Have you ever read our Constitution? Our schools don’t give students the opportunity to read it. And by the time we graduate we don’t have time to read it. Yet, the Constitution governs our lives.
Unfortunately, our Constitution is so weak and irrelevant to today’s world that our politicians routinely trample all over it and enact laws that have no basis in law.
We all need to read our Constitution so that we understand exactly how it works and what obligations it imposes on us. Without this knowledge we will continue to allow our politicians to do whatever they like. We have been lucky so far. Despite the many hiccups along the way, most of our politicians are decent people and they have created an Australia that tries hard to take care of its citizens. But we all know that our political system is very weak. We can see that in the party politics that have led to disturbing displays in Parliament, unseemly name calling during elections, and party politics overriding the wishes of the majority of Australian citizens.
It’s time for a change, but we cannot change the system until we know why it needs changing. Read our current Constitution and learn exactly what it says.
About our Constitution
Australia became a nation on 1 January 1901, when the six colonies federated. The legal basis for Federation was provided by the Australian Constitution, which sets out the basic rules for our system of government. It tells us how power is shared and exercised by our political and legal institutions. The Constitution was drafted at conventions in the 1890s, and endorsed by the Australian people through a series of referendums. It is our supreme law, binding us together, and underpinning many aspects of our daily lives.
Download: Click to Download our Constitution