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Navigating the Difficulties of the Constitutional Referendum Process

Understanding the complex referendum process for changing the Commonwealth Constitution is essential. The framers designed this procedure deliberately to ensure stability and careful consideration of amendments. Initiated only by the Commonwealth Parliament, the proposal requires passage in both Houses before reaching the voters. It must achieve majority support nationally and in a majority of states. The governor-general's assent is the final step, leading to an official constitutional change. However, several factors can cause a proposal to fail, highlighting the challenges of reform through referendum.

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Navigating the Difficulties of the Constitutional Referendum Process

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Presentation Transcript

  1. Why did the framers of the Constitution make the referendum process so difficult? DO NOW

  2. How to change the Constitution Recipe Number One Using the ‘Referendum’ process

  3. Ingredients

  4. One Commonwealth Constitution • One referendum proposal • Two houses of Parliament • The voting public • What other essential ingredients are missing? Ingredients

  5. Method

  6. Step one: Begin with the Commonwealth Parliament. Section 128 of the Constitution tells us that only the Commonwealth Parliament has the power to initiate a referendum proposal Method

  7. Step two: The proposed change is introduced to the House of Representatives OR the Senate as a Bill

  8. Step 3: The proposal/Bill must be passed in the same form by BOTH houses of Parliament

  9. Step four: The proposal is put to the voting public (either a ‘Yes’ or a ‘No’ vote)

  10. Step five: The proposal must be passed by a majority of voters nationally AND a majority of voters in a majority of states (4 out of 6 must agree with the proposal)

  11. Step six: The Governor General gives Royal Assent to the proposal/Bill

  12. Step 7: A change is made to the Constitution (by either deleting or inserting certain words) Voila! Buon appetite!

  13. A successful Referendum results in a change to the Constitution

  14. Sometimes Referendums are unsuccessful

  15. No agreement between the two houses and the referendum proposal lapses (expires) • Proposal is not passed by a majority of voters • Proposal is not passed by a majority of states (at least 4 out of 6 states) What went wrong?

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