Andrew Nikolic (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This year marks the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta or, as honourable members may prefer, the octocentenary. Magna Carta was first sealed by King John, under sufferance, in 1215 on the green fields of Runnymede. Although some will say that Magna Carta was about rebellious barons restraining the power of their king—that it had more to do with self-interest than any altruistic motive—I think there is more to it than that. Others will claim that many of its original provisions are redundant. But it is important that, this year, we celebrate what Magna Carta stands for: restraint on royal power and executive authority. Its Latin name means 'great charter'—appropriate, given the great principles it illuminates.

The distinguished British judge Lord Bingham, said this of Magna Carta:

King John entered the meadow as a ruler acknowledging no secular superior, whose word was law. He left the meadow as a ruler who had acknowledged, in the most solemn manner imaginable, that there were some things even he could not do. This, then, is the enduring legacy of Magna Carta: the lesson that no power is absolute; that all power, however elevated, is subject to constraint.

I think that is a neat reflection on the rule of law and the principles that shaped how the civilised world thought about individual freedom and sovereignty. These principles are reflected in documents like the Declaration of Independence and too many western constitutions to mention.

Events around the world will mark this special anniversary. In England, the four original copies of Magna Carta will be brought together for the first time: two from the British Library, one from Lincoln Cathedral and one from Salisbury. There are specially-commissioned books, documentaries, exhibitions, lectures, speeches and academic conferences to commemorate this important occasion. In my home state of Tasmania just last Tuesday night, the University of Tasmania Law School held a gathering where scholars discussed the influence of Magna Carta on society, the law and parliament.

We are very fortunate in this building to have one of the few intact examples of Magna Carta. Our version, or inspeximus to give it its proper Latin name, is from the year 1297, during the reign of Edward I. The versions are important because, as Frederic Maitland, the modern father of English legal history, has observed, 'It is never enough to refer to Magna Carta without saying which edition you mean.' The text of enduring significance is the 1225 edition, which was the version confirmed by Edward I in 1297 and which entered the statute book. That is why we should applaud the foresight of two people in 1952—the then Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies and the then National Librarian Sir Harold White—which allowed Australia to acquire this wonderful document for our national collection. Our version cost 12,500 pounds, which was a very significant sum of money at that time and required prime ministerial approval, but its value today is incalculable. It is one of only two known copies to exist outside of England. The other one sold for over $21.3 million at a Sotheby's auction in 2007. Millions of Australians have been able to see our copy close up since it went on display in Old Parliament House in 1961—the year that I was born—and the fact that it is now on display for many more to see in this parliament is a marvellous thing indeed.

We in this parliament have a committee system in both houses, and we have joint committees, with origins in the principles behind Magna Carta. That is because our committees scrutinise proposals of the executive government. I am a member of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade and, as the member for Holt mentioned, I am a member with him on the Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security—a very good bipartisan committee, as he says. I am privileged to play a role, with the member for Holt and others, in scrutinising new laws that relate to the most important functions of this parliament and the government of the day, and that is the defence of Australia and the protection of its people. I congratulate the member for Holt on his comments in that regard.

It is therefore appropriate that this year we acknowledge the role of Magna Carta as the first official and public manifestation of the rule of law and the rich legacy we have all inherited, which it is the duty of all of us as elected representatives to promote and support. I thank the House.