INTERNATIONAL ARTIST

Civil Rights - Poetry To The Rescue !

Note;

This third, and final piece of this 'project' is my collection of notes, and the interconnected issues that relate to my
defense in the court action sought against myself by the Australian Electoral Commission, acting as agents of the Government of Australia, through provisions in the Justice System and the Electoral Act.

This case revolves about the central issue that my 'reasons' for not voting in the Referendum of 1999 were 'insufficient', according to the 'opinion' of the then "Divisional Returning Officer For the Division of Curtin" Mr Adrian MacDonald

[as per AEC document : W0474-8765 : Fine Notice Failure To Vote Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918, Section 245].

In my 'view' I am convinced, as are many who have been informed of this defense of my civil rights, that I am correct, and justified in my 'reasoning'.

It has been my intention from the outset of this course of action that my 'efforts' here should at once be considered as valuable, useful and intelligible by my fellow citizens, here and now.

>* Introduction

I invoke the law from 'colonial times' that prescribes ;

One of the privileges of 'convicted felons' in New South Wales was that all charges by, or against them had to be heard by a magistrate [judge, court, or justice] .

By a LEGAL FICTION they appeared not as felons, but under their old designation ; as laborer, or hedger, or haberdasher.

This included the right as well to use their own 'slang', their 'thieves cant', or their 'kiddie language' - which the court if necessary translated. 

NOTICE TO THE JUDICIARY : The language I choose to speak in is my native tongue - that of poetry.

My designated title is -

[Poet-Artist] Creative Project Specialist [All Media]

To clarify this I will explain as clearly as I can :

"Poetry has the right to be inward, to be difficult, even obscure ; so that the poem might speak for itself AT LAST and get into words what had not yet come into consciousness, what was still 'FEELING ITS WAY TO AIR'."

I state once again to make sure that my personal context is made clear [as is stated in the opening of my civil rights action] :

civil rights : poetry to the rescue ! [part 1] Idid not vote because...

An excerpt from Bad Blood [Mauvais Sang] by Arthur Rimbaud 1873 [ A Season in Hell - Une Saison En Enfer]

I saw myself in front of an infuriated mob, facing the firing squad, weeping over the unhappiness which they would not have been able to understand, and forgiving ! - Like Joan of Arc ! :

"Priests, teachers, masters, you are wrong to turn me over to justice.

I have never belonged to this race. I have never been Christian.

I am of the breed that sang under torture.

I do not understand your laws. I have no moral sense. I am a brute.

You are making a mistake".

 In my well thought out and considered reply to the Australian Electoral Commission , "[part 1] I did not vote because..." I most clearly identified my positions, and provided brief but inclusive clarifications of why I chose not to use my vote in the Referendum of 1999 .

I also stated that I would pursue this course of action - in this judicial context - and provided an outline of the areas that are of relevance to this case. The following is taken directly from my initial reply to the AEC ;

> * NOTE : I believe I have a multitude of valid and sufficient reasons for not using my vote.
For the purposes of brevity I am expressing only some of these reasons here.

My decision not to use my vote can - for jurisprudence - be considered :

[1]  an act of free will

[2]  an act of choice

[3]  a public protest in defense of my un-alienable rights to exist and freely express, as outlined in
"The Universal Declaration Of The Rights Of Man", and other such related human rights protection documents.

[4]  about personal empowerment

In any future defense of myself I would include in my defense :

All relevant subject matters and all perspectives detailing the many facets and interconnected issues relating to my act of public protest - or choice, as it may simply be.

We all want change. Change has it's own momentum, but it needs to start somewhere.

Language tends to confine you to certain conventions and expectations, and reciprocates certain designated formulaic interactions.

So, I'll just get into this with you and see what we can come up with.

>* My Action

A key element that affected my decision not to use my vote was :

[1] I did not vote because...My discussion with fellow citizens led me to see the consensus referendum[b] [sic] as a magnolia-painted, middle of the road mainstream set up : which failed to present any progressive or positive alternatives, and indeed the two options presented [Monarchy or [Politicians] Republic] serve only the interests of the wealthy and powerful.

Through this 'action' I am providing a service to the society - I am a citizen, and YES ! it has come to this, where I have to be saying this - in defense of my own personal freedom.

It is not my intent to waylay valuable resources for a 'mockery of a trial' - I have sincerely taken the time to research and understand what it is that is that can rectify the many corruptions to our 'Democratic Experiment' - The Government of Australia.

This case has implications that I trust will be well noted, referenced and valued as a contribution for the betterment of our collective experience - society.

There is a real potential with this action to alter the Political and Judicial Systems to such a degree that they will no longer be recognisable as the corrupt and misguided vehicles that they are.

Very frequently the kind of work that most needs to be done at a given time, is sure to attract opposition and perhaps even some misfortune to those who do them.

In the case of work that is usually necessary to human progress, it is worth doing at the cost of discomfort and individual misfortune.

When we outgrow any given set of conceptual pigeon holes we must always be prepared to move on, to advance from illumination to illumination.

>* Voting in Australia

Monarchy, Republic, or Something Refreshed and Intoxicatingly Social ?

