CCF – Alterations

This week hundreds of Aboriginal delegates met in central Australia for the Uluru First Nations Summit. And tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of the successful 1967 referendum which allowed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to be recognised in the census.

New MP's in the 45th Parliament

Earlier this week the media reported that the discussion about moving to four-year fixed terms was back on the agenda.

Last weekend Italy held a unsuccessful referendum in an attempt to alter their Constitution. But did you know that Italy does not necessarily need a referendum to change their Constitution?

For decades there has been a dilemma about moving to four-year fixed terms in our Federal Parliament. But because the terms of Parliament are stipulated in the Constitution changing them would require a vote of the people at a referendum.

We had a lot of interest in our article about the upcoming Queensland state referendum. A lot of people were surprised to learn that much of the Queensland Constitution can be changed by a simple Act of parliament.

Queensland ballot box

Lucky Queenslanders will get an extra shot of democracy this year with a referendum being held to decide whether the State should move to four-year fixed terms of parliament.

The poll will be held in conjunction with the local government elections on 19 March 2016.

Have you ever wondered if it is deliberate that members of parliament, from all political persuasions, may try to keep you out of the conversations about proposed referendums and plebiscites?

Maybe they want to keep you uninformed?

Our CCF last week, on the topic of the recent Greek referendum, received some great commentary and interaction on social media. One contributor suggested that we look at the way Switzerland conducts referendums.

Recently we witnessed a set of events in Greece that have been described as very strange. A “referendum” was called to give the people of Greece a choice about whether to accept a bail-out deal from their creditors.

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