Ten ideas for 2020

10. Broaden the initiation of constitutional reform. There are many constitutional reforms that will never be put to the people in a referendum simply because it is not in the interests of the Commonwealth government to do so.

One possibility is to allow the states, through uniform legislation, to put proposed constitutional amendments to a referendum.

Another option is to establish a constitutional reform commission which could receive and assess public proposals for constitutional reform, and put three to the people at a referendum held every second election. Periodic constitutional reform would avoid constitutional stagnation and regularly stimulate public debate and involvement in public affairs.

Reform, especially constitutional reform, is often regarded as so difficult to achieve that it is not worth trying. The 2020 Summit will hopefully not only generate ideas but rekindle the desire to achieve reform to improve our system of government. Only if we try, can we succeed.