My first, unrationalised, gut feeling impressions:
It is uncoordinated and disjointed and contains Howard's pet peeves.
Trudy and Rod Bray wrote:
> THE AGE
> Tuesday 23 March 1999
>
> Draft preamble to the Constitution
>
> This is the text of the draft preamble to the
> Constitution released today by Prime Minister John
> Howard:
>
> 'With hope in God, the Commonwealth of Australia is
> constituted by the equal sovereignty of all its citizens.
Which God? Kerry Packer?
> 'The Australian nation is woven together of people
> from many ancestries and arrivals.
>
> 'Our vast island continent has helped to shape the
> destiny of our Commonwealth and the spirit of its
> people.
>
> 'Since time immemorial our land has been inhabited
> by Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, who are
> honoured for their ancient and continuing cultures.
This is a travesty! What is wrong with the dignity of'Aboriginal Peoples'? This makes
the First
Australians
sound like part of the flora and fauna.
> 'In every generation immigrants have brought great
> enrichment to our nation's life.
This belongs with the part above.
> 'Australians are free to be proud of their country and
> heritage,
but not free to speak of our true history
> free to realise themselves as individuals, and
> free to pursue their hopes and ideals.
but not free to see ourselves as a community, a group,a social entity
> We value
> excellence as well as fairness,
but no other human attributes?
> independence as dearly
> as mateship.
Does this mean that mateship precludes independence?Does mateship preclude 52% of the
population?
> 'Australia's democratic and federal system of
> government exists under law to preserve and protect
> all Australians in an equal dignity which may never be
> infringed by prejudice or fashion or ideology nor
> invoked against achievement.
Or political correctness?In light of the paragraph above how does Howard explain the
Native Title amendment Act?
> 'In this spirit we, the Australian people, commit
> ourselves to this Constitution.'
We'll see about that.
Trudy
>
>
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