[UMA-SR-000000856] ACC 1 Steering Committee Files

Description

IdentifierUMA-SR-000000856Extent8 filesScope and ContentThis series comprises files relating to Steering Committee meetings and certain associated meetings held prior to the 1973 Constitutional Convention. The files contain agendas, transcripts, summaries and minutes of meetings, press releases, correspondence and other papers.

The earliest of these files relate to two meetings of a Steering Committee of State Attorneys- General, in Melbourne on 25 February 1972 and in Adelaide on 19 April 1972.
In July 1972, the Commonwealth Attorney-General joined the State Attorneys in discussions held at Broadbeach, Gold Coast City concerning the Convention. The Broadbeach Steering Committee meeting was arranged for 12 July, the day preceding a Conference of the Standing Committee of Commonwealth and State Attorneys-General, 13-14 July. The transcript and papers of that Conference form part of this series, though most of the proceedings were not related to the Convention proposals. Discussions on the Convention concluded during the proceedings of the Standing Committee on 14 July.

The Attorneys-General attended the Steering Committee meetings as Ministers representing the Governments of their States and the Commonwealth. The Committee therefore was sometimes referred to as a Steering Committee of Ministers. The Attorneys-General were accompanied by various officers, and Solicitors-General from some States also attended meetings.

Subsequent planning for the first Convention was undertaken by a Steering Committee of Delegates from Commonwealth and State Parliaments, comprising two delegates from each State and four delegates from the Commonwealth Parliament. The delegates were generally representative of government and opposition parties. At the second meeting of the Committee the Minister for Territories was included, increasing the number of Commonwealth delegates to five. Sometimes additional Members of Parliament and officers attended meetings. The Steering Committee of Delegates met for the first time in Adelaide on 5-6 October 1972, then in Sydney on 12-13 April 1973, and for the last time in Hobart on 26 July 1973.

The Steering Committee considered matters such as the time and place of the Convention, the composition of delegations to the Convention, the establishment of a Secretariat and the appointment of a Chief Executive Officer. They received submissions and recommended

topics for discussion at the first Convention. The task of the Steering Committee came to an end with the opening of the Convention in Sydney on 3 September 1973. However, the Steering Committee was soon reconstituted as the Executive Committee.

Most of the material in this series is filed under meeting dates, although a small number of papers within the files are not clearly associated with any particular meeting. The papers appear to have been collected by more than one person. Some bear handwritten annotations and corrections.

The series contains, separately, a report of a meeting of Clerks of State Parliaments in Perth on 19 May 1972 in connection with arrangements for the proposed Constitutional Convention (records of some of the subsequent discussions of Clerks of Parliaments/Table Officers are filed with transcripts of Steering Committee meetings); and papers relating to the first meeting of the Victorian Delegation to the Constitutional Convention, 31 July 1972.Access StatusOpen for public accessRequest Access to RecordsRequest records from this Series

Item

Hobart 26.7.73: Meeting of Steering Committee of Delegates.

Sydney 12.4.73 and 13.4.73: Meeting of Steering Committee of Delegates.

Adelaide 5.10.72 and 6.10.72: Meeting of Steering Committee of Delegates.

Melbourne 31.7.72: First Meeting of Victorian Delegation.

Broadbeach 12.7.72 and 14.7.72: Meeting of Commonwealth and State Attorneys-General. Broadbeach 13.7.72 and 14.7.72: Conference of the Standing Committee of Commonwealth and State Attorneys-General.

Perth 19.5.72: Meeting of Clerks of State Parliaments.

Adelaide 19.4.72: Meeting of State Attorneys-General.

Melbourne 25.2.72: Meeting of State Attorneys-General.

Series

[UMA-SR-000000892] ACC 37 A.R.B. McDonnell's Files

[UMA-SR-000000891] ACC 36 Secretariat Correspondence

[UMA-SR-000000874] ACC 19 Printed Proceedings, Reports and Papers

[UMA-SR-000000870] ACC 15 Plenary Sessions Files

[UMA-SR-000000869] ACC 14 Submissions

[UMA-SR-000000857] ACC 2 Executive Committee Files

Provenance

CreatorAustralian Constitutional ConventionRoleProvenance

Provenance

CreatorFinemore, JohnRoleProvenance

Dates

Date1972-1973

Relationships

University of Melbourne Archives

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[UMA-SR-000000856] ACC 1 Steering Committee Files