On Tuesday, 24^th November 2009, CEFA held an exciting dinner debate between two prominent Australian leaders on whether Australia should have a Charter of Rights. The Hon. Bob Carr (Premier of New South Wales 1995-2005 and CEFA Mentor for Matraville High School) spoke against this topic and The Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG (Justice of the High Court of Australia 1996-2009 and CEFA Trustee) spoke in favour. The debate was timed to coincide with the launch of CEFA’s Civics in Action blog which can be accessed here.

Each spoke for 15 minutes, followed by a right of rebuttal and the answering of questions from the audience. Mr Carr asserted that parliamentarians are directly accountable to the people at regular elections and that he does not wish to see the Australian judiciary politicized, as it is in the United States. He further stated that a referendum on whether Australia should adopt a Charter of Rights would be defeated.  

Justice Kirby contended that Australia is the only Western nation without a Charter of Rights and that adopting one would protect minority groups. He further stated that it is important to understand that the proposal advocated by the Brennan Committee does not call for an American style Bill of Rights, but a Charter of Rights more akin to the model adopted by New Zealand.  

A Parliamentary style vote was taken at the conclusion of the debate, with 26 voting in favour, 59 against and 25 abstaining. You can read more of these arguments and share your own opinion by clicking here.  

Earlier in the night a number of primary and high schools who are adopting CEFA’s innovative civics programs presented to those in attendance. Al Zahra College debated the sufficiency of the current level of civics education in their school. St Patrick’s Primary School of Strathfield had a spirited debate regarding Healthy Choices of food sold at their school canteen.  

The SHORE School presented a multimedia presentation on the problem of homelessness in Australia. Through CEFA’s School Parliament program, the students have crafted solutions to this problem and are learning that a part of being responsible citizens is to be engaged with important issues such as this. St Joseph’s High School concluded this part of the evening, debating whether Australia should lower the voting age to 16. Through CEFA’s pioneering civics education programs, students in Australian schools are learning to appreciate Australia’s democratic traditions and to become responsible and engaged citizens. 

Mr Joshua Quinn-Watson, the winner of the 2008 Governor-General’s Undergraduate Essay Competition also addressed those in attendance. He presented the main points of his essay on whether civic participation in Australia would improve if we adopted a system of ’primaries’ and ’caucuses’ like in the USA. 

CEFA Executive Director Mrs Kerry Jones said “Our work is all about empowering young Australians to articulate, participate and debate their own opinions on important issues facing our democracy. It is not about which side of the debate they favour, but by being able to express and justify their opinion which will one day turn into a vote! I encourage you to share your own view on CEFA’s new Civics in Action Blog".

Above: The Hon. Bob Carr debates why Australia should not adopt a Charter of Rights. The Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG prepares to rebut his argument while Mrs Kerry Jones (CEFA Executive Director) moderates and takes questions from the floor.

Above (from left): Mr Jim Walters (Principal of St Patrick's Primary School), Mr Don Perna (CEFA's National Director of School Parliaments), students from Al-Zahra College, St Joseph's High School, St Patrick's College, The Hon. Michael Kirby AC CMG and The Hon. Bob Carr.