Episode 16: The People's Constitution by Bronwyn Kelly (Chapter 5 - Parts 10, 11 & 12)

In Episode 16 Bronwyn Kelly reads Chapter 5 Parts 10, 11 and 12 of her book, The People's Constitution: the path to empowerment of Australians in a 21st century democracy. She begins by setting out why recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Constitution is necessary in the preambular Statement of Australian Values. It is necessary because the wording of proposed amendments to enshrine an Indigenous Voice in the Constitution is still too scant to enable implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full.Bronwyn then discusses how Australian values have changed since the last occasion on which Australians were asked to consider a new preamble in the Constitution (1999) and suggests it will be helpful to consider these differences in any new constitutional amendments. She finalises Chapter 5 with a discussion about how Australians must be free to determine their national values unobstructed by politics and ideology."The fact is that the true will of the people cannot be handed down by a government from above. A sovereign people’s will cannot be narrowed down to the will a government is prepared to let them have. It has to be the other way around. A sovereign people’s will, expressed in their statement of what they value, has to be the one that the people are prepared to let governments swear allegiance to and swear it in accordance with the terms of trust on which the people hand over power. … In short, if the people are sovereign then the will of the nation must be theirs to determine in its entirety – unobstructed by politics and ideology."This implies the need for a type of citizens’ assembly and decision process on Australian values that has not been attempted to date. Once an inclusive process for development of a Statement of Australian Values has been conducted, the Statement (alongside two other essential additions to the Constitution discussed in Chapters 6 and 7) will form the core of the terms of trust on which power can be safely handed over in elections. 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