William Burroughs' Baboon laments that Iraq may get a preamble for their constitution that will be superior to Australia's. Many have had a go at the preamble; from poets, political academics, Republicans, and even the Prime Minister John Howard. What is the purpose of a preamble, and why does our constitution's existing preamble need replacing? I end by having a crack at the preamble myself.

What is a Preamble?

According to the Oxford Australian dictionary a preamble is a preliminary statement, an introductory part of a statute or deed. A preamble is not intended as being of legal power, it is more a statement of intent. The US Supreme Court has referred to it in the US Constitution as evidence of origin, scope and purpose. The Australian Constitution does have a preamble, but it is not inspirational or aspirational. It reflects the transition of a colony to a self-governing political entity. Hardly fitting for modern-day Australia. The existing Australian preamble;

Commonwealth Of Australia Constitution Act
(Preamble)

An Act to constitute the Commonwealth of Australia. [9th July 1900]

(The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster)

Whereas the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania, humbly relying on the blessing of Almighty God, have agreed to unite in one indissoluble Federal Commonwealth under the Crown of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and under the Constitution hereby established:

And whereas it is expedient to provide for the admission into the Commonwealth of other Australasian Colonies and possessions of the Queen:

Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:--

1. This Act may be cited as the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act.

2. The provisions of this Act referring to the Queen shall extend to Her Majesty's heirs and successors in the sovereignty of the United Kingdom.

3. It shall be lawful for the Queen, with the advice of the Privy Council, to declare by proclamation that, on and after a day therein appointed, not being later that one year after the passing of this Act, the people of New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Queensland, and Tasmania, and also, if Her Majesty is satisfied that the people of Western Australia have agreed thereto, of Western Australia, shall be united in a Federal Commonwealth under the name of the Commonwealth of Australia. But the Queen may, at any time after the proclamation, appoint a Governor-General for the Commonwealth.

4. The Commonwealth shall be established, and the Constitution of the Commonwealth shall take effect, on and after the day so appointed. But the Parliaments of the several colonies may at any time after the passing of this Act make any such laws, to come into operation on the day so appointed, as they might have made if the Constitution had taken effect at the passing of this Act.

5. This Act, and all laws made by the Parliament of the Commonwealth under the Constitution, shall be binding on the courts, judges, and people of every State and of every part of the Commonwealth, notwithstanding anything in the laws of any State; and the laws of the Commonwealth shall be in force on all British ships, the Queen's ships of war excepted, whose first port of clearance and whose port of destination are in the Commonwealth.

6. "The Commonwealth" shall mean the Commonwealth of Australia as established under this Act.

"The States" shall mean such of the colonies of New South Wales, New Zealand, Queensland, Tasmania, Victoria, Western Australia, and South Australia, including the northern territory of South Australia, as for the time being are parts of the Commonwealth, and such colonies or territories as may be admitted into or established by the Commonwealth as States; and each of such parts of the Commonwealth shall be called "a State".

"Original States" shall mean such States as are parts of the Commonwealth at its establishment.

7. The Federal Council of Australasia Act, 1885, is hereby repealed, but so as not to affect any laws passed by the Federal Council of Australasia and in force at the establishment of the Commonwealth.

Any such law may be repealed as to any State by the Parliament of the Commonwealth, or as to any colony not being a State by the Parliament thereof.

8. After the passing of this Act the Colonial Boundaries Act, 1895, shall not apply to any colony which becomes a State of the Commonwealth; but the Commonwealth shall be taken to be a self-governing colony for the purposes of that Act.

9. The Constitution of the Commonwealth shall be as follows:--

Even a cursory read shows that the existing preamble and its references to "the Queen's most Excellent Majesty" and "provisions of this Act referring to the Queen shall extend to Her Majesty's heirs and successors" are repugnant to any Republican. Much of the preamble is utilitarian and carries none of the flowery and aspirational verbage of the US Constitution;

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquillity, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.

The United Nations also has a preamble;

WE THE PEOPLES OF THE UNITED NATIONS DETERMINED

to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind, and

to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small, and

to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained, and

to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom,

AND FOR THESE ENDS

to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbours, and

to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security, and

to ensure, by the acceptance of principles and the institution of methods, that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and

to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples,

HAVE RESOLVED TO COMBINE OUR EFFORTS TO ACCOMPLISH THESE AIMS

Accordingly, our respective Governments, through representatives assembled in the city of San Francisco, who have exhibited their full powers found to be in good and due form, have agreed to the present Charter of the United Nations and do hereby establish an international organization to be known as the United Nations.

