Research by a UQ law academic indicates that giving more power to Australia’s states and territories would be a better way to address Australia’s federal problems than simply increasing the power of the Commonwealth.
TC Beirne School of Law Associate Professor Nicholas Aroney has published a major book on the making and meaning of the Australian constitution and his ideas will be presented at a public lecture on Wednesday, November 4.
Dr Aroney said that too many of Australia’s political and intellectual leaders had lost sight of the original vision of those who drafted the constitution and founded the nation.
“Although there is a real need to update the constitution for today’s circumstances, we first need to understand what the constitution means and what it was designed to do, before heading down the path of reform," he said.
“To date, no-one has seriously examined the full range of books about federalism that the founders were reading when they drafted the constitution.
"When the speeches and debates of the 1890s are understood in the context of the exciting ideas about federalism that were then circulating in the English speaking world, we can get a better appreciation of what the founders had in mind.”
Dr Aroney said Australian federalism is widely thought to be in need of a radical overhaul, with calls in some quarters to abolish the states and centralise power in the commonwealth.
“But my research indicates that the reverse would be more appropriate. Giving more power to the states would enable them to take the initiative and begin a process of true reform from the bottom up.
“This would be more in keeping with the founders’ vision, who saw federation as a way of enabling the diverse peoples of Australia to participate in their own self-government at a local, state and national level.
”The real question is whether the states themselves are willing to take up the challenge.”
The public lecture, Reinvigorating Australian Federalism, will take place at 5.30pm on Wednesday, November 4 at the Banco Court, 304 George Street, Brisbane.
Dr Aroney’s book, The Constitution of a Federal Commonwealth (Cambridge University Press, 2009) will be launched following the public lecture by The Hon Ian Callinan AC QC, Justice of the High Court of Australia (1998-2007).
The public lecture and book launch are sponsored by the Centre for Public, International and Comparative Law at the TC Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland. For further information visit www.law.uq.edu.au/documents/flyers/nick-aroney-book-launch.pdf Media: Dr Nicholas Aroney (07 3365 3053, 0413-736389, n.aroney@law.uq.edu.au) or Lynda Flower (07 3365 2523, l.flower@law.uq.edu.au)
