[ Contents ]
PROCESS FOR EARLY RESOLUTION OF THE HEAD OF STATE ISSUE FOR THE WHOLE AUSTRALIAN FEDERATION
Proposed by Richard E. McGarvie and Jack Hammond QC
Aim of the Process1 The purpose of this process is to enable the people to make decisions in an informed, fair and effective way so as to achieve early resolution of the head of state issue for the whole Australian federation.
Drafting Committee
2 Conference appoints a non-partisan Drafting Committee of six persons to prepare draft legislation as directed by the Conference. As far as practicable one member of the Committee is to be nominated by each of the Liberal Party of Australia, the Australian Labor Party, the National Party of Australia, the Australian Democrats, and one member is to be appointed as being representative of the members of Australian Parliaments who belong to other parties or are Independents. To the extent that that is not practicable, persons representing those political viewpoints are to be appointed. One member is to be appointed as a community representative without regard to political viewpoint but as suitable for the Committee. The Committee is to appoint a Chair who will have a deliberative and a casting vote.
All Party Parliamentary Committees
3 Conference recommends that:
3.1 the Prime Minister, Premiers and Chief Ministers meeting as the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) decide that a Federal All Party Parliamentary Committee be established within the Commonwealth Parliament and a State or Territory All Party Parliamentary Committee within each State and Territory Parliament to investigate and report on3.1.1 the Head of State model which would best preserve or improve our democracy if the Australian federation separated from the monarchy, and3.1.2 the method of deciding the Head of State issue that would least strain the Australian federation;3.2 each State or Territory All Party Parliamentary Committee is to comprise six members and to investigate and report upon the two questions after inviting submissions and holding public hearings in regional areas and the capital city of its State or Territory. Each Committee is to send its report to the Federal Committee, make it widely available to the public and the news media and place it on the Internet. To ensure a non-partisan Committee, as far as practicable, one member of the relevant Parliament is to be appointed to the Committee by the members within the Parliament of each of the Labor, Liberal, National and Australian Democrat parties and one by the members of the Parliament who belong to other parties or are Independents. If a member is not or cannot be appointed in that way, the member is to be appointed by the Speaker of the Parliament, bearing in mind the desirability of having a non-partisan Committee. After inviting applications from the public, the five members are to appoint to the Committee another person who is not a member of Parliament, to represent the community generally. The Committee is to appoint a Chair who will have a deliberative and a casting vote. The Committee is to be funded and have its administrative services provided by its Parliament. The Committee is to appoint one of its number to be a member of the Federal All Party Parliamentary Committee;3.3 the Federal All Party Parliamentary Committee is to comprise fourteen members. To ensure a non-partisan Committee, five are to be members of the Commonwealth Parliament appointed in the same way as the members of Parliament appointed to the State or Territory Committees. After inviting applications from the public, the five members are to appoint to the Committee a person who is not a member of Parliament, to represent the community generally. The other eight members are those appointed to the Committee by the State and Territory Committees. The Committee is to appoint a Chair who will have a deliberative and a casting vote. The Committee is to be funded and have its administrative services provided by the Commonwealth Parliament. The Committee is to report upon the two questions after considering the reports of the State and Territory Committees and after such investigation and consultation as it considers appropriate. The Committee is to append to its report the reports of each of the State and Territory Committees and distribute its report to each member and the secretariat of COAG, all Leaders of the Opposition, the President and Speaker of each Parliament, the National Library and the main Library of each State and Territory, make it widely available to the Australian people and news media and place it on the Internet;3.4 in the report of each of the All Party Parliamentary Committees the model recommended by the majority and any with minority support are to be described in at least the detail required by the 1998 Constitutional Convention and the members supporting a model are to give full reasons for preferring it over the other models;3.5 where an All Party Parliamentary Committee is established within a Parliament with two Houses, as far as practicable, the members shall be drawn from both Houses.
Direction to Drafting Committee4 Conference directs the Drafting Committee to prepare draft bills, in accordance with or to the effect of the recommendations of Conference, which the Australian Parliaments could pass to establish the Federal Committee and all the State and Territory Committees. The Drafting Committee is to distribute its draft bills to each member and the secretariat of COAG, all Leaders of the Opposition, the President and Speaker of each Parliament, make them widely available to the Australian people and news media and place them on the Internet.
The Initial COAG Decision
5 Conference recommends that COAG make its decision to set up the All Party Parliamentary Committees after considering the report of this Conference and the draft legislation prepared by the Drafting Committee: and also decide to act as the co-ordinating authority to ensure that the process for early resolution of the Head of State issue is implemented without delay. The decisions of COAG in respect of the recommendations of Conference are to be notified to all Leaders of the Opposition, the President and Speaker of each Parliament, the Australian people and news media and placed on the Internet.
Following the Federal Committee Report
6 Conference recommends that after considering the report of the Federal Committee, COAG decide on the process then to be followed to reach early resolution of the Head of State issue and take steps to implement it. This decision is to be notified to all Leaders of the Opposition, the President and Speaker of each Parliament, the Australian people and news media and placed on the Internet.
Conference Recommendations to All Party Committees
7 Conference recommends that each of the All Party Parliamentary Committees consider recommending that the following steps be taken so as to decide the Head of State issue with least strain upon the Australian federation:
7.1 Each Parliament to legislate to enable a national plebiscite of all Australian voters to be held, in which the people of each unit of the federation (i.e. the Commonwealth, each State and Territory) will choose the model they would prefer for Head of State of their unit if the whole federation separated from the monarchy. All Australian voters are to mark one ballot paper showing their preference of model for the Commonwealth and another showing their preference for their State or Territory. Each detailed model with majority or minority support in the report of the Federal All Party Parliamentary Committee is to be included in the ballot papers;7.2 A bill to be drafted and passed by the Houses of the Commonwealth Parliament proposing constitutional amendments for a single referendum in which all Australian voters would vote yes or no to the one question, asking, in effect, whether they approve the proposal that would separate the whole Australian federation - all its units - from the monarchy: and if the proposal receives support from an overall majority of Australia's voters and from the voting majority and Parliament of each State, the units of the Commonwealth, States and Territories would all separate from the monarchy at the same time, with each converting to its preferred model without a monarch: and if that support is not received, all units would remain monarchies.
Distribution of Conference Report8 Conference recommends that the Corowa Shire Council prepare a report of the Conference and its decisions and distribute it to each of the members and the secretariat of COAG, all Leaders of the Opposition, the President and Speaker of each Parliament, the National Library and the main Library of each State and Territory, make it available to the public and the news media and place it on the Internet.