Speech by Charles Mollison,
Chairman of The Foundation for National Renewal3rd Shed a Tier Congress
Canberra, 22 March 2002
Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen.
How many of us have been to other forums just like this?
But how many of us can honestly say that long-term, positive change has occurred as a result of our participation in those forums?
My name is Charles Mollison and I have been asked to speak to you today in my capacity as Chairman of the Foundation for National Renewal.
The message I want to get across to you today is that: almost the only way we, the people, will achieve long-lasting, positive change in our society is by changing the Constitution.
The constitution is the document, the instrument, with which the People establish the sort of society they want to live in, and the way in which they want to be governed.
You will be forgiven if you look at our current constitution and find that, not only does it NOT prescribe the society we would like to live in, or the way we would like to be governed, there is not even a valid description of the current, parlous state of affairs.
By the way. If you have difficulty understanding what it is you are reading in the Constitution (as most people do) I have a limited number of copies of the Annotated Constitution published by the CCF. If you don't have one of these, it will be the best $15 you ever spend.
But let me repeat the message. The only way we, the People are going to achieve long-term, positive change in our society is by changing the Constitution.
Many will immediately cry out. "but it so difficult to get the people of Australia to agree to change the constitution". And they are right.
But this is Not because the Australian people are obstinate or naive. The history of failed referendums to change the constitution stems from the very fact that most of the proposed changes were not in the best interests of the People.
So what can we do to change the situation: - to eliminate this impasse?
The very first step must be a change to Section 128 of our Constitution. That's the section dealing with amendment of the Constitution.
You will be aware that Section 128 enshrines the principle that only the People (voting at a referendum) can change the Constitution. I am advocating a simple amendment to Section 128. A change that I believe few will want to argue against.
The simple change I advocate is to allow the People to initiate a referendum to change the constitution.
There is little doubt that our current system of government, with the current allocation of responsibilities, is a primary cause for the parlous state of the Murray Darling Basin. We all know, we have witnessed many attempts by the Feds or by one State Gov't or another to try and fix the problems on the Murray Darling Basin. And we are equally aware that all these attempts have been frustrated because of petty jealousies in one section or another.
And on the rare occasion when some diligent person has managed to get the Fed's and the States to agree to some particular course of action; before it can be implemented, there is a change of government at either the Federal level or in one of the States, and the whole plan falls into a heap.
The answer lies in changing the constitution. In changing our system of government.
And I will be surprised if at least one of the workshops today don't come up with such a recommendation. The real question is what and how.
Some will argue, "abolish state governments" - "establish regional governments based on natural areas such as catchment areas that will make more sense than a series of straight lines drawn on some colonial cartographer's map in the 1800s."
The challenge is to delineate regions using sensible boundaries; either natural or socio - economic: and to allocate powers and responsibilities to those regions that will overcome our problems.
If we delineate a region as the Murray Darling Basin, stretching from Queensland to central Victoria and west to South Australia it may be possible for a government in that region to fix the Murray Darling Basin; but would such a huge region be a sensible delineation to overcome all the many other problems we have in our society and in our system of government?
The challenge in front of us as we go to our workshops is to find a solution and then to express the solution in terms of a constitutional amendment.
The challenge then will be to devise a strategy to get that recommendation put to a referendum and to get the People of Australia to agree to it.
I wish you luck.
In closing, I would like to return to my opening statements that the only way we, the People, will achieve lasting, positive change in our society is by a change in the constitution.
But I don't believe that piecemeal changes will achieve the sort of society we want in our lifetime or in that of the next 10 generations.
What we need is a whole new constitution with a whole new approach. A comprehensive constitution that covers all aspects of our society and the system of government we would like to have.
A constitution that hangs together with all the necessary checks and balances.
A constitution written by the people, for the people.
A Constitution written in the context of the 21st century and in the context of a Nation State of Australia.
The Foundation for National Renewal - You have one of our brochures in front of you - is in the process of crafting such a constitution.
The Foundation is in the business of getting you, the People of Australia, to articulate exactly the sort of society you want to live in and the way in which you would like to be governed.
The FNR is currently providing you with the opportunity to make a lasting difference.
I ask you to participate. I urge you to participate.
The brochure in front of you contains an Application Form.
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