It’s not just the Vibe: It’s the CONSTITUTION
Every Thursday for the next 8 weeks a new episode of this excellent new podcast series will drop. “It’s not just the Vibe, it’s the Constitution” is produced at the University of Canberra and hosted by Bell’s School’s Indigenous Diplomacy Research Fellow, James Blackwell, and UC’s Constitutional Law expert, Kim Rubenstein.
The podcast will pop into our earbuds, and accompany our commutes and exercise routines, in the two months leading up to the most important referendum our nation will see in this lifetime – the vote on constitutional recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through a Voice to Parliament.
“This year we are being asked if we should change the Australian Constitution, but if you’re being asked to change something, shouldn’t you know what it is you are changing?”
This podcast series aims to introduce the Australian public to the Australian Constitution – all aspects of it – to help Australians make their decision about the 2023 Referendum.
The 8 episodes were recorded in three locations - the University of Canberra, the Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House, and on Wiradyuri country. The series was also produced by the University of Canberra
The series will explore various aspects of our constitution, including its history, federalism, citizenship, representative democracy, separation of powers, the Crown, the Voice, section 128 and changing the Constitution. It will cover how the Constitution came to be, what is in it already, and what the 2023 referendum is about!
To cover such a broad canvas, our eardrums will be entertained by one of Australia’s leading experts on Constitutional Law, Kim Rubenstein; and Indigenous Diplomacy expert James Blackwell.
The podcast is available now, wherever you get your podcasts - Spotify , Apple , Google Podcasts
Kim Rubenstein
Professor Kim Rubenstein started teaching constitutional law in 1993 and has been a passionate advocate for people knowing more about the Australian Constitution. A graduate of Melbourne University and Harvard Law School she is Australia’s leading expert on citizenship and has been a public policy contributor on a range of public policy issues. She is a Professor at the University of Canberra, a Fellow of the Australian Academy, and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.
“We know something about ‘the vibe’ of the Constitution from the Castle, but what else? We’ll take you through how the Constitution came to be, what is in it already, and what the 2023 referendum is about,” Professor Rubenstein said.
James Blackwell
James Blackwell is a proud Wiradyuri man from regional NSW, and Research Fellow in Indigenous Diplomacy in the Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs at ANU. He is a PhD candidate within the School’s International Relations Department, looking at Indigenous foreign policy approaches, and how First Nations knowledges can be better reflected in international relations and foreign policy. James is also an Ambassador for the Uluru Youth Dialogue at UNSW.
“It’s so vitally important that Australians not only understand what the Uluru Statement says, and what a Voice to Parliament will mean for Indigenous peoples, but also that they understand the role of the Constitution, not just for us as Indigenous peoples but themselves also.” Mr Blackwell said
