Professor George Williams, Dean of Law at the University of New South Wales, has addressed the National Press Club on the dual citizenship issue and the same sex marriage postal survey.
Williams suggested that the Turnbull government is “running against the grain of existing High Court authority” in relation to the marriage survey and the seven dual citizenship cases currently before the court.
In his address, Williams called for a range of constitutional reforms.
Williams, 48, has been Dean of Law since 2016. He was admitted to practice in 1993 and served as an associate to Justice Michael McHugh in the High Court. He has worked as a solicitor and barrister and has extensive academic experience at a number of universities.
A member of the ALP, Williams has unsuccessfully contested preselection on two occasions.
- Watch Williams’ Address in full (59m)
- Listen to Williams’ speech (33m)
- Listen to the Question and Answer session (25m)
Transcript of Address to the National Press Club by Professor George Williams.
The Constitution is not normally front-page news in Australia. Despite the profound impact it has on our politics and society, it is easy to see why.
The United States Constitution reflects its revolutionary origins in beginning with the famous call “We the people.” By contrast, our Constitution is contained in a British Act of Parliament that opens with:
Whereas the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania…
“Whereas” is hardly the sort of beginning that gets the heart racing. In addition, these words are not even complete. They fail to mention Western Australia, which joined the Federation just before the commencement of the Constitution in 1901.