This year is shaping up to be an important one for Australians.
The federal government has flagged that there will be a referendum proposing a change to the Australian Constitution.
Successful referendums are few and far between. Since 1906 there have been 44 proposed amendments put to the Australian people and only eight have resulted in changes, the last being in 1977.
So, this year does present an historic opportunity for Australians to engage in the most democratic of processes, voting to amend the Constitution.
There will be a lot of debate in the media, in coffee shops, and around the water cooler about the process and the issue: an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
But I do wonder how many people engaging in such discussions will have read either the Constitution or the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
I would encourage Australians wanting to actively engage in the process to do so, the Constitution is not as big a document as you would think, and the Statement from the Heart is one page.
I understand that current discussion is around how much detail there must be for people to make an informed decision.
I’m no constitutional scholar, so I defer to the experts. Quite simply, a referendum requires a question to be put to the people; it asks for support or otherwise for a change to the way we do things.
There is no precedent for requiring a detailed model to be put, just the scope within which parliament may then make laws.
Once the Constitution allows parliament to make such laws, it is in the parliament who will then debate the details, and while the constitution rarely changes, the Australian people get to decide who sits in the parliament and on what mandate they are elected.
The debate around this year’s proposed referendum is an important one, and I hope its an informed one.
It also has the potential to be divisive within our community. While this is a federal issue, I am interested in hearing from our community, but I ask that we all remain respectful and considerate throughout.
