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Preamble Referendum: Howard-Ridgeway Urge A YES Vote

Nov 03, 1999

Prime Minister John Howard and Democrats Senator Aden Ridgeway have held a joint press conference urging Australians to vote yes to the preamble in Saturday’s referendum.

Transcript of joint press conference held by Prime Minister John Howard and Senator Aden Ridgeway.

PRIME MINISTER:

Ladies and gentlemen, Senator Ridgeway and I have decided to call this joint press conference to make a joint appeal to the Australian people to vote yes to the preamble on Saturday. And the fact that the two of us have come together at this news conference symbolises the value of the preamble as a uniting element in constitutional debate in Australia.

Because Senator Ridgeway is a self-declared yes voter on the republic and I am a self-declared no voter on the republic. But on the issue of the preamble both of us together are asking the Australian people to vote yes because we see the preamble as a way as we go into the next century of expressing what unites us rather than continuing a debate about what doesn’t unite us. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Australian Democrats, Howard, Indigenous, Preamble, Referendums Tagged With: , , ,

Proposed Wording For Preamble Referendum

Sep 01, 1999

This is the proposed wording for the Preamble to the Constitution that will be voted on in a referendum later this year.

Proposed wording of Constitutional Preamble.

With hope in God, the Commonwealth of Australia is constituted as a democracy with a federal system of Government to serve the common good.

We the Australian people commit ourselves to this Constitution [Read more…]

Filed Under: Constitutional Reform, Preamble, Referendums Tagged With:

Jeff Kennett Proposes New Wording For Preamble Referendum

Apr 14, 1999

The Victorian Premier, Jeff Kennett, has released a proposed preamble to the Constitution.

Kennett’s preamble, or declaration, follows the Howard government’s release of an Initial Bill that contains a draft preamble.

Text of the Kennett Preamble.

We commit ourselves to the Commonwealth of Australia as a sovereignty founded on the values of equality and dignity. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Constitutional Reform, Preamble, Referendums Tagged With:

Preamble Referendum: Initial Bill – Explanatory Statement

Mar 25, 1999

This is the Explanatory Statement for the Initial Bill for the Constitutional Preamble referendum.

Explanatory Statement – Initial Bill

CONSTITUTION ALTERATION (PREAMBLE) 1999

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Constitution Alteration (Preamble) 1999

1. Introduction

2. The main elements of the Constitution Alteration (Preamble) 1999

3. The Constitutional Convention’s recommendations relating to a preamble [Read more…]

Filed Under: Constitutional Reform, Preamble, Referendums

John Howard’s Exposure Draft of Proposed New Preamble

Mar 25, 1999

This is the text of an exposure draft for the Preamble referendum, released by Prime Minister John Howard.

Preamble referendum, exposure draft from Prime Minister John Howard.

With hope in God, the Commonwealth of Australia is constituted by the equal sovereignty of all its citizens.

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. [Read more…]

Filed Under: Constitutional Reform, Howard, Preamble, Referendums Tagged With: ,

A.L.P. Releases A Draft Preamble To The Constitution

Mar 12, 1999

The Federal Opposition Leader, Kim Beazley, today released the ALP’s draft of a preamble to the Constitution.

Gareth EvansThe preamble was written by the former Attorney-General and Foreign Affairs Minister, Gareth Evans.

Evans reportedly consulted with Aboriginal groups, the Australian Republican Movement, the Constitutional Centenary Foundation and Federal Finance Minister, John Fahey, before releasing the draft preamble.

The referendum on the preamble will be held in November this year, in conjunction with the referendum on the republic. [Read more…]

Filed Under: A.L.P., Constitutional Reform, Preamble, Referendums Tagged With: