E f. IB AR GO0 8.00 P. M. Ij~ h'RAflA E
PRIMEMINISTER
FOJI PRESS
REEEDU4 CAM4PAI GN ADDP3SS GREEK COMONITY . CNTK'R11,. 1RI. S. BNE
it is very good to be here in Brisbane again. A-s you know,
things havebeen a little hectic on the travel front since the
controllers strike which has brought Australian air travel to
almost a complete stop.
The air controllers already earn almos t twvice as much as most-I
Australians, and now they are demanding a further $ 7,000 a year.
Their strike is disrupting the commtunity, and -causing peoplej
considerable hardship, particularly since the strike coincides
with school holidays. It has directly put at risk the Jobs of
over -30,000, Australians. The Governmnent is determined to ensuxre
that the proper process of the Arbitration and Coflciliation
leciislation should b-8 observed. We believe this.-rresponsiile
strike zhould be settled as qu-ickly as possible on its own merits,
uninfluenced by industrial action.
But what we are here to discuss today is the four referenidum
proposals Australia will be volting on in twelve days time. It is
importantL that we talk about this because the success of the
referendums will ma~ ke a major contribution to the constitutional
development of our counitry. It will establish whether as a nation
we are willing to make constitutional changes which will introduce
( N major and considered Teforims to improve our constitution. I
The men who framed the constitutdon over 70 years ago served
Australia well. They drew up a document which has not been outdated
by the pas-age of 70 years, a-nd they realised that at
particular moments in time, constitutional changes would have
t-o be made to ia-intain the vitality of thie constitution, changes
which would bring parts of the constitution into line wt.
contenporary p~ toblems and issues. That is why they built a
referendum mechanais into the constitution. It is our responsibility
to vse the mochanism to bring about necessary change,
and this is our opportunity to show we can use referendums as the
Fouinding Fathers intended, to bring about sensible and practical
reform~ s whicha will make the constitution serve the needs of our
society better.
Th1e fo0ur constitutional referendumu propose fair, sensible and
just changes tL-o reform the constitution and I amt sure that the.-y
will be successful. In the past, people have tended to vote ? 4o
on constitutional questions, and in many cases there was a good
reason for this. M'any past referendims tried to get; more power
for-federal politicians, and more power for-Canberra. They sought
to weaken the states. These referendums are different. / They do not
-2
They do riot . seek more power for politicians. They do not seekt
power for Canberra. They do niot wieaken the states. These refer,
meet all the requirenyents Australi. jans have set for constitutiona
changes
The proposals have been care fully considered, and there has been
extensive consultatioq about them.. There was detailed discussi
of'the principles of 411 four referendums at the Hobart ConStitU
Convention last year. I" The Comimonwealth, all the states, local
governhment, and all the * major parties were represented at that
convention. The principle-s". of -the four proposals were adopted
overwhelmingly by the'convention.
-The changes are supported on a bipartisan basis by all the major
fedearal parties. Each of the four proposals vie are now supv" s-twas
passed in the Hfouse of Representatives without a single A is.,
voice, and each was passed by an overwhelming majority in the Se
Putting thie four proposals forward is evidence of our concer-n to
necessary constitutional reforats, and of our support for the' 7'
constitutional convention which the Mcmahon Liberal Government
' I established. The people have to be allowed to vote on thcse proposals which a
generally supported and which are sotuid. Otherwise -the Constitu:
Convention would be a meaningless exercise. Clearly, the issue
constitutional reform is more important than that.
Ii. The four changes are these. First, -that -there should be simulta:
elections for the Senate and House of Representatives. It is si-T
coiwion sense that the elections always be held at the same Vtwie,
that the only time you have to vote in a Federal election is' , The;
have to choose Australia's Government. This proposal will maint'.
Br and strengthen the Senate. It also imans we will not have to vot
Ienl ecatsi omnasn y inf edtheer aln eexlte cftoiuorn sy. e arsO. therwIt iseis wes omcoeutilmdl esh avsea ida s thco; lany a
simultaneous elections can be achieved by bringing the House of
Representatives election forwa-rd to coincide with that of the Set-
Unfortunately, that is just not practical. At the last acotiori,
two Houses were elected at the same time, because there was -a doi.
dissolution. Despite this, they are now out of phase once again.
Thi~ s is because under the constitution Senators terms are back-dr,
to the previous July 1. The term for the House of Representativ.
the other hand, only begins when members are sworn in, uisvally s(;
weeks after the election. This means that unless the constitutio
changed, the only -way -short of continual double dissolutions
bring the elections together would be repeatedly to cut short thc
term of the House of Representatives.
