our proposals:

• To push for a National Referendum to require the election, by popular vote, of the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia.

  • Currently, the Governor-General is selected by the Government of the day, with the Prime Minister often taking a leading role. As a consequence of this, we believe there is not a clear separation of powers between the Legislative and Executive branches.

  • Chapter II of the Australian Constitution details the powers of the Executive branch of Government. It states that the executive power of the Commonwealth is exercisable by the Governor-General as the representative of the Crown and extends to the execution and maintenance of this Constitution, and of the laws of the Commonwealth.

  • There is no specific mention of the Prime Minister, nor any other Member of Parliament.

  • Because the Prime Minister and the Ministers of State are an integral part of the Government of the day in the Legislature, there is no proper separation between the Legislature and the Executive Branches of Government. This creates a lack of transparency as mistakes are covered up and Parliamentarians have far too much unchecked power.

  • The decision to select the Governor-General must fall to the Australian People. To have true separation of powers between the Executive branch and the Legislature, no member of Parliament should have influence on who is selected to be Governor-General.

  • The Governor-General must be solely responsible for their respective branches of the Executive. They must have the power to select the Heads and Deputy Heads of the Departments within the Executive Branch, subject to the approval of the Senate in the Legislature.

  • Candidates for Governor-General must not belong to a political Party, or political organisation, when running for office.

  • The above points would also apply to the Governors of the States throughout the Commonwealth.

• To push for a National Referendum to require the election, by popular vote, of the Attorney-General of the Commonwealth of Australia.

  • Currently, the Attorney-General is selected by the Government of the day, with the Prime Minister often taking a leading role. Under this arrangement the Attorney General is a member of the Legislature, the Cabinet (which is an integral part of the Executive) and the Judiciary, over which he or she presides.  As a consequence of this, there is not a clear separation of powers between the Legislative and Judicial Branches.

  • The decision to select the Attorney-General must fall to the Australian People. To have true separation of powers between the Judiciary and the Legislature, no member of Parliament should have influence on who is selected to be Attorney-General.

  • The election of the Attorney-General should have the caveat that candidates must never have been part of the legal fraternity.

  • The above points would also apply to the Attorney-Generals of the States throughout the Commonwealth.

• To reintroduce the Legislative Council (Upper House) of Queensland.

  • We believe that the Legislative Council of Queensland must be restored.

  • The Constitutional Amendment Act 1921 took effect on March 23, 1922 to abolish the Legislative Council of Queensland. Since then, Queensland has Governed with only one house of Parliament.

  • We believe the absence of an Upper House in Queensland is an affront to the concept of a separation of powers.

  • The absence of an Upper House in Queensland has implications for the other States within the Commonwealth, through the adoption of ‘National Law’.

    • The National Law is not a Commonwealth law. Instead, it is enacted and implemented by each state and territory using an ‘adoption of laws’ model.

    • Queensland is the lead jurisdiction for implementing the National Law.

    • When the Queensland Parliament makes changes to National Law, the changes are automatically applied in all other State Parliaments, expect for in certain circumstances.

    • An example of how National Law has been applied is the formation of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).

    We believe that all legislation should be passed through an effective and functional ‘House of Review’ (Upper House). As laws passed under ‘National Law’ are passed solely through the Queensland Legislative Assembly (Lower House), these laws are not being subject to the scrutiny that would take place if the Queensland Legislative Council was in existence.