The Australia Together Podcast

Episode 76: Bronwyn Kelly reads Part 8 of Chapter 6 and the Epilogue to her latest book, The Public Interest Economy: the path to wellbeing, security and sustainable consumption in a democratised Australian economy.Chapter 6 sets out a program of institutional reform that will enable Australians to maximise their chances of building an economy in the public interest. The program has six pillars of reform. This episode covers the final pillar - the Australian Public Interest Collaboration.Bronwyn also reads the Epilogue to the book which provides insights into the sort of lifestyle Australians can expect to enjoy if they transition to a public interest economy and what they will miss if they don't make the transition.She also lists what governments will need to do to release Australians from the yoke of neoliberalism before it becomes impossible to create a sustainable future on the Earth. In a nutshell, they need to abandon neoclassical economics because it is false and dangerous. It is propping up neoliberalism and that way disaster lies. 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

Episode 75: Bronwyn Kelly reads Parts 5 to 7 of Chapter 6 of her latest book, The Public Interest Economy: the path to wellbeing, security and sustainable consumption in a democratised Australian economy.Chapter 6 sets out a program of institutional reform that will enable Australians to maximise their chances of building an economy in the public interest. The program has six pillars of reform.Last week, Bronwyn covered the first two pillars. In this episode she covers Pillars 3, 4 and 5. Pillars 3 and 4 are vital for ensuring that Australians will be able to trust in their governments in the future and participate as equals in their own democracy to maximise the capacity of their economy to deliver wellbeing fairly for all.Pillar 5 is essential for the safe transition of Australians to a sustainable economy in the face of coming global crises. 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

Episode 74: Bronwyn Kelly reads Parts 1 to 4 of Chapter 6 of her latest book, The Public Interest Economy: the path to wellbeing, security and sustainable consumption in a democratised Australian economy.Chapter 6 sets out a program of institutional reform that will enable Australians to maximise their chances of building an economy in the public interest. The program has six pillars of reform.In this episode Bronwyn covers the first two pillars of the reform program and she places the program in the context of the challenges we are facing in a resource constrained world. This integrated program of reform is vital to the chance of survival in climate change and global economic disruption. 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

Episode 73: Bronwyn Kelly reads Part 7of Chapter 5 of her latest book, The Public Interest Economy: the path to wellbeing, security and sustainable consumption in a democratised Australian economy.Chapter 5 is about how to rearrange Australia’s welfare systems to transform welfare from being the privilege of a few to the permanent entitlement of all. It is about shifting from a targeted welfare system to a system of universal income security. And it’s about how this shift is essential to a flourishing and sustainable economy where no-one need live in poverty as millions of Australians do now.in Part 7 of the chapter, Bronwyn sets out the steps by which Australians can transition from targeted welfare to universal income security. They can do it by collaborating to design a universal basic income matched with fair tax reform. 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

Episode 72: Bronwyn Kelly reads Parts 4 to 6 of Chapter 5 of her latest book, The Public Interest Economy: the path to wellbeing, security and sustainable consumption in a democratised Australian economy.Chapter 5 is about how to rearrange Australia’s welfare systems to transform welfare from being the privilege of a few to the permanent entitlement of all. It is about shifting from a targeted welfare system to a system of universal income security. And it’s about how this shift is essential to a flourishing and sustainable economy where no-one need live in poverty as millions of Australians do now.In Parts 4 to 6, Bronwyn discusses how universal welfare is essential to our equality in democracy and to our entitlement as equals to fair shares of the burden and benefits of the economy. This leads into a discussion of how Australians can embark on an efficient and democratic process of collaboration to decide what sort of economy they want. Is it an economy that secures their wellbeing? Is it an economy that is fair? What does a democratic economy look like? How can we build a democratic economy that supports the public interest? In answer to these questions, Bronwyn suggests that Australians will need to assess their economy from the point of view of whether it fits with principles that they have decided will work best to foster the sort of economy they want. These principles are likely to be about fairness.Principles of fairness can be established in a National Accord on Wealth, Welfare and Wellbeing. Find out more at https://austcfp.com.au/supporting-activities#national-accord 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

