The Centralist Agenda in Disguise
After rejecting similar proposals in 1974 and 1988, the Australian people are once again being asked to approve the recognition of local government in the Constitution. [i] This mirrors the attitude famously attributed to the EU nomenklatura: “The people must keep on voting until they get it right.”
The Constitution is an agreement between the people of the several states to establish a new federal entity with limited powers. Local government, established by the colonial parliaments, was not involved. If, 113 years later, local government is now to be included, the details must be put to the people, who will have to agree nationally and federally, that is in a majority of states.[ii]
Although changes have been made to the Australian Constitution at about the same rate as the American, the political class constantly complains that the Constitution has proved far too difficult to change. They should blame themselves—the power to initiate change is reserved to the Canberra…
Madam: Archbishop Fisher (July-August 2024) does not resist the attacks on his church by the political, social or scientific atheists and those who insist on not being told what to do.
Aug 29 2024
6 mins
To claim Aborigines have the world's oldest continuous culture is to misunderstand the meaning of culture, which continuously changes over time and location. For a culture not to change over time would be a reproach and certainly not a cause for celebration, for it would indicate that there had been no capacity to adapt. Clearly this has not been the case
Aug 20 2024
23 mins
A friend and longtime supporter of Quadrant, Clive James sent us a poem in 2010, which we published in our December issue. Like the Taronga Park Aquarium he recalls in its 'mocked-up sandstone cave' it's not to be forgotten
Aug 16 2024
2 mins