I just happened to be in Boston in September 1987 when, all of a sudden, the church bells rang, people on the street shook hands and embraced, and motorists got out of their cars and did the same. It was 200 years to the hour and day since the signing of the constitution of the United States. I felt both moved and envious that the American people so understood and cherished their constitution.

Two decades later I found myself sitting around the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) table. I attended 21 COAG meetings over nine years and spanning four prime ministers. John Howard is probably the only other politician to have attended more.