Episode 71: Bronwyn Kelly reads Parts 1 to 3 of Chapter 5 of her latest book, The Public Interest Economy: the path to wellbeing, security and sustainable consumption in a democratised Australian economy.Chapter 5 is about how to rearrange Australia’s welfare system to transform welfare from being the privilege of a few to the permanent entitlement of all. It is about shifting from a targeted welfare system to a system of universal income security. It is also about how this shift is essential to a flourishing and sustainable economy where no-one need live in poverty as millions of Australians do now.In these first parts of the chapter, Bronwyn describes the history of our attitudes to welfare in Australia and how that has caused a growth in poverty. She also begins setting out how welfare can be rearranged to play a much more productive role in the economy, stimulating sustainable growth. In Australia, we have not structured our welfare system so that it can function as well as we need it to for the purpose of sustaining our wellbeing. We have relied instead on markets, which have totally failed us. So in Part 3, Bronwyn begins to describe the structural changes we need in the Australian economy to overcome the degradation of wellbeing and the growth in inequality caused by market dysfunction and the inherent and incessant tendencies of markets to fail. 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

Episode 70: Bronwyn Kelly reads Parts 11 and 12 of Chapter 4 of her latest book, The Public Interest Economy: the path to wellbeing, security and sustainable consumption in a democratised Australian economy.Chapter 4 is about how to arrange Australia’s economy in the public interest. More specifically, it’s about how Australians can take an influential role in this by using National Integrated Planning & Reporting – National IP&R – to build a long term plan for economic and resource sustainability.In Parts 1 to 5 of the chapter, Bronwyn spoke about how Australians can enter into orderly conversations in the National IP&R process that will allow them to help governments get public spending right.In Parts 6 to 8, she showed how they can do the same to get tax right.In Parts 9 and 10, she showed how we can use these conversations to establish full employment in a non-inflationary environment. This will involve building a national wellbeing industries full employment plan.In these final sections she shows how Australians can integrate long term national financial planning with the federal annual budget setting process so that we can escape economic recessions, including both those brought on by domestic and global market failures. 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

Episode 69: Bronwyn Kelly reads Parts 9 and 10 of Chapter 4 of her latest book, The Public Interest Economy: the path to wellbeing, security and sustainable consumption in a democratised Australian economy.Chapter 4 is about how to arrange Australia’s economy in the public interest. More specifically, it's about how Australians can take an influential role in this by using National Integrated Planning & Reporting – National IP&R – to build a long term plan for economic and resource sustainability.In Parts 1 to 5 of the chapter, Bronwyn spoke about how Australians can enter into orderly conversations in the National IP&R process that will allow them to help governments get public spending right.In Parts 6 to 8, she showed how they can do the same to get tax right.In Parts 9 and 10, she shows how we can use these conversations to establish full employment in a non-inflationary environment. This will involve building a national wellbeing industries full employment plan.A central theme in Parts 9 and 10 is that Australians need to establish full employment in the foundational wellbeing industries of our economy before they can expect to have a thriving and profitable private sector. Prosperity for all is not possible in any economy that has not already fully secured the wellbeing and safety of its human resources. 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

Episode 68: Bronwyn Kelly reads Parts 6 to 8 of Chapter 4 of her latest book, The Public Interest Economy: the path to wellbeing, security and sustainable consumption in a democratised Australian economy.Chapter 4 is about how to arrange Australia’s economy in the public interest. In parts 1 to 5, Bronwyn spoke about how Australians can take an influential role in this by using National Integrated Planning & Reporting – National IP&R – to build a long term plan for economic and resource sustainability. She showed how Australians can enter into orderly conversations in the National IP&R framework that will allow them to help governments get public spending right. In Parts 6 to 8, Bronwyn shows how they can do the same to get tax right. Australians can use conversations in National Integrated Planning & Reporting to compose the tax base so that it is fair and efficient, and so that it is likely to stabilise inflation without creating unemployment. These conversations will be essential to reduce poverty and inequality in Australia. Unless poverty and inequality are reduced, we will not be able to build an economy in which all Australians can participate and from which everyone can benefit. We will not be able to build an economy in the public interest. 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

