George Williams AO is one of Australia’s leading constitutional lawyers, having worked for many years as an academic and as a barrister. He is the Dean, the Anthony Mason Professor and a Scientia Professor at the Faculty of Law, University of New South Wales.
When Tony Abbott laid down his conservative manifesto last week, the immediate question was how this would affect the standing of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull. Less attention was paid to Abbott's alternative program for government. It includes a proposal for governments to bypass the Senate, which he described as the "mother of all reforms".
Our leaders must avoid the temptation to prejudge and alarm the community through inflated and divisive language.
Mabo forced us to confront the convenient fiction upon which Australia was built, writes George Williams.
The Uluru statement is a landmark moment in the reshaping of our system of government to reflect the aspirations of Australia's first peoples.
Australia's leaders are trying to address challenges according to rules made in the horse-and-buggy era.
You might think that disqualification season is over. The High Court has heard and decided the cases of Rodney Culleton and Bob Day, barring both from taking up their seats in the Senate. The court has also refused an attempt by the Labor Party to disqualify Day's replacement, South Australia's new Family First senator Lucy Gichuhi.
When people think of a lawyer, they often have an image of someone who represents the rich and powerful. However, Australia has an army of lawyers who work on low wages to protect the disadvantaged and vulnerable. Many work for one of Australia's 190 non-profit community legal centres, which federal Attorney-General George Brandis announced will receive a 30 per cent funding cut from 1 July 2017.
What should Malcolm Turnbull do if he receives a call seeking our involvement in an ill-conceived foreign conflict?
Today, Australia has the only constitution in the democratic world that authorises Parliament to make laws imposing negative treatment on a group due to their race.
The legal profession is not the bastion of equality that it should be. Women are too often denied the same opportunities as men, and discrimination is common.
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