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The Australian Constitution as Symbol

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2025

Dylan LinoOpen the ORCID record for Dylan Lino[Opens in a new window]
Dylan Lino*
Affiliation:
TC Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland, Level 3, Forgan Smith Building (1), Saint Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia
*
The author may be contacted at d.lino@uq.edu.au.
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Abstract

According to a conventional story told by scholars, the Australian Constitution is virtually invisible as a symbol within Australian political debate and culture. This article challenges that conventional story, arguing that the Constitution plays a more significant public role than is commonly assumed. Analysing the ongoing debate over the constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the article highlights four prominent symbolic Constitutions: the practical, the liberal, the outdated and the exclusionary. These constitutional symbols are mobilised by different political actors for a range of political purposes. Understanding constitutional symbolism helps in seeing the ideological work performed by the Constitution outside the courts and prompts constitutional scholars to be more conscious of how they contribute to that ideological work through their representations of the Constitution.

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Articles
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Federal Law Review , Volume 48 , Issue 4 , December 2020, pp. 543 - 555
Copyright
Copyright © 2020 The Author(s)

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References

1. Robert Cover, ‘Nomos and Narrative’ (1983) 97(1) Harvard Law Review 4, 4.

2. See further Part II of this article.

3. See, eg, Greg Sheridan, ‘Constitutional Change Will Divide Not Unite the Nation’, The Australian (online), 20 September 2014 <https://www.theaustralian.com.au/commentary/opinion/constitutional-change-will-divide-not-unite-the-nation/news-story/ed3fdd9de4d4b4fe0527993544f2f185>.

4. On the effects of legal expertise on people’s understanding of the world and the practices of governance, see David Kennedy, A World of Struggle: How Power, Law, and Expertise Shape Global Political Economy (Princeton University Press, 2016).

5. See Helen Irving, To Constitute a Nation: A Cultural History of Australia’s Constitution (Cambridge University Press, 1997).

6. Greg Craven, Conversations with the Constitution: Not Just a Piece of Paper (UNSW Press, 2004) 9.

7. Elisa Arcioni and Adrienne Stone, ‘The Small Brown Bird: Values and Aspirations in the Australian Constitution’ (2016) 14(1) International Journal of Constitutional Law 60, 60.

8. Jeffrey Goldsworthy, ‘Constitutional Cultures, Democracy, and Unwritten Principles’ (2012) 2012(3) University of Illinois Law Review 683, 685.

9. Ibid.

10. See ibid 684–90; Craven (n 6) 9–14; Lael K Weis, ‘Does Australia Need a Popular Constitutional Culture?’ in Ron Levy et al (eds), New Directions for Law in Australia: Essays in Contemporary Law Reform (ANU Press, 2017) 377, 383; Justice Ronald Sackville, ‘The 2003 Term: The Inaccessible Constitution’ (2004) 27(1) UNSW Law Journal 66; Justice Patrick A Keane, ‘In Celebration of the Constitution’ (Speech, National Archives of Australia, 12 June 2008) <https://webarchive.nla.gov.au/awa/20140212034206/http://www.naa.gov.au/collection/publications/papers-and-podcasts/australian-constitution/keane.aspx>. In addition to using the US example, Arcioni and Stone also refer to the German and Indian constitutions: Arcioni and Stone (n 7) 61–3.

11. Craven (n 6) 9.

12. Goldsworthy (n 8) 685; Keane (n 10); Sackville (n 10) 67; Craven (n 6) 12; Weis (n 10) 379.

13. Keane (n 10).

14. Ibid.

15. Goldsworthy (n 8) 685; Keane (n 10); Sackville (n 10) 79–86; Weis (n 10) 379.

16. Arcioni and Stone (n 7) 75; Craven (n 6) 10–14; Weis (n 10) 378–9; Sackville (n 10) 68–9.

17. Arcioni and Stone (n 7) 76; Sackville (n 10) 69–75.

18. Craven (n 6) 9.

19. Civics Expert Group, Whereas the People: Civics and Citizenship Education (Report, 1994) 143; Constitutional Commission, Final Report of the Constitutional Commission (Report, 30 June 1988) vol 1, 43. For scepticism about some of these data, see Murray Goot, ‘Civics, Survey Research and the Republic’ (1995) 67(3) Australian Quarterly 25.

20. Sanford Levinson, Constitutional Faith (Princeton University Press, 1988) ch 1.

21. Aslı Bâli and Aziz Rana, ‘Constitutionalism and the American Imperial Imagination’ (2018) 85 (2) University of Chicago Law Review 257.

22. Arcioni and Stone (n 7) 61–2; Dieter Grimm, ‘Integration by Constitution’ (2005) 3(2–3) International Journal of Constitutional Law 193, 202–3; Rohit De, A People’s Constitution: The Everyday Life of Law in the Indian Republic (Princeton University Press, 2018).