Episode 67: Bronwyn Kelly reads Parts 1 to 5 of Chapter 4 of her latest book, The Public Interest Economy: the path to wellbeing, security and sustainable consumption in a democratised Australian economy.Chapter 4 is about how to arrange Australia’s economy in the public interest. Bronwyn starts with sections about how Australians can take an influential role in this by using National Inegrated Planning & Reporting – National IP&R – to build a long term plan for economic and resource sustainability.This activity of collaborative economic planning by the community is key to defeating neoliberalism. It is possibly the only way Australians can overcome the poverty, inequality, loss of wellbeing and unfair taxation caused by thirty years of the dominance of neoliberalism and neoclassical economics in Australia and many other advanced countries. 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

Episode 66: Bronwyn Kelly reads Parts 2 to 5 of Chapter 3 of her latest book, The Public Interest Economy: the path to wellbeing, security and sustainable consumption in a democratised Australian economy.Chapter 3 is called A framework for trust in a democratised Australian economy. It’s about how we can rebuild the trust that is essential for an economy that will deliver wellbeing and security for everyone. Australians can democratise their economy and increase their influence in decisions by using National Integrated Planning & Reporting (National IP&R) to design their preferred future as a nation and to strike an essential new agreement with their governments – a National Accord on Wealth, Welfare and Wellbeing. This is Accord is necessary for the restoration of trust in Australia’s governments and for the effective functioning of a democratic economy. 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

Episode 65: In this episode of the Australia Together Podcast on Substack I read the Introduction to Chapter 3 of my latest book, The Public Interest Economy: the path to wellbeing, security and sustainable consumption in a democratised Australian economy.Chapter 3 is called A framework for trust in a democratised Australian economy. It’s about how we can rebuild the trust that is essential for an economy that will deliver wellbeing and security. The keys to a democratised economy are National Integrated Planning & Reporting (National IP&R) and the National Accord on Wealth, Welfare and Wellbeing. 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

Episode 64: In this episode of the Australia Together Podcast on Substack Bronwyn Kelly reads Parts 12 and 13 of Chapter 2 of her latest book, The Public Interest Economy: the path to wellbeing, security and sustainable consumption in a democratised Australian economy.Chapter 2 is called Deploying money so that it can make Australians safe. It describes how Australia’s macroeconomic policy and governance arrangements can be reformed so that in future all Australians can be assured of their prosperity through the achievement of both full employment and price stability.In these final sections of Chapter 2, Bronwyn sets out the arrangement of economic governance in Australia that is the most appropriate for a nation where money is issued by government fiat. 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

Episode 63: Bronwyn Kelly reads Parts 9 to 11 of her book, The Public Interest Economy: the path to wellbeing, security and sustainable consumption in a democratised Australian economy. She discusses how Australia is suffering under a disintegrated macroeconomic management system where priority is given to ineffective monetary policy and governments are prevented from using fiscal policy to it fullest and best potential. The result is an economy that fails to control prices, unnecessarily increases unemployment, stifles private investment especially by small business, and reduces the welfare and wellbeing of the people of Australia.To replace that failing macroeconomic governance arrangement, Parts 9 to 11 suggest that Australian governments need to restore democratic influence over the Reserve Bank. They can do this by integrating responsibility for the macroeconomy under the control of the Treasury. 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

