Constitution Day 2010

The 9th of July 2010 marks the fourth year that the National Archives has celebrated Constitution Day. The program began on the night of Thursday 1 July, with a speakers forum, A Constitution for all Australians.

It was a big night hosted by the Archives – an audience of almost 300 packed into the theatre at Parliament House, Canberra, to hear the impassioned views of four eminent Australians: the Hon. Michael Kirby AC, CMG, Professor Greg Craven, Dr Carmen Lawrence and Professor Larissa Behrendt.

Damien Carrick, presenter of The Law Report on ABC Radio National cleverly moderated the lively debate, much of which focused on the balance of federal and state powers and a Bill of Rights. You can hear the event broadcast on ABC's Big Ideas.

The debate continues on our website, where you can view the speakers' essays and have your say. You can also view our new online version of Memento, which features interesting articles and stories on our Constitution.

The original Constitution, along with six other key documents in Australia's history, is on public display at the National Archives in Canberra. The Speakers Forum is part of the Archives' initiative to inspire all Australians to learn more about our Constitution and what it means in this increasingly complex modern world.

This year's Constitution Founders' Lecture was delivered on the evening of 8 July at the High Court of Australia by Chief Justice Robert French AC. Chief Justice French spoke about the Western Australian representative at the 1890s Constitutional conventions, Sir John Forrest. National Archives' Advisory Council member Professor Helen Irving also addressed the audience, and some special items from the National Archives' collection about Forrest were on display for the evening. The event concluded with the unveiling of a new Constitution Cake, prepared to a recipe developed by Australian culinary legend Maggie Beer. This cake was specially commissioned for Constitution Day 2010. The recipe can be found here.

Constitution Day was celebrated at the National Archives on Friday 9 July with a range of school holiday and family activities at the national office in Canberra with more than 400 people visiting throughout the day. Children were able to take tours in the Federation Gallery and learn about the history of the Constitution through the newly created interactive in the Gallery, as well as hearing how our foundation documents are preserved. They also participated in calligraphy workshops and listened to 'Queen Victoria' as she told the story of signing the Commission of Assent.

A highlight of the day was two new children's activity books. Older children navigated their way around the building, finding a series of clues to solve an historical 'whodunnit'. Smaller children were given sticker books so that they could find collection objects on display. All completed books were rewarded with a Constitution cupcake – by the end of the day 200 cupcakes had been handed out, and adults were given slices of the special Constitution Cake created by Maggie Beer and were also given a copy of the recipe.

Visitors also had the chance to see the special display of a desk from the Archives' collection that once belonged to one of the architects of the Constitution, Edmund Barton. Barton's desk will remain on special display in the Federation Gallery until September 2010.

In conjunction with the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, the Archives conducted a number of Citizenship Ceremonies with Archives staff delivering Constitution Day addresses in Canberra, Parramatta, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth with over 230 people becoming Australian citizens.

Until next time,

Ross

Ross Gibbs
Director-General
National Archives of Australia