A FIRST NATIONS VOICE IN THE CONSTITUTION Design Issues

The aim of such a body would be to represent and give voice to the ancient First Nations in their contemporary form; to enable the First Nations to participate more fulsomely in the Australia’s constitutional and political processes with respect to their affairs. [...] It would extend the principles of mutual respect and comity to the constitutional relationship between the First Nations of Australia and the Australian Government, by ensuring the First Nations a voice in laws and policies made about them. [...] Increased procedural fairness in the political governance of Indigenous affairs would increase the civility and respectfulness of the relationship between the First Nations and the Australian state. [...] The mandated sharing of power under the Australian Constitution compels a culture of ‘mutual respect’ in the relationships between the constituent parts of the Federation.61 In the words of Justice Ian Callinan: The whole Constitution is founded upon notions of comity, comity between the States which replaced the former colonies, comity between the Commonwealth as a polity and each of the States a. [...] In the design process for the First Nation’s Voice, there will be a need to balance the views of those who believe that service delivery should not be within the remit of the body and those that point out that it is the delivery of services that most impact on the daily lives of the First Peoples.