Reconciliation in the Community (Australia)(6) - Essay Example

Reconciliation Number Department Introduction Personally, I am persuaded that there is a need to amend the constitution, so as to allow indigenous people to be recognised in their own right within it. The need to amend the constitution as a way of entrenching peaceful inter-communal existence is expedient, since the constitution is a legal document which defines the relationship between the government and an individual, and an individual and his fellow individual. The constitution also defines and underpins federal laws and institutions.

One of the ideas that are cogently and satisfactorily advanced is that of social contract. The relevance of social contract and constitutionalism is clearly seen, since the constitution defines the legal relationship between the social contract between men and the government and fellow citizens. Thus, in order to bring about sustainable peace in Australia between the Aborigines and the non-Aborigines (You & Me Unity. 2011, 6-7). The article persuasively states that there is a need to address the lacunae in the constitution, to help create the reality of a 21st Australia, as a nation that shares a vision in the common aspiration that Australia has.

The article continues that the values and attitudes of the Aboriginal and Torre Strait Islanders were neither allowed the chance to participate in drafting the constitution, nor were they extended universal suffrage. Because of this, the need to amend the constitution to redefine the social contract between the government and citizens becomes highly inevitable. The same idea continues that there should be constitutional amendments to foster and enshrine better treatment of Torre Strait Islanders and Aborigines’ culture, spiritual connection to their land and languages.

For instance, the role of constitutional amendments in ushering in equitable and justifiable forms of social contracts may be exemplified by the amendments which discredited the legal but unjust doctrine of terra nullius. References You & Me Unity. 2011. “A National Conversation about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Constitutional Recognition.” Discussion Paper May 2011. Retrieved From: http://www.recognise.org.au/downloads/2653fb1b6a59a1b8d18.pdf