Australia should adopt a new constitution that includes provisions: 1) declaring Australia a republic, and 2) containing a comprehensive Bill of Rights, which also acknowledges the physical, mental and spiritual potential of human beings and protects plants and animals.
A fourth branch of government, the audit branch, should be created, with the power to audit the other three branches: the legislature, executive and judiciary.
Legislated reforms should be introduced that require those elected to public office on the local, state and federal levels to be held to a high ethical standard and be legally accountable for their conduct.
All candidates standing in local, state or federal elections should be required by law to sign their election platform, which should include a provision that allows constituents to sue their elected representatives who violate their electoral contract in a court of law for breach of contract.
To increase transparency and minimise the influence of vested interests, elections on all levels of government – federal, state and local – should be publicly funded. Both the public funding of elections and the system of electoral contracts should be administered by an independent statutory authority, such as the Australian Election Commission.
