On July 4, the Chilean Constitutional Convention officially presented its completed draft proposal for a new constitution. The proposal reconstitutes the Chilean Republic as a “social and democratic state” that is “plurinational, intercultural, regional, and ecological.” It enshrines new social and environmental rights, including the rights to health, education, and water, as well as rights for women, the disabled, and indigenous peoples. If passed, Chile’s new constitution will represent a decisive break from the neoliberal status quo, expanding democracy and breaking with the disastrous legacy of Augusto Pinochet’s regime.

It’s an example that should inspire the Australian left. After all, Chile and Australia are both nations with roots in European colonialism, built on the violent expropriation of indigenous peoples, and with economies premised on resource extraction and agriculture. Both countries are remarkably urbanized, with 77 percent of Australians and 89 percent of Chileans living in cities. In the early 1970s, reformist governments in Chile and Australia lost power to US-backed coups. While Chile’s coup was led by the military, in Australia it was carried out under constitutional auspices. Where Chile suffered nearly two decades of military dictatorship, Australia saw seven years of Malcolm Fraser’s conservative government. As a consequence, both countries pioneered neoliberalism, though in distinct ways.

While today constitutional reform is a low priority for much of the Left, this was not always the case. From 1941 to 1949, constitutional change was the at the heart of Australia’s most ambitious period of parliamentary reform. Like the Chilean left today, the Australian left once refused to allow the constitution to constrain the reforms they fought for — rather, they fought for a transformed constitution to enable a transformation of society.