
Issue No 38		05 November 1999

News

If You Want to Protest - Dump the Preamble

Labor's spokesman on the republic, Daryl Melham, has called on voters wanting to register a protest against politicians to vote down the Preamble rather than the republic.


	Daryl Melham

On the eve of the Referendum, Melham addressed Labor Council with the simple message: "let the Preamble be your protest."

He says the Preamble was the result of back-room deals between politicians John Howard, Meg Lees and Aden Ridgeway, whereas the Republican question had been the result of a democratic process that was the Constitutional Convention.

"The only reason the No case has got off the ground is that people are pissed off with politicians," Melham told the Council's weekly meeting.

"They've got the opportunity through the Preamble to have that protest".

Melham warned Direct Electionists that if the Republic was voted down on the weekend, the issue would be off the agenda for at least a generation.

He says the Republican debate is in danger of going down because it has been seized by people who have confused the issue and taken it away from the basic proposition of who the Head of State should be.

"The problem is that we are trying to engage in the detail, not the morality of the case," Melham says.

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Issue 38 contents

Interview: Peter Reith
Weï¿½ve fought him for the last four years, perhaps itï¿½s time to try to understand him.

Education: The Boston Strangler
If the teachers' salaries "offer" had been any good, John Aquilina, the Minister for Good News Only, would have made the announcement and been seen to promote it.

Economics: Key Indicators
A new ILO publication provides real cross national comparisons which show that Australian workplaces rate very well on productivity, wages and non wage measures

Unions: Dili's Union Presence
The International Federation of Journalistsï¿½ Safety Office for the Media in East Timor (SOMET) is conducting an investigation into the recent killings of two journalists in East Timor.

History: Maritime Dispute Records
A Joint ACTU ï¿½ ASSLH project will identify and preserve as many records as possible arising from the 1997-98 Maritime Dispute.

International: Western Mining into Guns and Gold
An Australian mining company, Western Mining Company Limited (WMCL), has effectively won the support of the Philippines army in its battle with traditional owners in Southern Mindano.

Satire: Gay Scientists Isolate Christian Gene
Gay scientists today released a study which, they claim, at last identifies the ï¿½Christian Gene".

Labour Review: What's New in the Information Centre
View the latest issue of Labour Review, our resource for students, delegates and officials.

» Reith : Directly Elect the ACTU President Too

» Unions Launch Search to Fill Games With Local Workers

» Public Servants Offered Quadruple Time for New Years Eve

» If You Want to Protest - Dump the Preamble

» Six Minutes To Clean a Classroom: Cleaners Draw the Line

» New Labour Advisory Council Meets

» Teachers Pay Site Doesnï¿½t Give Full Story

» Bankstown Students Win Union Support

» Workers to Use AGM to Call Telstra to Account

» Unions On Line Conference

» Foxy Officials to Crash Backlot

» POSITION VACANT - APHEDA, Union Aid Abroad.

» Guest Report

» Sport

» Trades Hall

» Piers Watch

» Lines of Demarcation

» Referendum? No Dam(n) Choice!

» With Friends Like These ...

» Get Real

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