Having just returned from Canberra, where all 565 Councils from across the nation gather each year at the National General Assembly, the helicopter view of Councils is firmly in my mind. When you sit down and speak with Mayors from every part of Australia, it is essential to sit back with a broad view of the role that Councils play in our nation. As we shared experiences with each other, it was amazing to hear how similar the view is that communities across the country see Mayors and Councillors as their first port of call in times of need. It was quite relevant that the theme for the conference this year was Local Government: Closest to the Community. People contact Councils for so many different issues but typically they are only responsible for twenty per cent of the areas of contact. I often joke that, as a Mayor, I wish I had the power that people assume that I have. Which brings me to the topic that has been somewhat discussed in the media of late. The Magna Carta. This document is often seen as the birth of democracy – and it was borne from one person having too much power. King John was in power at the time and his system of government was based on the principle of ‘vis et voluntas’ (force and will – my interpretation is we will force you and you will do it). King John, and his predecessors, would make executive and arbitrary decisions which he justified on the basis that the king was above the law.

King John raised extensive taxes on the barons to accumulate enough money to fight a war with King Philip II from France. When this ended in expensive failure in 1214, a group of English barons raised an army and forced him to agree to the Magna Carta (great charter) to prevent King John’s continued abuse of the feudal system.

We may well wonder what relevance an 800 year old document has to us today. Many of the 63 clauses seem ridiculous when considered in our modern society but were obviously of great significance at the time. Take for example Clause 8: “No widow shall be compelled to marry, so long as she prefers to live without a husband.” I can only assume that previously a widow was compelled to marry. Clause 31: “Neither we nor our bailiffs shall take, for our castles or for any other work of ours, wood which is not ours, against the will of the owner of that wood.” Seems reasonable. Sounds like the alternative would be akin to stealing. Clause 48: “All evil customs connected with forests and warrens, foresters and warreners, sheriffs and their officers, river banks and their wardens, shall…be utterly abolished, so as never to be restored.” This one probably leaves a little bit of room for interpretation. What is the definition of an ‘evil custom’?

Despite some clauses that seem farcical today, it is considered as one of the first steps away from autocracy towards modern democracy. It established limits to the power of the monarch, perhaps most noticeably in the area of taxation, where it was decreed that taxes could not be raised without “the general consent of the realm”.

The great charter was reissued in 1217; 1225; 1258; 1264 and again in 1297. The repeated reissue showed that democracy is not a concept to be chiselled in stone and forgotten about but a living breathing concept that needs to continually change to stay relevant. It has influenced constitutions in the US; India; New Zealand; Canada and South Africa. The right to justice is an area where many of us, probably without realising it, often quote Clause 39: “No man shall be arrested or imprisoned except by the judgment of their equals and by the law of the land.”

When you compare the situation King John had before the presentation of the Magna Carta to what we have with a modern Council, the world has indeed moved forward quite dramatically. A modern Council actively encourages opinions to come forward and, so far at least, I haven’t ordered anyone to be imprisoned or to be sent to the guillotine for having a contrary opinion. In particular in Australia, the concept of fairness and treating all residents equally is ingrained in our day to day lives as much as it is ingrained in our governance processes. No one person – be they Mayor or Prime Minister – has ultimate power and I firmly believe that, as Lord Acton said in 1887, absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Tell me if you think modern democracy is working at mayor@dubbo.nsw.gov.au

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