A week is a long time in politics. On June 24th, the ALGA and most of the local government sector welcomed the passing in the Senate of the Constitution Alteration Bill, which all but guaranteed that Australians would be voting in a referendum on election day in September.
A mere two days later, following a dramatic leadership spill, we welcomed a new (old) Prime Minister in Kevin Rudd.
So what will the great Rudd Resurrection mean for constitutional recognition of local government?
Mr Rudd has ruled out holding the federal election on the date set by his predecessor Julia Gillard, September 14, and if the referendum is to be held simultaneously with an election it cannot be any earlier than that date.
While the Prime Minister has said the referendum will be one of the ‘main factors’ in deciding an election date, selecting a date which will maximise the ALP’s chances of winning the election will no doubt be his primary concern.
The ALGA is quite rightly concerned that Rudd’s appointment could affect the chances of the referendum going ahead at all, let alone its likelihood of success.
A further blow to the campaign was dealt by the Coalition wavering in its support for the referendum, with frontbencher Christopher Pyne saying Kevin Rudd should ‘pull’ the vote and Tony Abbott expressing ‘enormous reservations’.
Councils have thrown their support behind the ‘vote yes’ campaign and supporters are eager to get out and sell their message to the Australian public.
For now, all we can do is wait for Mr Rudd to announce the new election date and put an end to speculation.
