Five Things to Know About the Australian Constitution

Front Cover
Cambridge University Press, Nov 25, 2004 - Political Science
In this excellent new book, Helen Irving delves into the mystery that is the Australian constitution by discussing the major national debates of recent years. Many people want to understand and take part in the debate about constitutional issues but they face a significant hurdle: the constitution is almost unreadable. It does not mean what it says, and nor does it say what it means. There are many myths in circulation about what the constitution says and as many assumptions about what it does. Helen Irving, one of this country's foremost constitutional experts, puts various constitutional confusions to rest, and invites a general audience into an understanding of the issues that were once reserved for experts.

From inside the book

Contents

Introduction
1
Chapter 1 The Constitution does not mean what it says
11
Chapter 2 The Constitution does not say what it means
31
Chapter 3 The Constitution says some things without actually saying them
52
Chapter 4 The Constitution fails to say things that might be important
72
Chapter 5 The Constitution says certain things that contradict each other
92
The Constitution could say what it means and mean what it says if we wanted it to
108
The Constitution
117
Further reading
157
Index
159
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