective of the book has been to create a space where all those empowered under the Constitution are invested with a reasonable share of power – a share sufficient to ensure that the nation’s project for the future, whatever it is, can be advanced in the interests of all, not just some, and that each empowered entity can play their full and, more importantly, their rightful part in democracy without abusing the power vested in them or the rights of another empowered party.
To implement these reforms we need a broadened structure for the Constitution to include: (1) a Statement of Australian Values; (2) a National Agreement on Human Rights and Obligations; (3) a National Peoples Voice alongside an Indigenous Voice; and (4) four other smaller consequential amendments to: (a) limit political donations, (b) reduce the powers of the governor-general, (c) reduce the power of the prime minister on war, and (d) eliminate clauses permitting racism. All of this can be achieved without destabilising the state.
Bronwyn explains how: "The proposals take nothing from the powers of the elected Commonwealth parliaments, executive governments or the states. They simply offer the full share of a new type of power to the people – a power that is not being exercised by anyone at the moment and which, in any case, no-one is lawfully authorised to exercise. In this proposed new constitutional arrangement the people are accorded the power to voice their aspirations – the power to say what they want to become as a nation. They can fill a gap in power with something that is absolutely necessary to democracy – the rightful power of the people to express their sovereign will. … So far from being a threat to elected parties, a people’s constitution would enhance and properly legitimise the power of all parties to that old Constitution, compared to the power they can legitimately exercise now."
Bronwyn finalises Chapter 8 by saying that the challenge of transitioning to a people’s constitution is not at all insurmountable. With a degree of good will and genuine commitment to community engagement it can be managed with decency and even create great excitement about the nation we can become.
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In Episode 32 Bronwyn Kelly reads Chapter 8 Part 4 of her book, The People's Constitution: the path to empowerment of Australians in a 21st century democracy. She discusses the third of four essential changes to the Constitution - the need to limit the powers of the prime minister in relation to decisions on war. The suggestion is that this power should be shared with the people through the parliaments they elect. There should be a clear demonstration that any decision to engage in war is in the national interest as defined by the people in their Constitution.
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In Episode 31 Bronwyn Kelly reads Chapter 8 Parts 1, 2 and 3 of her book, The People's Constitution: the path to empowerment of Australians in a 21st century democracy.
In Part 1 she points out how most suggestions about reform of our governance focus on mechanical alterations of the existing system. However, these don’t offer much, if anything, in terms of the possibility of political inclusion. Nevertheless, there are some mechanical reforms that are essential.
In Part 2 Bronwyn discusses the first of these essentials - the need to prohibit corporate and other organisational donations to political entities.
In Part 3 she talks of the necessity of limiting the powers of the governor-general.
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