23. See, eg, Arcioni and Stone (n 7); Goldsworthy (n 8) 685; Weis (n 10).

24. Grimm (n 22) 202–3.

25. Mary Anne Franks, The Cult of the Constitution (Stanford University Press, 2019). See also, eg, Robert Tsai, America’s Forgotten Constitutions: Defiant Visions of Power and Community (Harvard University Press, 2014).

26. But see Arcioni and Stone (n 7) 65–75, who reject the claim that the Australian Constitution is devoid of value commitments.

27. Craven (n 6); Keane (n 10).

28. Weis (n 10); Sackville (n 10).

29. See further Dylan Lino, Constitutional Recognition: First Peoples and the Australian Settler State (Federation Press, 2018) ch 2.

30. Damien Freeman and Julian Leeser, ‘The Australian Declaration of Recognition: Capturing the Nation’s Aspirations by Recognising Indigenous Australians’, Uphold & Recognise (Web Page), April 2014 <https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57e8c98bbebafba4113308f7/t/58f1cf7f03596e9d44c3730d/1492242379665/Freeman_and_Leeser-Declaration.pdf>.

31. Ibid 4–5.

32. ‘Senator Amanda Stoker on Indigenous Constitutional Recognition’, The Alan Jones Breakfast Show (2 GB, 11 July 2019) <https://omny.fm/shows/the-alan-jones-breakfast-show/senator-amanda-stoker-on-indigenous-constitutional>.

33. Ibid.

34. See Stefan Collini, Donald Winch and John Burrow, That Noble Science of Politics: A Study in Nineteenth-Century Intellectual History (Cambridge University Press, 1983); Emily Jones, Edmund Burke and the Invention of Modern Conservatism, 1830–1914: An Intellectual History (Oxford University Press, 2017).

35. Stephen A Chavura and Gregory Melleuish, ‘Conservative Instinct in Australian Political Thought: The Federation Debates, 1890–1898’ (2015) 50(3) Australian Journal of Political Science 513.

36. See especially Damien Freeman and Shireen Morris (eds), The Forgotten People: Liberal and Conservative Approaches to Recognising Indigenous Peoples (Melbourne University Press, 2016).

37. Noel Pearson, ‘Time to Bring Us Into the Nation’, The Australian (Sydney), 13 September 2014, 19.

38. ‘Hearing Indigenous Voices: Options for Discussion’, Uphold & Recognise (Web Page, 2018) 5 <https://static1.squarespace.com/static/57e8c98bbebafba4113308f7/t/5b31a5bc0e2e7223c67295f8/1529980349813/Hearing_Indigenous_voices.pdf>. See also Freeman and Morris (n 36).

39. ‘Uluru Statement from the Heart’ (First Nations National Constitutional Convention, 26 May 2017) (‘Uluru Statement’) <https://www.referendumcouncil.org.au/sites/default/files/2017-05/Uluru_Statement_From_The_Heart_0.PDF>.

40. Sheridan (n 3).

41. John Roskam and Simon Breheny, ‘Indigenous Treaty Would Divide Australia into Two Nations According to Race’, Sydney Morning Herald (online), 30 May 2017 <https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/indigenous-treaty-would-divide-australia-into-two-nations-according-to-race-20170530-gwgcjm.html>.

42. Race Has No Place (Web Page) <http://racehasnoplace.org.au>.

43. Malcolm Turnbull, Prime Minister, George Brandis, Attorney-General, and Nigel Scullion, Minister for Indigenous Affairs, ‘Response to Referendum Council’s Report on Constitutional Recognition’ (Media Release), 26 October 2017 <https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/media/pressrel/5596294/upload_binary/5596294.pdf>.

44. See especially Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians, Recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in the Constitution (Report, January 2012).

45. Lino (n 29) 50.

46. Ibid 51.

47. See also Sarah Maddison, ‘Recognise What? The Limitations of Settler Colonial Constitutional Reform’ (2017) 52(1) Australian Journal of Political Science 3.

48. ‘Why Recognition’, Recognise (Web Page) <https://web.archive.org/web/20170809065920/http://www.recognise.org.au/the-facts/why-recognition>.

49. Commonwealth, Parliamentary Debates, House of Representatives, 13 February 2013, 1123.

50. Ibid.

51. ‘Why Recognition’ (n 48).

52. Patrick Dodson, ‘Challenge of Negotiation’ (2018) 60 Griffith Review 58, 61–2.

53. Ibid 61.

54. Ibid.

55. Celeste Liddle, ‘Sovereignty and the Constitutional Recognition Debate’ (2015) 81 Australian Options 7, 7.

56. Ibid.

57. Tony Birch, ‘On Recognition’ (2017) 227 Overland 43, 43.

58. Ibid 44.