Embargoed until 6.00 p. m. 4.5.77q
4jJAUSTHAIAA
PRIME MINISTER
FOR PRESS 4 MAY 1977
REFERENDUM CAMPAIGN OPENING
On May 21 we will all have an opportunity for a say in our
own future.
Four questions will be put to all of us, affecting the
Constitution. As you know, it is the Constitution that sets
the guidelines for the way Governments operate in Australia.
The questions that are being put to us all are, in our view,
fair, sensible and just. They will make the Constitution
work better.
In the past, people have had a tendency to vote No when
Constitutional questions and ref erendtns have been put. In
the past there may have been good reason for this. It has
often been a case of Federal politicians asking for more power
for themselves. People are a little suspicious of politicians
who ask for more power. People tend to think that politicians
have enough power.
But the questions being put on May 21 are quite unlike that.
Nobody is asking for more power for themselves. Nobody is
asking for more power for Canberra. The questions do not take
anything away from the States. That is important, because the
States have a vital and continuing role to play in our system
of Government.
The questions being put are fair. They are sensible and they
are just. They will make the Constitution work better. There
are other differences from what has happened in the past. There
was a Constitutional Convention at which representatives of the
Federal Government, State Governments and local government
discussed these matters in great detail. The principles lying
behind the questions gained great support at that Constitutional
Convention. We have all political parties in the Federal sphere
supporting these questions. I believe they are going to be
successful because they are fair, they are just, they are
reasonable, and they will make the Constitution work better.
/ Let us
-2-
Let us look at the proposals. The first proposal concerns
simultaneous elections for the House of Representatives and
for the Senate. Surely this is simple common sense, because
otherwise we could have four elections over the next four years.
A Yes vote cannot reduce the powers of the Senate or of the
States, but what it does mean is that when you go to vote in the
Federal area you will be voting for the Government of Australia.
The second proposal concerns the Senator you actually elect.
Should he die or resign during his period of office, we believe
that he ought to be replaced by somebody from the same political
party and thaL. the replacement Senator should serve out the
remainder of this term. That means that the party balance
determined at one election will be maintained until the next.
The third question concerns the right of voters in the Australian
Capital Territory and Northern Territory to vote at referendums.
At the moment they are denied that right. We believe it is
only fair and proper that they should be able to vote as can
other Australians. 150,000 people are involved. We ask you
to give th'em that right.
The fourth question concerns the retiring age for Federal judges
to be appointed in the future. We believe that after the age of
it is only fair and reasonable that responsibility should be
handed on to younger people, and this is especially important
with the new development of a -Federal system of Family Courts.
A Yes vote will make this possible.
The four proposals then are these: simultaneous elections to
be held for the Senate and the House of Representatives:
casual Senate vacancies to be filled by a person of the same
political party as the Senator chosen by the people: electors
in the Territories to be allowed to vote at referendums to
alter the Constitution: and retiring ages to be set for High
Court judges and judges of other Federal Courts.
We recommend a Yes vote on all questions. They . re fair, they
are reasonable, they are just, and they will make the
Constitution work better. They are supported by all Federal
political parties. They represent plain Australian common
sense. They give us a real opportunity to reform the Constitution.