http://www.dpmc.gov.au/referendum/ REFERENDUM ON THE REPUBLIC 1999 In late 1999, the Government will hold a referendum on whether Australia should become a republic. There will be two questions: one on the proposal for a republic which will follow the preferred model which emerged from the 1998 Constitutional Convention; and one on a new preamble for the Constitution. This website has been established to provide information about the referendum. Section 128 of the Constitution says that to change the Constitution, a proposed law setting out the changes must first be passed by Parliament. The proposed law would then take effect if approved by a majority of electors voting overall and by a majority of electors voting in a majority of states in a referendum. The Commonwealth Government has released exposure drafts of the referendum legislation and explanatory statements for public comment. Available from this site are the draft Constitutional Alteration Bill on the establishment of a republic and a draft of the proposed Presidential Nominations Committee Bill. An exposure draft of the proposed new Preamble is also now available. The referendum legislation has been released in draft form to give all interested individuals and groups the opportunity to comment before the Government finalises the form of the Bills for introduction into Parliament. The Constitution Alteration (Republic) Bill provides for: a President as head of state; the mechanism for selecting a President, including a committee to receive and consider nominations; the powers of the President; the removal of monarchical references from the Constitution; transitional arrangements. The Constitution Alteration (Preamble) Bill provides for the insertion of a new preamble into the Australian Constitution. The preamble would be located just after the title of the Constitution. The existing preamble, which is contained in the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900, rather than in the Australian Constitution itself, would remain intact. The Presidential Nominations Commitee Bill provides in more detail for the establishment of a committee to invite and consider public nominations for a President, should the change to a republic be approved. As this Bill would not alter the Constitution it does not have to be approved at a referendum. It has been released to ensure that all the main elements of the proposed model for a republic are available to those who wish to comment. The Government is genuinely interested to hear a wide range of views on the drafts and to incorporate those suggestions which will improve the legislation. Comments on the Constitution Alteration (Republic) Bill and the Presidential Nominations Committee Bill must be received by 16 April 1999 to be taken into account. Comments on the Constitution Alteration (Preamble) Bill must be received by 30 April 1999. There may be further drafting involved and the Government intends to make a final decision on all amendments in May. Comments should be made in writing and in the first instance to: Mr John Doherty Convenor, Referendum Taskforce Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet 3-5 National Circuit BARTON ACT 2600 Fax: (02) 6271 5566 Comments may be made via Email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------------------- RecOzNet2 has a page @ http://www.green.net.au/recoznet2 To unsubscribe from this list, mail [EMAIL PROTECTED], and in the body of the message, include the words: unsubscribe announce or click here mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20announce This posting is provided to the individual members of this group without permission from the copyright owner for purposes of criticism, comment, scholarship and research under the "fair use" provisions of the Federal copyright laws and it may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner, except for "fair use."