Episode 62: Bronwyn Kelly reads Parts 7 and 8 of Chapter 2 of her latest book, The Public Interest Economy: the path to wellbeing, security and sustainable consumption in a democratised Australian economy.Chapter 2 is called Deploying money so that it can make Australians safe. It describes a project of reform of the macroeconomic policy and governance arrangements for Australia’s economy so that in future all Australians can be assured of their prosperity through the achievement of full employment and price stability.In Parts 1 and 2 of Chapter 2 (Episode 60) , Bronwyn foreshadowed the need for a reduction of the degree of independence currently enjoyed by the Reserve Bank of Australia, suggesting that it amounts to an economic governance arrangement that is not in the public interest and is fundamentally anti-democratic.In Parts 3 to 6 (Episode 61), she began explaining how that economic governance arrangement should be replaced with a new integrated approach to macroeconomic management led by the Treasury via the use of functional finance – a marcoeconomic management system devised in the 1940s in line with Keynesian economics. This system can function as a counter to the failures of neoliberal and neoclassical economic theories.In Parts 7 and 8, Bronwyn puts the view that good economic management in Australia is not simply a matter of downgrading or removing the independence of the Reserve Bank, although that is essential if we want to democratise the economy. The even more important thing to do is to de-prioritise monetary policy itself, especially since it is not an effective macroeconomic tool. Monetary policy is not conducive to establishing either full employment of price stability. The chapter shows how damaging it is to prioritise monetary policy in macroeconomic management and how fiscal policy will be far more effective in achieving full employment with stable prices. 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

Episode 61: Bronwyn Kelly reads Part 3 to 6 of Chapter 2 of her latest book, The Public Interest Economy: the path to wellbeing, security and sustainable consumption in a democratised Australian economy.Chapter 2 is called Deploying money so that it can make Australians safe. It describes a project of reform of the macroeconomic policy and governance arrangements for Australia’s economy so that in future all Australians can be assured of their prosperity through the achievement of full employment and price stability. Parts 1 and 2 of this chapter foreshadowed the need for a reduction of the degree of independence currently enjoyed by the Reserve Bank of Australia, suggesting that it is an economic governance arrangement that is not in the public interest and is fundamentally anti-democratic. Parts 3 to 6 begin explaining how that economic governance arrangement should be replaced with a new integrated approach to macroeconomic management led by the Treasury via the use of functional finance – a marcoeconomic management system devised in the 1940s in line with Keynesian economics. This system can function as a counter to the failures of neoliberal and neoclassical economic theories. 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

Episode 60: Bronwyn Kelly reads the first two parts of Chapter 2 of her latest book, The Public Interest Economy: the path to wellbeing, security and sustainable consumption in a democratised Australian economy.Chapter 2 is called Deploying money so that it can make Australians safe. It describes a project of reform of the macroeconomic policy and governance arrangements for Australia’s economy so that in future all Australians can be assured of their prosperity through the achievement of full employment and price stability. 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

Episode 59: Bronwyn Kelly reads the Chapter 1 of her latest book, The Public Interest Economy: the path to wellbeing, security and sustainable consumption in a democratised Australian economy.Chapter 1 describes what a public interest economy is and its feasibility as a solution to Australia’s economic decline in the 21st century.Chapter 1 also introduces a theme that underpins the rest of the book: the claim that our economic prosperity, personal safety, welfare and wellbeing are not limited by a lack of money. A public interest economy is entirely feasible once we realise that anything we can actually do, we can afford. 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

Episode 1: Bronwyn Kelly reads the Introduction to her latest book, The Public Interest Economy: the path to wellbeing, security and sustainable consumption in a democratised Australian economy. The Public Interest Economy offers Australians a safe path to wellbeing, economic security and a sustainable natural environment by showing how they can use democratic processes to design their preferred economy.It shows how they can collaborate to develop plans for safe travel to a better future where no-one will fall into poverty or pay more than their fair share of tax, and where there is full employment in satisfying work. It also shows how an economy can be built in which there is income security, stable prices, equality of access to services sufficient for everyone’s wellbeing, and patterns of consumption and production that are sustainable within the limits of our human and natural resources. 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

Listen to ACFP’s Founder Bronwyn Kelly’s interview with Allan Behm from the Australia Institute about strategies we need if we are to safely navigate a changing world order. 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 last Issue of Australia Together - Issue No. 8 - 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

