View from the summit

Describing the opportunity to participate as a "privilege" Sarah said the weekend summit was conducted at a frantic pace. "It was really busy with so much to cover in a short time frame, but it was well facilitated. Our stream (Australian Governance) was run by Maxine McKew and John Hartigan and they handled it quite well. There was plenty of butchers paper, white boards and post-it notes."

One of the key recommendations from the Australian Governance stream, and later one of the summit headlines, was the transition to an Australian republic by 20/20. But what else was discussed?

"There was plenty of discussion about constitutional reform and the future of federal/state relations, with some really smart constitutional lawyer types. The discussion was quite inclusive though, everyone made an effort to get others to participate.

"There was also a big focus on collaborative community engagement between governments and constituencies which was a real passion and focus of mine going into the summit."

An indigenous focus - from the Welcome to Country to the spontaneous sing-a-longs - was genuine. "An important outcome of the summit was the suggestion to move towards some type of compact or treaty," Sarah said.

Okay - we had to ask - any celebrity spotting? "Ah, yes I did see Cate (Blanchett), Hugh (Jackman), and Claudia (Karvan). I had a nice chat to Rhys Muldoon and Julian Burnside. I sat next Sir William Deane during one session who is just as nice and kind as you'd imagine.

So where to from here? "Well obviously the PM has said he'll come back at the end of the year to formally respond to the ideas presented on the last day," Sarah said.

In the meantime the debate rolls on. "Our group is continuing to talk online through web forums and emails. The ideas are being further developed and the discussion continues."

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