I have gone through the report and honestly don't understand what will require a referendum. What will be the referendum question?

The constitution states clearly states the changes that would require a referendum. None of the recommendations of the BBI fit in that category.
Or maybe some people want a referendum just to put the country in election mode and 'test' the waters albeit at a huge cost.

You mean LEGISLATE ; LEGISLATION Yes i totally agree.

How we manage discourse is also a matter for concern. This is because language determines our thinking. For example the title to this post may limit our thinking in ways that may preclude any constructive engagement.

An application of this idea is by Deborah Tannen in her 'argument society':

[quote]THE ARGUMENT CULTURE

Balance. Debate. Listening to both sides. Who could question these noble American traditions? Yet today, these principles have been distorted. Without thinking, we have plunged headfirst into what I call the "argument culture."
The argument culture urges us to approach the world, and the people in it, in an adversarial frame of mind. It rests on the as¬sumption that opposition is the best way to get anything done: The best way to discuss an idea is to set up a debate; the best way to cover news is to find spokespeople who express the most ex¬treme, polarized views and present them as "both sides"; the best way to settle disputes is litigation that pits one party against the other; the best way to begin an essay is to attack someone; and the best way to show you're really thinking is to criticize.
/quote]

This leads us to the question of how again people from different persuasions can think together constructively, and how we can change our patterns of discourse.

Can somebody educate me on reasons the current constitution needs to be trashed/ updated?