Townsville Daily Bulletin (Qld. : 1885 - 1954)(about) |
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Tuesday 17 November 1942
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ISAACS ON CONSTITUTION
MELBOURNE, November y5.—Aus- tralia was not constitutionally equipped for the needs of to-day, and it was the duty of the people to
remedy the defect, Sir Isaac Isaacs, one of the framers of the Constitu- tion, said in an address to the Aus- tralian Natives Association. Urging immediate steps to remould the Constitution to provide for the de- mands which would be made with the return of peace, Sir Isaac Isaacs said that he hoped the Australian people would disregard "the seductions of those who for any reactionary reason would counsel inertia, delay, and the sanctity of obsolete machinery. In war, he continued, tbe national power of co-ordination was in one firm, competent hand, but with the return of peace national power would be split into fragments unless the Con- stitution were amended. "We need to be prepared, not grudg- ingly, but amply, for all contin- gencies", he declared. The proposals made by the Federal Attorney-General (Dr. Evatt) were not definite in their present form, he considered, but simply a basis for dis- cussion. Criticism from any informed source could help in forming a right decision. Critics who feared that the proposed Commonwealth powers were too un- defined overlooked the fact that the State Parliaments had for years had powers even wider than those pro-
posed. MELBOURNE, November 18.—Con- trasts in argument for and against the Commonwealth's proposal to amend the constitution, have been quoted by the Federal Attorney- General (Dr. Evatt). Dr. Evatt said that the speech by Sir Isaac Isaacs, one of the framers ot the Constitution, who supported the Commonwealth's proposals, was an inspiring utterance on the need for vesting sufficient power in the Commonwealth to deal with the vast problems of post-war reconstruction particularly in relation to unemployment. Sir Isaac's comment, said Dr. Evatt, was in fitting contrast to misleading, exaggerated, and negative criticism which had emerged from other sources. The Government appreciated that such an outstanding statesman and jurist should have commended the proposals in principle, rightly point- ing out that they were not as yet de- finite, and that they were not partisan. Victoria's Premier (Mr. Dunstan), said Dr. Evatt, could make only the valiant observation that the Federal Parliament might possibly abolish tbe High Court.