Do the music and words of the Beatles' Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album, recorded 40 years ago, have any parallels with the Australian Constitution?

This is one of the tantalising questions constitutional lawyer John Williams touched on at his Constitution Day public lecture at the National Archives of Australia today (9 July).

The National Achives of Australia marked 9 July this year with a series of activities celebrating the Australian Constitution and giving Australians the opportunity to learn more about the documents that have shaped our lives for more than 100 years.

The date marks the day in 1900 on which our Constitution became law, when Queen Victoria signed her Assent to the document that created Australia.

The day included the free public lecture by Professor Williams from the University of Adelaide, a citizenship ceremony, presided over by the Governor-General, and a ‘creative conversation’ where constitutional experts and educators gathered to create the vision for an enduring celebration of Constitution Day in Australia.

Professor Williams chose the title The Australian Constitution: A Day in the Life to highlight the fact that 9 July is only one day in the history of the Constitution which continues to shape Australians’ lives today.

‘The ninth is one day, but not the only day in which the Constitution has involved itself in our lives,’ he said. ‘It is the society we live in, not just the words on the page, that makes it all go around.

‘The title also gave me a chance to play with a few Beatle metaphors,’ he added with a glint in his eye. ‘Was Alfred Deakin the George Harrison of his day? Did the men who drafted the Constitution leave a coded message written backwards?’

‘The framers of the Constitution didn’t write down everything they believed in,’ said Professor Williams. ‘They were intergenerationally generous and willing to let the future take care of itself.’

It was this vision that allowed Australians to get rid of the White Australia Policy and which enables them to continue to vote for changes to the Constitution.

Professor Williams invited his audience to think about key issues such as: What do we, as Australians, believe in? What options do we have? Should Australia have a bill of rights?

For a link to the Australian Constitution: http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/general/constitution/