In this episode David Kelly and ACFP’s Founder Bronwyn Kelly talk in depth about how Australians could collaborate to design a universal basic income (UBI) for everyone and how at the same time they can use the process to secure fair tax reforms and reliable funding for all their essential services. 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 last Issue of Australia Together - Issue No. 8 - 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

In this episode David Kelly and ACFP’s Founder Bronwyn Kelly talk in depth about the proposal in Australia Together for a National Accord on Wealth, Welfare and Wellbeing. 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 last Issue of Australia Together - Issue No. 8 - 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

Listen to ACFP’s Founder Bronwyn Kelly’s interview with Ian McAuley about the prospects for restoration of universality in Australia’s health care system. 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 last Issue of Australia Together - Issue No. 8 - 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

Listen to ACFP’s Founder Bronwyn Kelly’s new interview with Julian Cribb from the Council for the Human Future about the rights we need if we are to provide a safe future on this planet for ourselves, our children and our grandchildren.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 last Issue of Australia Together - Issue No. 8 - 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

Listen to ACFP’s Founder Bronwyn Kelly’s interview with one of Australia’s most prominent political scientists, Professor Mark Beeson, about our prospects for getting world leaders and our own leaders to cooperate seriously to achieve international peace and environmental sustainability in the age of climate change.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 last Issue of Australia Together - Issue No. 8 - 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

Listen to ACFP’s Executive Director David Kelly talk with Founder Bronwyn Kelly about the Vision for Australia Together in this Episode of the Australia Together Podcast.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. 8 - 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

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=2e33fkIn 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=2e33fkIn 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-togetherWant 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

