Federal Implications of Northern Territory Statehood

Just over a decade since the failed referendum of 1998, statehood for the Northern Territory (NT) is back on the political agenda. The achievement of statehood would be a first for Australian federalism, where no new state has been created or admitted since Federation. Following a discussion of the concept of statehood and how it might be achieved, it traces the political development of the NT. The article then examines the implications of NT statehood for the Australian federation and finds that statehood would facilitate constitutional change in the federation by lowering the threshold required for success in a national referendum. Statehood may also raise questions about the equal representation in the Senate of less populous states. However, statehood would have no effect upon financial arrangements with the Commonwealth, the standing of the Northern Territory at COAG meetings, or the legal standing of the other states.     

Weaken Stare Decisis: On Burton's Judging in Good Faith

Law and Philosophy -     

Adopting Same-Sex Unions in Catholic Malta: Pointing the Finger at ‘Europe’

In 2013 the Maltese Labour Party returned to power after 15 years in opposition, securing the single largest majority in the island's post-independence history and on a platform promising civil unions for same-sex couples. Asking how LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights became mainstream in a country synonymous with Catholicism, the article examines whether the adoption of the Civil Union Act is the culmination of ten years of European Union membership. Employing concepts of policy and institutional fit as well as social constructivist theories of elite socialisation and epistemic communities, it concludes that while policy fit accounts for the introduction of equality laws, the Civil Union Act depended on the social democrats' need to retake the progressive agenda. Elite socialisation – particularly among Members of the European Parliament – helped reframe the issue, encouraging the party to adopt this policy while the Europeanisation of the LGBT lobby reminded the social democrats that the LGBT minority, long hidden and browbeaten by Church teaching, now sought recognition and equality.