A fusion of ideas that serve all people : long term ! - not just the interests of a few short-sighted, confused 'Politicians' and 'Businessmen'

I say confused, as their actions could only be that of confused people - when one sits down and takes in a larger perspective [as they should be doing] one sees that their actions and decisions are, in so many obvious cases irresponsible, out of touch with reality, and as many believe, out of order !

Both the Monarchy and Republican models, or 'styles' of what is considered DEMOCRACY, eschew a political wisdom, in which the ownership of property, the use, through monopoly of 'common goods' [TELECOMMUNICATIONS, WATER, ELECTRICITY,EDUCATION, HEALTH] the rule of one man over another, as King, or Bishop, or Magistrate, the use of one man's service in another's interest.

Our NEW 'Governmental, 'Political', or 'Social' System should be a model of the way Indigenous and Non-Indigenous approaches to the world can be reconciled, and draw upon strength from one another, in an understanding larger than might be possible to either separately.

Aboriginal people have always possessed the world we live in here, in Australia ;

- in the imagination.

And I should add that I am not suggesting this as yet another and deeper move in the long process of appropriating the continent and displacing it's original owners, but as as move towards what is, in effect, a convergence of Indigenous and Non-Indigenous 'understanding', a collective spiritual consciousness that will be the true form of reconciliation here.

That convergence will take place in the imagination, and imagination is essential to it.

And poetry is one of the first places where we see it in the making.

It seems to me that the 'style' of Government that we need to build, create, and agree upon - should at last also fit the kind of people that we have now become, and that fits the climate, and the scene.

My style is that of irreverent youthful optimism !

Hopefully the attitudes it expresses make the sharpest imaginable contrast in the way we, even 2 decades ago, the way in that 'far off time' how we saw the future - which is now the year 2000.

Some of the key changes changes of 'attitude' are the ways of seeing ourselves in relation to one another, and in relation to the world. [b]

The world these days is global. Australians have not escaped the pressures of the complex present ; we will not escape the even more complex pressures of an even more complex future.

In daring to become a diverse and multi-ethnic society, an open experiment, we run more risk, perhaps, than most places of breaking up, of fragmenting.

But we have faced danger before. What saved us on these earlier occasions was NEIGHBORLINESS, the saving grace of LIGHTNESS and GOOD HUMOR ; the choice of moderation over the temptation to any form of extreme.

These characteristics of our society are still visibly alive in the present ; in occasions we take for granted, so much so that we fail sometimes to see how rare they are.

Consider the atmosphere in which ELECTION DAYS are celebrated in this country - Australia. The spirit of Holiday hovers over our election boxes. As the 'guardian angel' of our DEMOCRATIC EXPERIMENT ; it seems preferable, and might even be more reliable, than the three or four bored paratroopers who descend to protect the ballot boxes in even the smallest village in a place as politically sophisticated as Italy.

Voting for us is a family occasion, a duty fulfilled, as often as not on the way to the beach, so that children, early, get a sense of it as an obligatory, but light one, a duty casually undertaken.

And it can seem casual. But the fact that the voters so seldom spoil their vote, either deliberately, or by accident, in a place where voting is compulsory, and voting procedures are often extremely complicated ; speaks for an electorate that has taken the trouble to inform itself because it BELIEVES THESE THINGS MATTER, AND OF A CITIZENSHIP LIGHTLY, BUT SERIOUSLY ASSUMED.

I liken the process - just as is the case here - to that of an audience, a mixed one - a society in which all sorts of divisions between groups, but also between individuals might be resolved by the fact that, in becoming an audience, this heterogeneous crowd has also, for the duration of the occasion, become an entity - and perhaps a single occasion, single occasions, is the best we can hope for, and is enough : a recognition that unity is there as a possibility [imagine - justice !].

It does not have to be sustained, as long as it is available when we need it to be. 

>* Australian History

A lack of history can free you from history by leaving you free to play with the historical, and construct an ideal history of the spirit or mind.

Disagreements over definitions of Freedom, Human Rights, Civil Rights, Democracy, and Corporatism are common everywhere.

Our problem here is different. It is on of selective memory. We remember the bits that speak well of us ; the freedoms we have achieved, the good life we have all created for ourselves here, AND the dark bits we suppress.

The truth is that our history has not been one of unbroken progress, either materially, or socially. It has been a continuous shifting back and forth ; between periods of economic boom and long periods of depression ; between a confident openness to the world, and our capacity to experiment, and a cautious drawing in behind defensive walls ; between a brave inclusiveness and a panicky need to make distinctions and exclude.

But it is a continuity, and we need to take it whole. We cannot disassociate ourselves from the past by saying we were not present.

It is present in us.

As for the wish to return to the past in the misguided belief that it was somehow simpler and more truly 'Australian' because less various.

All one can say is, there are NO simplicities, there never were.

Life is always more complex than the means we have for dealing with it. It always has been.

We change, but sometimes not fast enough. That's the way things are - but they needn't be that way.

As for our Australianness, that has always been a matter of Argument, and of Experiment !

What is extraordinary in the society we have developed here is the rapidity of changes it has undergone, and we feel this all the more when we see these changes tumbling in, one after the other, within the span of our lives.

