equal rights republic

If Australians are fair dinkum about a republic a referendum on an equal rights republic with governance conducted by agreement between women's and men's legislatures, courts and corporate committees would receive overwhelming support this weekend because there's hardly anyone left in Australia who doesn't support equal rights between women and men.

It's incredibly unlikely the parliament will need to resort to removing, with corresponding state legislation, all women members and prohibiting women the vote to highlight the Constitution's inadequacy, although the trigger remains in an arsenal of approaches from power to pay which evidence inequality. Three decades after sex discrimination laws were enacted the level of sexual violence against women has remained exactly the same, corresponding with the level of sexual violence men experience in prison. Why, because Australia's principal instrument of governance confers male privilege which when abused can't be overcome by legislation enacted under its authority. Same with corporate governance, same with the value of work, same with reconciling the women's jurisdiction of Australia's first peoples, same with racism because if relations between women and men are inequitable relations between demographics which comprise women and men are inequitable.

The men who established Australia's legislatures never intended they would be anything other than men's legislatures to which women are admitted under supervision. Women would have to wait until they gained sufficient experience before they could have legislatures of their own. Sufficient is the present, the tipping point has been reached, the roles Governor-General, Judge of the High Court and Prime Minister achieved, the republic is at hand, a republic to set a standard of equality for all nations.

24 June, 2010

2mf.net