John Pyke's
Australian Constitutional Information [OzConstInfo] Site
A site dedicated to the provision of
- factual information about constitutions, in Australia and elsewhere,
and
- opinions about constitutional issues.
Whose Oz Const Info Site?
Facts: The Commonwealth and State Constitutions as They Are at Present
What They Say - the Texts
A page of links to sites with the full text, or to my two edited versions - the Working Constitution, in which I have removed all expired and obsolete provisions and left all of the currently-relevant provisions, or the even shorter Essential Constitution, showing only the fundamental features of our national system of government.
[Gee - do the States have Constitutions too? Well, they have Constitution Acts, which are only kind-of-Constitutions, but they do have some significance. And the 2 self-governing Territories have Self-Government Acts which function like their constitutions.] There are links to all of them on this page.
How They Work
Government Under a Book of Rules; A Citizens' and Politicians' Manual of the Constitutional Basis of Government in Australia
[A constitution has two main functions - it sets up the institutions of government (which includes granting them power to exercise), and it places limits on their powers. This is a "Web text" of Constitutional law in Australia, emphasising the role of constitutions as placing limits on the power of government. It is still under development - only the first five Chapters have been posted so far.]
Sources for Comparision - Other Constitutions
Opinions - Debates on Some Current Issues
- The Republic Debate -
[Links to arguments for and against, an analysis of the biggest opinion poll on the matter, and links to some independent sources of ideas (including my own) about what ought to be in a republican Constitution, and now including a copy of my submision to the Senate Inquiry.]
- The flag debate
[Links to Ausflag and its opponents.]
- A Bill of Rights?
[Links, with some of our my analysis and ideas coming later.
- The federal system - keep it as it is, change
it, or abolish it?
Links to other constitution or politics sites
To send feedback, on either
- content or
- presentation [Do you want beautiful graphics and frames and clever tricks with Java (if you really want 'em, I can do 'em) or do you prefer the lovely quick downloads?],
please mail me.
Written by John Pyke, with a little help from DiDa!. First posted on another host (now defunct) September 1999; reposted on freehomepage.com September 2000; last edited 10th May 2004.