V'ar from weakening the Senate, the simulitaneous elections
will strengthen it. In 1975 it was quite by chanc that Bills ex~
* which enabled the Governor General to order a double dissolution
make both Houses face the people. Had the Senate not been abjLe to
wthaes qpeuoitpel e byth ecmhasneclev est, h ats o thteh act irtchuemirs taanccteios nse _-m4sigtehdt pbeer rttjnu dgedi that,.
double dissol. ution to occur a numaber of Senators would not havt,
agreed to block supply. They would not have felt they had the r~.
to make the House of Representatives g0 to an electionl alonewithout
the voters being ablie to pass a judgement on the Senate's
hctions at the same time.
The Senate's powers are great. But unless the present. situation is
changed, unless the Senate ca.' n face the people if it sends the House
of Representatives to an election, I can foresee two alter-native
consequences, either of which will diminish the Senate's power and
authority.
on the one hand, the Senate might refuse to check a bad Government
unless there happened to exist the circumstances which would permit
a double ftsolution. Senators would not act because their actions
could not be judged by the people at the election. This would erode
the Senate's powers.
Alternatively, if Senators were to make the House of Representatives
go to an election without facing tlie people themselves, then there
would be a public outcry against the Senate which could lead to the
Senate's powers being restricted or abolished. tither of these
S aslttaetrensa, tiavneds bawdo ufldo r bAe ubsatCd rafloiar. deTmhoact raisti c wghyo vietr nmise nti, n pboardta nfot. r ththaet
this referendum be passed. It will preserve and protect the Senate's
powers, and protection of the powers of the Senate, where all states
are equally represented, means protection of the States.
The second referendum proposal is that, whenever ' a Senator dies or
resigns, he will. be replaced, for the remaindr of his term of office.
by a member of the samne party. This will guarantee that your choice
of parties for -the-Senate cannot be altered, by accident or design.
our system of proportional represetntation for the Senate is designed
to ensu. re that -& he Senate represents all sectors of the electorate in
precisely the correct proportions. Yet under the constitution as it
presently stands, a vacancy in the Senate can result in a complete
change in the party ba-la-nce. it is fundamental to our democracy that
only the people should determine the balance of the parties in tbe
W Senate. Once this proposal is accepted, the peoples choice will be
preserved until they have an opportunity to make another choice at
the next, election.
The th-ird referendium propbsal is that voters in the ACT and Northern V
Territory should have a vote in all future referendums. This is a[
fuidemental right all other Australians have, but which voters in
the territories are denied. I know of no rational or reasonable
argument for denying territorial voters this basic right. Territorial~
voters have the same obligations as other Australians. They pay ta. xes,
they are obliged to observe the laws of the Commonwealth, they vote
for members of Parliament. The outcome of referendums affeot
them as much as they do other Australians. Oar demouracy is the
weakder until the voters of the territories have the basic right to
vote in referendums restored to them. / The fourth
A
The fourth. and final refarendwn proposal is to set a r-etiring
age for Federal. justices-. fl igh court justices would : retire at
and the retirement age for other Federal Court Judges would
be determined by Parliament. -The ' proposal does not affect the
terms of judges already appointed to ' 1the Rench_. There is thus
no question of acting in breach of -the' existing Judges terms of
appointment. This proposal. i-s 6nL1%_ reasonable. Most jobs have
retirement ages, and for gobd rea-son. Judges are as af fected by
old age as the rest of us. It is only fair that after the age of
responsibility should b handed over to younger people. This
is even more important now that the new system of Federal Family
Courts have been set up, K~
All four referendum proposals ar'fir, just and reasonable.
They meet all the requirement's for iuccess. They have been
extensively considered. They> have the support of all major
Federal parties. They do not involve more power for Canberra,
they will make the constitution work better-
The polls show that all the referendums are supported by substantial
m~ ajorities in all states. There is particularly strong support in
Queensand, for every proposal, and Queensland have always been in
the forefront of constitutional changes with a particularly stro4
record for supporting referendum proposals. Queensland has voted
Yes on 18 of the 32 referendums since Federation a far higher
proportion than some of the southern states.
But we all know that there is no surer guarantee of defeat, than
complace-ntly believing success is assured.
To g arantee success, we should all go out and work for the
referendums, by talking to people about-them, by manning polling
booths, by doing all we can to increase. support for them.
If we all do this, then I have no doubt the referendums will
be agreed to by a strong majority in Queensland. And this Is
of tundamnental importance to the referendums being passed overall. ' C C