![Tom Roberts, “The Big Picture”](https://quadrant.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/Opening_of_the_first_parliament.jpg)
The Case for Constitutional Reform
The fact that the Constitution gave Australians a system of government on the British model provided a sufficient indication of an intention to reject altogether the principle of the separation of powers, notwithstanding the close resemblance between the relevant provisions of the Australian Constitution and those of the United States Constitution. – Sir Harry Gibbs (1987)[1]
Constitutional government — government under the rule of law — requires an appropriate separation of powers. However, the Westminster style of government our Founders bequeathed to Australia provides a very weak separation of powers, especially between the legislative and executive branches of government. Under present conditions, few are the laws the Australian governments cannot create and change at pleasure. The effect is that these governments are accountable to no one except, once in every few years. at general elections. It is no wonder why so many of fundamental rights can be ignored and…
We are encouraged to rely more and more on government officials to do for us what we could equally well do for ourselves—and, maybe more importantly, not to do what might help us solve our own problems.
Sep 08 2024
10 mins
If we imagine a metric called the Pinocchio Scale, which measures the number of lies told by a politician as a percentage of his or her overall public statements, our current prime minister (for want of a better description), Airbus Albo, has moved well into uncharted territory.
Sep 06 2024
5 mins
The Justice’s legal analysis is superficially plausible but, nevertheless, the judgment is woefully woke. This is because the law, even if it were argued that the Court correctly applied the law, is incompatible with the biological fact that there are two sexes.
Sep 01 2024
14 mins