Submission to the joint standing committee on electoral matters: Inquiry into matters relating to Section 44 of the Constitution

The current challenges posed by section 44 of the Constitution have been latent for decades. Now that these problems have become publically manifest, they are likely to linger as a recurrent distraction in our political landscape:
• The dependence on foreign law means that changes to Australian electoral laws and administrative procedures will not provide a definitive solution to the problems posed by section 44;
• The unqualified nature of section 44 means that Parliament can do very little to ameliorate or eliminate the uncertainties posed by that section;
• Rather than amend section 44(i), that provision ought to be repealed;
• All aspects of section 44 should be re-examined, and the recommendation of the 1988 Constitutional Convention should be adopted. For both substantive and procedural reasons the resolution of the problems posed by section 44 will not be achieved through administrative or legislative responses to that section. Only constitutional change can remedy the situation.