OBJECTIVES

• The Constitution of Australia should reflect our Nation's and its people's independence in keeping with its fundamental principles of parliamentary and participatory democracy.
• While recognising prior ownership by our indigenous peoples, the Constitution protects the rights of all, promoting and celebrating cultural diversity and uniting all who live in Australia.
• The Constitution will recognise Australia's fragile environment and will seek to protect and preserve its diversity and natural beauty.

1. The Australian Democrats believe that our flag and national anthems be incorporated into the Constitution.
2. In accordance with the principle of popular sovereignty, Australians should strive for a more open and direct democracy ensuring that the people are the rulers and not the ruled. We support enhancing public participation in the political system by way of establishing regular elections, and referenda and plebiscites, including those initiated by the citizens themselves.
3. An Australian Republic would include
   (a) The Constitution should be amended to reflect our status as an independent democratic nation in which the People are Sovereign.
   (b) Consistent with the principle of popular sovereignty, a fully elected constitutional convention should be held to develop republic models after a plebiscite has been held to determine that Australia wishes to become a republic.
   (c) The separation of powers and the rule of law should be strengthened by creating an Australian Head of State with limited codified powers that adequately describe his or her relationship with the Executive, Legislature, Judiciary and the People.
   (d) The Government should not have the power to arbitrarily dismiss the Head of State. Natural justice requires that this only be done on certain specified grounds in accordance with a procedure, which involves both Houses of Parliament.
4. The Australian Democrats recognise:
   (a) Australia's indigenous peoples as the prior owners of the continent, with a spiritual attachment to the land, which extends back over thousands of years, and that the land was never surrendered to the British colonisers and their successors.
   (b) Indigenous Australians are hardly mentioned in the Constitution. The Constitution should acknowledge their prior ownership and their spiritual connection to Australia.
5. The Australian Democrats will support a Bill of Rights and Responsibilities.
   (a) In enacting a Bill of Rights and Responsibilities, we will seek to have it enshrined in the Constitution by the people
   (b) The legislation will detail freedom from discrimination and vilification on the basis of race, gender, religion, sexuality and culture
   (c) It will also detail freedom of speech, information, expression, association, assembly, to join and form unions, the freedom of the press, to conscientiously abstain, and a right of thought, to a fair and speedy trial, to sexual expression, to strike, to medical treatment and to die with dignity
   (d) The Bill will also detail responsibilities such as a duty to vote, pay taxes, defend the nation, respect intrinsic environmental values, protect the natural environment and promote justice, particularly by serving on juries
6. Separation of Powers
   (a) The separation of Executive, Legislative and Judicial powers should be strengthened to ensure that there is not an excessive concentration of power in any one branch. Currently, the Executive enjoys far too much power. It exercises an inappropriate amount of control over the Parliament and controls judicial appointments.
   (b) The Democrats propose that judicial appointments should be made by a Judicial Appointments Committee according to a set of established and public criteria. The Committee would comprise community representatives, academics, the Attorney-General and representatives of the Bar Association and the Law Council.
   (c) Ministers should be drawn only from the House of Representatives and not from the Senate. This would establish the Senate as a genuine house of review with a far greater degree of independence from the Executive.
   (d) We will also seek to ensure that the High Court interprets and applies the Constitution, that the Government remains responsible to the people for government expenditure and policy implementation, and that the bureaucracy remains independent of the Executive
   (e) We will continue to uphold one of the first policies adopted by the Australian Democrats, that the Senate will not be able to block supply
7. Electoral Reform
   (a) The Australian political system should remain fully representative of all citizens. In order to ensure that a broad range of views and interests is represented in the Federal Parliament, the Democrats support the entrenching of the quota-preferential method of proportional representation as the Senate electoral system.
   (b) The Democrats propose that the existing three year electoral cycle be increased to four years for the House of Representatives and eight years for the Senate.
   (c) That parliamentary terms be fixed, subject to the power to resolve deadlocks between the Houses.
   (d) In constitutional change, the Democrats will seek to provide for a bicameral parliamentary system with a House of Representatives and a Senate, both elected by proportional representation, and responsible to the people
   (e) We strongly hold that the current three tiers of Government in Australia should be replaced by a more representative framework, where the States are replaced by Regional Governments and Local Councils are replaced by Community Councils that carry out the work of that regional framework