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 KellyIn 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-conventionFor 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 ConstitutionClick 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-essaysOther 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_DocumentsSenator 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 AustraliaClick 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_DocumentsSenator 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-activitiesFind 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. 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 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. 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 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. 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 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. 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 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. 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 30 Bronwyn Kelly reads Chapter 7 Parts 7, 8 and 9 of her book, The People's Constitution: the path to empowerment of Australians in a 21st century democracy.In Part 7 she states that the purpose of enshrining an Australian people’s national voice in the constitution is to enable Australians to develop terms of trust with the parliaments they elect. She suggests there is likely to be no other way to encourage a parliament to grant an appropriate share of power to the people in their own Constitution.Bronwyn also sets out how these terms of trust can enable a new arrangement of shared power, with the power to specify the national or sovereign will being accorded to the people and the power to make laws in accordance with that will being retained by the elected parliaments. She sets out how this system of separating two types of power can help governments to make more balanced policy decisions and parliaments to take the interests of future generations into account.Bronwyn then describes the form these new terms of trust might take and concludes that this will result in an arrangement of shared power which does not undermine the system of representative government. Instead it should enhance the capacity for responsible behaviour in that system.To facilitate this new arrangement of participation in democracy Bronwyn suggests that an independent centre of excellence in community engagement, social research and integrated planning should be created to support Australians in their right to build their own national people’s voice. She finishes by suggesting that the benefits of this wider spread of power include the coexistence of diverse voices, an improved chance of responsibly exercising rights to self-determination in political equality, and the chance to speed up transition to a sustainable future without increasing political or economic inequality.In Part 8 Bronwyn offers a starting draft of an enshrined constitutional process for expression of the national people’s voice. The draft is intended for use in community engagement.In the final part of Chapter 7, Part 9, Bronwyn talks about how other amendments to the Constitution will be necessary if we are to reduce the possibility of abuse of power by governments. 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 29 Bronwyn Kelly reads Chapter 7 Parts 5 and 6 of her book, The People's Constitution: the path to empowerment of Australians in a 21st century democracy. In Part 5 Bronwyn refers to the fact that there is a problem of injustice in the Australian state arising from the brutal dispossession of First Nations. In the Uluru Statement from the Heart, however, Australians have been offered the chance to restore justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. In this regard, First Nations have proposed a Makarrata - a process for coming together after a struggle. But there is a problem for successful development of a just reconciliation in that the Australian State has proven itself to be untrustworthy as a treaty negotiator. Additionally, Australia’s Constitution and legal systems are not structured to countenance the concept of a multiplicity of sovereignties and self-determination for all its populace. Bronwyn argues that until the current exclusive system of power in Australia is replaced with an inclusive system in which everyone can have a voice, a just treaty with First Nations is not likely to be viable. A people’s national voice must be enshrined as the political right of all Australians and it must coexist with an enshrined Indigenous Voice.In Part 6 Bronwyn discusses how the failure of our political systems in Australia has brought us to the brink of a climate catastrophe. She suggests that the Australian economy needs to be restructured to ensure future generations have a decent standard of living but that this can only occur if Australians are given a space to specify how the economy should be restructured according to their will. For this, we need democratic arrangements which enable us to assemble our national voice. We will need to create an orderly framework in which we can integrate the strategies most likely to push us towards a sustainable future before we are overwhelmed by climate change. We need National Integrated Planning and Reporting and enshrinement in the Constitution of the right to participate in this process. 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 28 Bronwyn Kelly reads Chapter 7 Part 4 of her book, The People's Constitution: the path to empowerment of Australians in a 21st century democracy. In this section she sets out how it has been necessary to adapt and expand the process of Integrated Planning and Reporting already legislated for local councils so that it can function at the national level and can be used efficiently by any Australian wishing to participate in National Integrated Planning and Reporting (National IP&R).If National IP&R is to have sufficient capacity to enable diverse Australians to come together and build a coherent people’s voice - a voice which expresses their aspirations for the future and is readily intelligible to parliamentarians - then two extra features need to be added to the model of IP&R used at the local level: (1) a capacity to protect and promote the extraordinary diversity of Australians; and (2) a capacity to build plans for a national economy that is inclusive and supports the aspirations, wellbeing and security of all - in other words, a human-centred economy.Bronwyn explains how the adapted process gives diverse Australians, for the first time, an efficient means of injecting themselves into an orderly decision process on the overarching purpose of their economy and how this gives parliaments and governments the knowledge they need to deliver a fair and viable economy. She also explains how the process is being trialed and tested at Australian Community Futures Planning using a prototype integrated plan called Australia Together. This prototype has a structure that enables efficient policy selection by Australians. It enables them to set the national long term agenda, free from short term politics.Bronwyn finalises the section by suggesting that the national people’s voice or, more accurately, the process by which it may be legitimately expressed should be enshrined in the Constitution as a right of the people – a right which is as important as any other civil and political right – so that when elected members of parliaments swear to uphold the Constitution they can no longer be mistaken about the full import of their oath and the nature of their obligations under it.Were Australians to enshrine a right to express their national people’s voice, they would be the first nation in the world with such a right and with an orderly means of determining their future they wish to build and share 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 Episode 27 Bronwyn Kelly reads Chapter 7 Part 3 of her book, The People's Constitution: the path to empowerment of Australians in a 21st century democracy. In this section she explains that a single open space on the internet must be established to enable Australians to develop their national voice. This space must be an inclusive, well organised one where Australians are supported with information and data necessary to help them build and monitor their own integrated plan for their preferred future.Bronwyn explains that an inclusive model for efficient operation of such a space already exists in state legislation that has been in place and working well in local government areas for more than a decade. This legislation for Integrated Planning and Reporting has enabled communities to form the terms of a social contract with their elected local councils and it has provided them with a means of holding councils accountable. It has also enabled communities to collaborate with councils on the best way to fund their plans at the lowest long run cost.The evidence-based plans and reports that have arisen from this process have positioned Australians to do something with their democracy that has hitherto proved impossible – creating a full scale democracy that need no longer exclude the voices of its electors. It has enabled them to create terms of trust with the governments they elect.Bronwyn finalises the section by showing that this system has been adapted by Australian Community Futures Planning for use at the national level and is now being pilot tested by ACFP. 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