Commentary
Australia’s newly appointed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced his ministry last week. One of the ministers he has appointed will serve as the “Assistant Minister for the Republic.”
However, the real debate in this country is not about monarchy versus republic but how to establish a better democracy in which the people are made truly sovereign. After all, as stated by former Chief Justice Anthony Mason, in Australian Capital Television Pty. Ltd. v Commonwealth (1992), “ultimate sovereignty resides with the Australian people.”
Or at least it should.
This idea of popular sovereignty suggests that every power of the state must be exercised by the people or by persons chosen by the people. However, our system of government is far from perfect, and although the Australian people should hold sovereign power, such power remains limited in a variety of undesirable ways….