Mateship - Australian Constitutional Preamble

Australian Constitutional Preamble

During the 1999 Australian constitutional referendum there was some consideration regarding the inclusion of the term "mateship" in the preamble of the Australian constitution. This proposed change was drafted by the Australian poet Les Murray, in consultation with the Prime Minister of the time, John Howard:

Australians are free to be proud of their country and heritage, free to realise themselves as individuals, and free to pursue their hopes and ideals. We value excellence as well as fairness, independence as dearly as mateship.

However, Murray was not supportive of the inclusion of "mateship" in the preamble, stating that it was "blokeish" and "not a real word", however the Prime Minister insisted it be included as the term, he said, had "a hallowed place in the Australian lexicon". Howard reluctantly dropped the term from the preamble, after the Australian Democrats refused to allow it to be passed by the Senate where they held the balance of power.

Since the referendum the Australian government has introduced the concept of mateship as a possible part of an Australian citizenship test, although it was unclear how endorsement of the values of mateship would be tested.

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