Steve Vizard

Perhaps it takes a comedian to get to the nub of Australian politics, but that's not to say that this isn't an invaluable insight into the internal workings of the Australian Constitutional Convention of 1998 that was meant to chart a course for Australia to become a Republic. That, seventeen years later, the notion is almost moribund is not due to any lack of passion at the time, but perhaps due to too much passion and not enough political savvy.

It's 'accepted wisdom' that the then Prime Minister (an ardent monachist) sabotaged the process by directing the Convention towards a model that excluded direct election of the Head of State. Vizard's account makes it clear that most of that work was actually achieved by a mix of idealists and rationalists who over-reached themselves, and under-estimated the complexity of the argument that they were putting to the Australian public. A Head of State appointed by a two-thirds majority of Parliament (their preferred model) was essentially very democratic, but it played to the suspicions of the public towards Parliament itself. Howard's genius was to accept the model and push it to an early national referendum, before the public had a chance to grow familiar with what was being proposed.

Vizard captures the moment, and the people in this passionate account of one of Ausralia's great political train wrecks… (mer)