PDC: Constitutional Reform Policy

Constitutional reform
The Constitution of Australia came into force in 1901 and founded our Commonwealth. Since then, the Constitution has only been amended eight times. It was drafted in the final decade of the Nineteenth Century and contains many flaws that reflect the cultural attitudes of the time which have not been addressed in more than a century. Although the Australian Constitution can only be amended through a referendum, the Pirate Party is committed to putting the following constitutional reforms on the agenda.

An Australian Bill of Rights
The Pirate Party supports the introduction of a constitutional bill of rights in Australia. Please see our Bill of Rights policy for details.

Citizens' initiatives
In Australia the only way to repeal or enact legislation is through Parliament: there is no direct way for Australians to enact, amend, repeal or vote for or against legislation. A solution to this is to allow citizens to directly petition the Commonwealth Parliament to conduct a referendum on the issue.

Citizens' initiatives are used in some jurisdictions to allow citizens to directly participate in legislative decisions. Mechanisms such as this have been implemented in various different ways and to varying degrees of success in Austria, at the supranational level in the European Union, Finland, all German states, Hungary, Italy, Latvia,, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, New Zealand, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, several states of the United States and Uruguay.

The Pirate Party supports the right of Australians to directly exercise legislative power in certain circumstances using citizens' initiatives. However, the Pirate Party also recognises that setting a threshold is necessary to prevent abuse of the system by special interest groups. The Pirate Party believes a threshold of 1% of electors would be appropriate for a petition to be successful.

The Pirate Party supports legislation allowing citizens' initiatives as a temporary measure, but ultimately this right should be enshrined in the Australian Constitution.

Recognition of Indigenous Australians and prohibition of racial discrimination
Although European colonisation of our country began in 1788, the Australian continent has been the home of a myriad of indigenous societies and cultures for at least 40,000 years. However, indigenous societies have faced virtual destruction as a consequence of discrimination, paternalism, genocide, as well as the introduction of diseases, substance abuse, slavery and dependency on the state. Families have been broken up, and discrimination in the criminal justice system has caused immeasurable damage to Indigenous Australians and their societies. Moves to amend the travesties of the past have been positive. The High Court's decision in the Mabo v Queensland (No 2) overturned the doctrine of terra nullius that was used to dispossess Indigenous Australians. The Native Title Act 1993 (Cth) restored some land rights to Indigenous Australians. The 2008 apology to Indigenous Australians was symbolic of a nation willing to make amends for the horrors of the past. However, much remains to do before we can truly have reconciliation in Australia.

Elsewhere in the world efforts have been made to recognise the rights of indigenous peoples (particularly in relation to land) including in the United States, New Zealand, Canada, Malaysia and South Africa. The Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples draws attention to the recognition of indigenous inhabitants in Finland, Norway, Sweden, Greenland (Denmark), Russia, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico and the Philippines, in addition to Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States. These efforts range from recognition by the courts to treaties and constitutional recognition. The Pirate Party acknowledges that the Australian Constitution does not recognise Indigenous Australians as the original inhabitants of our country.

Further to this, the Australian Constitution was drafted in an era of racial discrimination and its influence on our constitution is undeniable. In particular Section 25 acknowledges that states may discriminate on the basis of race by disqualifying persons of that race from voting, and Section 51(xxvi) permits the Commonwealth Parliament to create laws for "the people of any race for whom it is deemed necessary to make special laws."

It is against this backdrop that the Pirate Party supports the recommendations of the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples for a single referendum to repeal the 'race provisions' in the Australian Constitution (Sections 25 and 51(xxvi)), recognise Indigenous Australians as the original inhabitants and their languages as the original languages, and to include an explicit prohibition of racial discrimination. The Pirate Party agrees that, although there is still a long way to go, "constitutional recognition would provide a foundation to bring the 2.5 per cent [of Indigenous Australians] and the 97.5 per cent [of non-indigenous Australians] together, in a spirit of equality, recognition and respect, and contribute to a truly reconciled nation for the benefit of all Australians."

Support for citizens' initiatives

 * The Pirate Party supports a referendum to insert provisions allowing citizens' initiatives in the Australian Constitution.
 * There should be two tiers of citizens' initiatives: "agenda initiatives" and "full-scale initiatives."
 * Agenda initiatives are non-binding mechanisms modelled on the systems in Latvia, Hungary, Bradenburg and Hamburg to compel Parliament to consider a particular proposal.
 * Agenda initiatives should have a petition threshold set at 0.2% of the number of enrolled electors at the Federal Election prior to the submission of the petition.
 * Full-scale intitiatives are binding mechanisms to compel the holding of a referendum on a particular proposal.
 * Full-scale intitiatives should have a petition threshold set at 1% of the number of enrolled electors at the Federal Election prior to the submission of the petition.
 * Citizens' initiatives should be permitted for enacting, amending, repealing or otherwise challenging legislation.
 * Specifics relating to citizens' initiatives should be dealt with by legislation.
 * Citizens' initiatives should provide reasons for the petition and identify objectionable aims or provisions of the legislation if supporting a repeal.
 * To avoid the potential problem of repealed or rejected legislation being reintroduced with amendments or in a different format, legislation repealed or rejected as a result of a citizens' initiative (or legislation that is similar) should not be re-enacted at a later date without the approval of a referendum unless the objectionable provisions or their effect have been removed.
 * The High Court of Australia should have the power to determine whether legislation is the same or similar and whether or not the objectionable aspects remain.

Support for the recommendations of the Expert Panel

 * The Pirate Party supports a referendum as recommended by the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
 * Repeal Section 25 and Section 51(xxvi) of the Constitution.
 * Insert a new Section 51A recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and providing the Commonwealth Parliament with the power to make laws in the interests of Indigenous Australians.
 * Insert a new Section 116A prohibiting racial discrimination.
 * Insert a new Section 127A recognising English as the national language and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages as the original Australian languages, a part of our national heritage.