A branch secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia and president of the NT Trades & Labour Council, Thomas Mayor, part of the Uluru convention, has been touring the country to help build support for the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

“We’ve just had this amazing moment [with the Uluru statement], we’ve been pushing it, and we’re going to get sent to the back of the bus to wait for a republic that does nothing to empower our people,” he said.

No, Mr Mayor that we should not do. But saying that a Republic would enshrine disempowerment is incorrect and it is as bad as the misinformation this Australian government puts out about both the Uluru Statement and Australian Republicanism. There is no Australian Republican who would not recognise the Uluru Statement. The problem, Mr Mayor, is the fact we dont have a Bill of Rights and you are assuming that an Australian Republic would be a republic in name only.

Speaking at the Griffith University Centre for Governance and Public Policy in Brisbane on Tuesday, Mayor said that any ‘movement for a republic must wait until progress has been made on reconciliation.’

Once again this is the wrong way to look at it. Reconciliation would be enshrined within a Bill of Rights and a Republican Constitution – because a true democratic republic can not exist any other way. It would not be a democracy and it could not be a republic without a Bill of Rights. Yes, reconciliation is taking an inordinate amount of time and the main stopping point is that the current Australian Constitution is designed to aid those who aren’t interested in reconciliation … They have no Bill of Rights to guide their moral judgements, and the constitution itself is a muddle of inequalities created by a White Australian ruling clique … It cannot be changed reasonably, and requires only the fewest of wanton princes to prevent any change at all. It is designed to ‘stand the test of time’ and has failed abysmally to do that. It was designed to enshrine status quo and this it does exceedingly well.

“This people’s movement needs to respond to that and say no,” he said. “Achieve reconciliation first. That is the most important constitutional reform right now. We’re not going to go to the back of the bus. I’d be prepared to organise to see a republic plebiscite go down, because it’s a real slap in the face without a first nations voice coming first.”

Here Mr Mayor I’m going to give you a few reasons why bringing down the longed for republic, especially by foul and or deceitful means – misinformation and fear – is entirely the wrong way to go about it.

Why wrong? The current Australian Constitution enshrines inequality and inequity, just look how our representatives play about with all the hidden clauses. How they bend and drag out ancient stipulations to suit their narrow draconian view of our world. How this current Constitution allows ministerial decrees that are blatantly at odds with the values of the people of Australia, to alter the meaning of the words of this Constitution.

Australia needs a new constitution and the only way we can get this is to have national self determination and that means a Republic. An Australian Republic means we wipe the table with the old befuddled and corrupted royalist document, we get a Bill of Rights and we enable a New Constitution, through that Bill of Rights, that enshrines equality before the law, equity through society and transparency & accountability of the government we place to take care of our business on our behalf.

It’s cheaper in the long run – a new constitution. Saves all the battles of altering clauses and rebirthing injustices. Saves time too, because the altering of the constitution is designed to be a muddle, it’s designed to be more difficult than the writing of a new one. A new constitution means that all of us get to participate – all, that includes indigenous peoples – on the same level right from the beginning.

Don’t get fooled by the excuse that it would cost too much because it will cost far more not to do it. Don’t get fooled by current neoliberal self interest and born to rule wisdom .. their time will come to an end. It’s imperative that the constitution is part of the Republic and that a republic doesn’t just take over a royalist constitution. That a vote on a republic has the knowledge of what the new free Australia is about. You can’t vote for a republic and then alter the current royalist constitution. The constitution must be decided first on the principles of an Australian Bill of Rights.

A good constitution with as little arcane law and the clean slate of a modern society will enshrine the equal rights of all Australians to an equitable share in the wealth of the country, how it’s produced, how it’s shared etc. It’s no use placing an Australian Republic in principle over a document that denies the principles of Republicanism, equality and equity – Democracy. The current mess of a constitution was written by those who ensured that it maintained their rights of self-interest and ties to a constitutional monarchy. It was written more than 100 years ago by British Australians, and the only changes to it have been added by government self-interest. It’s an unequal and arcane document with too many hidden clauses, buried in arcane and unjust principles of law, its alteration will be dragged out endlessly by those who don’t want a free, equal & equitable society. It has too many ‘conventions’ attached to it that are out moded and are dispensed with at governments will.

We have to start with a Bill of Rights and then enshrine them in a Constitution. We have to decide, using the Bill of Rights as the baseline always, just what powers we allow a government to operate on without general consent – and enshrine them in a constitution. When we have this Bill of Rights and this new constitution then we can vote to accept them or not. Voting for these will be a vote for a Self Determining Australian Republic.

The current Constitution allows Ministerial Edict which is the prime cause of all the ills in Australian society today. It allows a single individual to make decisions without recourse to a process because that individual says that, “its for the good of the country” ie, it’s for thier own good! It allows for unspecified outcomes that are clearly at odds with the values of the people as a whole, it allows a government – which is merely a temporary collection of publically paid representatives – to use means to achieve these unspecified outcomes which are clearly detrimental to the cohesion of our society. You cannot build a free equitable and equal collection of communities on Australia’s current constitution. It will be a battle Royale … Which after all is what we the people are trying to avoid.

There is much less chance that today we will have to put up with the ignorant self interest of such a small minority of Australians – those elected to government – to democratic self determination but if they still believe they have the power to disrupt and divide communities, as they do now, with discretionary powers that are enshrined within the current Constitution, then they will use it, against the majority will of Australia. Against an inclusive and more responsible better future.

We will get Our reconciliation along with Our recognition. Here’s a timetable,

We have an election coming up, the government says it doesn’t like wasting their money so let’s not help them waste anymore of it. Cormann & Turnbull showed how easy it was to hold a referendum, so let’s hold one in conjunction with this neoliberal election. Let’s put the question: That Australia should have a Bill of Rights, to its people. This is not an easy question to be manipulated.

The prospective representatives will have no need to alter their campaign manifestos due to this question – it is apolitical. It has nothing to do with an Election of Public Representatives, so any of these prospective representatives seen to be attempting to include it, as part of the grab for power and salaries, will be seen to be neglectful of the job itis we are proposing to pay them to do – they will get their say in the referendum like the rest of us. If they meddle with the question they will be guilty of pre-representative fraud, seen to be prepared to act outside of their public brief and therefore unworthy of consideration as a democratic representative. There is a job description already attached to that – Fitzgerald Principles.

The bill of rights will enshrine equality and equity within society and before the law .. before the law as it stands today, true, but it’s the logical stepping stone. The law will not stop us making this Bill of Rights.