referendum

28 September 2023

For 80 years a central strand of the IPA’s research has been Australia’s democratic traditions, including the egalitarian principle that every Australian gets the same say over the country’s future, and how important this principle is to the preservation of the Australian way of life. But increasingly, alternative theories have begun to dominate Australian political discourse. Theories that assert a

14 September 2023

In this article, John Storey contextualises and disseminates the findings of the IPA’s research into the Australian Constitution as part of the IPA’s analysis of the Voice to Parliament. The IPA has been researching the consequences a potential Voice to Parliament would have to the political freedom, liberty, and equality of Australians since the Uluru Statement of the Heart was

16 August 2023

Enshrining a collective identity based on race in the Constitution would be to forever divide Australians from their fellow citizens, while asserting that one defined group is legally and politically more important than the other. Source: Morgan Begg, One Voice: Racial Equality in the Australian Constitution (Institute of Public Affairs, 2023) pages 13-21. The Voice would permanently change the Constitution,

16 June 2023

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has provided little detail about how his proposed Indigenous-only Voice to Parliament will work in practice. When pressed for more detail about this proposed amendment to the Australian Constitution, the Prime Minister’s only response has been frequent, direct, and explicit references to the model developed through a Voice Co-design process (‘the Calma-Langton Model Voice’) and published

16 June 2023

“It is becoming clearer by the day that Australians are sick and tired of being treated like fools by Voice to Parliament advocates who simply refuse to explain what changing our Constitution will mean for our nation,” said John Storey, Director of the Institute of Public Affairs’ Legal Rights Program. It has become a hallmark of the referendum campaign that

6 June 2023

In this article, John Storey contextualises and disseminates the findings of the IPA’s research into the similarities between the Waitangi Tribunal and the proposed Voice to Parliament, conducted as part of the IPA’s analysis of the Voice to Parliament. The IPA has been researching the consequences a potential Voice to Parliament would have to the political freedom, liberty, and equality

1 May 2023

“The stunning backflip by the referendum committee, which will now allow Tony Abbott to give evidence, underscores how the inquiry process has attempted to stack the deck for the ‘yes’ case,” said Daniel Wild, Deputy Executive Director of the Institute of Public Affairs. IPA analysis of publicly available information reveals 95% of witnesses invited to appear before the Joint Select

18 April 2023

“The appointment of Senator Price as Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians is a critical step in ensuring mainstream Australians, who do not want to be divided by race, will have a stronger voice in the national debate,” said Institute of Public Affairs Deputy Executive Director Daniel Wild. Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price is a strong and steadfast voice for her community

14 April 2023

Well-meaning Australians have no idea what they are voting for   Opponents of the Voice to Parliament have argued that it is inherently wrong to enshrine race at the centre of the Australian constitution and to give one racially defined group civic rights denied to all other Australian citizens. It breaches the principle of political equality which is fundamental to

6 April 2023

Dear Ms Inman Grant Ensuring the Voice to Parliament Referendum debate is free and fair The Institute of Public Affairs (IPA) was founded in 1943 as a non-profit educational research organisation with the objective of furthering the individual, social, political, and economic freedom of the Australian people, and maintaining and enhancing the Australian way of life. A central strand of