Some of these changes are changes of attitude. of the way we see the world ; others , more radically, are changes in the way we see ourselves.

>* Conclusion

This work, 'civil rights - poetry to the rescue !' [parts 1,2,3] has been my way of communicating what it is that I know, into accessible information - so that people can understand - and then make well informed positive contributions to the discussions happening at local and global levels.

As poet-artist that's part of my job, that's what I do.

Thank you for the opportunity to express how I feel - we need to share our thoughts and ideas.

We need to go 'there'.

"There" is only knowledge.

Knowledge is 'frightening', true ; but if we accept the 'frightening' nature of knowledge, we cancel out it's awesomeness.

This is what it came to.

This is what I had to do.

Unity.

My decision not to use my vote was made after discussing and researching the issues from a professional perspective - in my capacity as Creative Project Specialist.

This discourse is my reply to the findings.

I 'judge' myself as a contributing citizen - and one of my contributions is this discourse... it is offered in this context by all means !

It is now up to you, justice, to whom I have been turned over to !

I will remind you ;

I am of the breed that sang under torture.

I do not understand your laws.

It is you who is making the mistake.

Majesty is ours !
 

>* Good Ideas for a Fresh Government System

As a start we could ;

>* As in the new Scottish Parliament, establish an all party Business Committee to determine the business of the Parliament, including the allocation of business to committees. The Committee would require regular endorsement of the Parliament for its plans.

>* Amend standing orders to require that a greater proportion of Parliamentary time is devoted to non-government business.

>* Ensure that legislation introduced by the Executive undergoes a substantial period of pre-legislative development and consultation through relevant committees, interest groups and the general public.

>* Give committees the power to initiate legislation arising from their inquiries, especially if the Government has failed to respond to major recommendations.

>* Establish joint estimates and legislation committees with the power to question Public Servants and Ministers from either House, and to take submissions and commission independent research.

>* Limit the number of speakers on legislation and change the standing orders to ensure that a real debate occurs with members from both sides to provide a quorum.

>* Restrict 'Question-Time' to genuine questions without notice, with a majority going to the Opposition.

>* Devote the 'Second Chamber' to a more extensive deliberation of the Bills in committee.

>* Provide for Private Bills which allow private citizens or groups [with sufficient backing] to bring certain matters before the Parliament [possibly through sponsoring MP's, although the Citizenry itself should be a consideration if/as/when required/needed].

>* Require that all Petitions be investigated, if necessary by special hearings, of a dedicated petitions' committee.

>* Commission 'Citizens Juries' or 'Deliberative Polls' on contentious and complex issues - such as Corporatisation of our Democracy ;

Un-Accountable Privatisation of 'Common Goods' and 'Public Utilities', Defense Spending, Education, Research, Economics, Environment, ETC]

>* Invite expert and community representatives to address the Chamber in Session and engage in debate with Members.

>* Promote and sponsor the establishment of groups such as Civic and Youth Forums to enable more regular and efficient consultation with the Public.

>* Strengthen Freedom of Information legislation to reduce the number of 'Exemptions from Disclosure'. This will involve the liberation [freeing up] of Law and Technology.

>* Public Review of economic proceedures such as Fractional Reserve Banking.

As well as engaging the General Public and their Representatives more fully in the Democratic Process, I believe such initiatives could transform politics in a way that many Citizens have dreamed about.

The goals of greater participation, more Civil and Co-operative Parliamentary conduct and an informed Public Debate are worth striving for.

Policy development should be more widely shared and it could be a more consensual enterprise, the atmosphere of the Parliament could be less reflexly adversarial and we could all become more focused on solving the problems we face as a Nation. 

We need a project for a New Democracy.

Aspirations by Voters for greater participation are often quashed by the claim that further Democratization [Participation] is 'not desirable' because the People are too ill informed or too irrational to be trusted with power.

This is at a time when the Community is better educated than at any time in the past !

It is possible to do much better, to open up decision making, to involve more MP's and engage the wider community, to actually thrash-out the issues in REAL DEBATES.

Australia was once considered the 'Democratic Laboratory' of the world.

It is time to conduct a few new Experiments to revive our BODY POLITIC, and embrace the principles of Openness, Accessibility and Accountability.

>* The end is the beginning...

The pages you find yourself turning may turn you around to the beginning ;
because the end and the beginning are always most intimately connected.

You may find that in the end you arrive where you started ; so as
to know the place once again.

This has a purpose - there is an old saying 'history repeats itself'.

Any form of consciousness would continue to repeat it's experience because it either so enjoyed what it was doing and sought out the experience again, or the consciousness was so un-aware of what it was doing, that it did not realize it was repeating itself.

>* Voting in Australia + Australian History : key notes taken from ; "a spirit of play : The making of Australian consciousness"
by David Malouf [Boyer Lectures 1998].

>* Good Ideas for a Fresh Government System ! : key notes taken from ; "Renewing Democracy - Can Women Make a Difference ?"
by Dr Carmen Lawrence [Address to the Sydney Institute, August 17, 2000].

[part 4] My day in court...

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