From that scoping of the United Nations it is fairly obvious that is intended halt any precipitation of escalating war between nation-states. Another nation with an interesting preamble is Switzerland;

In the name of God Almighty!
We, the Swiss People and Cantons,
whereas, we are mindful of our responsibility towards creation;
resolve to renew our alliance to strengthen liberty and democracy, independence and
peace in solidarity and openness towards the world;
are determined to live our diversity in unity respecting one another;
are conscious of our common achievements and our responsibility towards future generations;
and know that only those remain free who use their freedom, and that the strength of a people is measured by the welfare of the weakest of its members;
now, therefore, we adopt the following Constitution:

Plenty of other nations have constitutional preambles (in no order);

• Namibia
• The very godly Missouran Preamble
• Argentina
• Brazil
• Euro Parliament
• Ethiopia
• Phillipines
• Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Uganda
• Libya

1999 Referendum

The 1999 Republic Referendum in Australia also included a referendum to modify the preamble of the Australian constitution . After the constitutional conventions of 1998, John Howard gained enthusiasm for modifying the preamble. Both the Australian Republican Movement (ARM) and the Labor Party sought to have this dropped. They wanted the sole focus to be on a Republic.

The Aboriginal People saw the preamble as potentially a vehicle for reconciliation and sought the preamble to include language describing the Aboriginal People and Torres Strait Islanders as original custodians of the land. Mark McKenna writes;

On 16 February 1999, Howard received the support of the Coalition Joint Party Room to draw up two separate constitutional amendment questions: one on the matter of Australia becoming a Republic and the other on the insertion of a new preamble.

The Party Room also asked for the inclusion in the proposed preamble of references to God, democracy, the prior occupation of Aborigines, and the equality of men and women before the law, so long as the courts we denied the chance to interpret the preamble.

The following day, Howard announced that he would write the new preamble in consultation with others. From this moment forward, the preamble became the plaything of party politics.

There were several competing preambles with John Howard and Gareth Evans writing the two major competing ones. Neither was well received. John Howard's attempt was ;

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.

Since time immemorial our land has been inhabited by Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders, who are honoured for their ancient and continuing cultures.

In every generation immigrants have brought great enrichment to our nation's life.

Australians are free to be proud of their country and heritage, free to realise themselves as individuals, and free to pursue their hopes and ideals. We value excellence as well as fairness, independence as dearly as mateship.

Australia's democratic and federal system of government exists under law to preserve and protect all Australians in an equal dignity which may never be infringed by prejudice or fashion or ideology nor invoked against achievement.

In this spirit we, the Australian people, commit ourselves to this Constitution.

The third last paragraph appeared to most people an attempt to entrench the "culture wars" and a naked display of wedge politics. Mark McKenna believed it a display of hubris and delusion. McKenna redrafted it to allow its "sentiments" to flow through more clearly;

We, the mates of Australia, hope God exists.
Woven together of lots of blokes from overseas.
We live in a big country.
Since the big bang Australia has been inhabited by the Aboriginal industry.
We honour Aborigines and ennoble ourselves.
Australia is a great place.
We are all equal in greatness.
We are all free to turn a blind eye.
Beware the tyranny of fashion.
Beware the tyranny of the elite.

The original preamble by Howard was modified after negotiations with the Democrats and quickly rushed through parliament. It failed at referendum - the no votes for the preamble were higher than for the minimal republic model proposed.

• NSW : 57.86% No
• QLD : 67.19% No
• SA : 57.54% No
• Tas : 64.33% No
• Vic : 61.90% No
• WA : 65.27% No
• ACT : 56.39% No
• NT : 61.48% No
• National : 60.66% No

It was the voting of a people who didn't like what was being thrust upon them. Even Les Murray who had contributed to the first draft disowned it. Gatjil Djerrkura commented afterwards;

The preamble, which was meant to be an aspirational document to unite the nation, had been drafted behind closed doors without any meaningful consultation with the Australian people, indigenous and non-indigenous. It did not promote reconciliation or advance our aspirations.

My Preamble

My preamble is biased by the prism I see the world in. I do not think this is a bad thing - I am a firm believer in maximum liberty. It does not contain any mention of the Aboriginal people being the original custodians of the land. As the preamble has no legal worth other than a statement of aspirations, it is better if that is handled in constitutional or statutory language.

That being said, I see no disconnect in the history of Australia between Aboriginal history, Anglo history (1788-1901) and modern history. It is all the one history of Australia. I also see no disconnect in the cultural legacy either. We have a culture that is one of the longest and deepest on the planet. It begins with the first wave of immigration to Australia one hundred thousand years ago and is ongoing today.

This might be more useful as a pledge, but I would have no problem with the actionable language (hold hands) being in the constitution.

We stand united; as one people of Australia, with strength of culture that extends to the earliest human settlement of this great continent. We hold hands, and together bless this more perfect union; our hearts, minds and love of this land committed to freedom, liberty, equity, fraternity and justice for all.

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