An Australian Republic
I was surprised this morning when I read that it was five years since the failed referendum to establish an Australian Republic [here and here]. I did not realise it was so long ago. I have been dwelling on this most of the day, sad reflections on what might have been.
I have been an advocate of an Australian republic for many years. I want to remove the Queen of the United Kingdom for our constitutional arrangements. I want this not because I want to reform our system of government, but because I believe it would better symbolise our evolution as a nation.
In the lead up to the republic referendum I responded to the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” argument as follows
This is the weakest argument in the no case. The current system is broken. It no longer sustains the imagination nor fires the national soul. It suffers a crisis of legitimisation. As time goes on, respect for the monarchy cannot be expected to underpin or provide stability for our system of government. No longer can an Australian Prime Minister say of Queen without exposing himself to public ridicule, “I did but see her passing by, and yet I love her till I die”.
Our Head of State should be an Australian and represent Australia, our national unity and values of freedom, tolerance and a fair go. As it stands today, no Australian, no matter how clever they are or how hard they work will ever be Australia’s Head of State.
One of the key roles played by the Head of State is to represent the nation and its people on the international stage. Although Queen Elizabeth is admired and respected by Australians, she is not an Australian and does not live here. She is seen around the world as the Queen of England. When she visits other countries she does so as the British Head of State and promotes British interests.
The notions of hereditary, primogeniture, sexual discrimination and religious discrimination inherent in the succession of the throne have no place in Australia’s democratic and egalitarian society.
The British monarchy is irrelevant to most Australians and can no longer sustain national pride nor embody our national identity. The most compelling evidence of this is the Prime Minister’s alacrity in working to ensure our Head of State is absent when Australia hosts the Olympic games. Even the monarchists are embarrassed at the thought of the Queen opening the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games.
In opinion polls, it is evident that most Australians would prefer an Australian Head of State to the monarchy.
I can see no reason to change my view, even if the Queen has changed hers. Up until October 1999, the Queen’s web site described her as Australia’s Head of State. However, in the lead up to the Australian republic referendum her web site was changed so that the Queen is now described as Australia’s Sovereign. Not even the monarchists can bear to describe her as Australia’s Head of State.
But the way forward will not be easy. While the majority of Australians are republicans, there are divergent views among their number. On the one hand we have the minimalist republicans: those who simply want to delete the Queen from the constitution, formalise the Governor-General as head of state, and upgrade his title to President of Australia. On the other hand there are the advocates for a directly elected president who would not vote for a minimalist model. Work is needed to address these differences of view before a successful referendum can be put to the Australian people.
The recent report of the Senate Legal and Constitutional References Committee, The road to a republic, sets out a sensible and practical three-step pathway to build consensus towards an agreed referendum proposal.
- The first step is a compulsory vote, asking whether Australia should become a republic with an Australian Head of State, separating from the British monarchy.
- If the majority are in favour of Australia becoming a republic, there would be a second vote to ask what type of republic Australia should become. This would be a preferential vote, where voters would rank the following options for appointing the Head of State:
- appointment by Prime Minister
- appointment by a two-thirds majority of a joint sitting of federal parliament
- appointment by an electoral college, which has been elected on the same basis as the Senate
- direct election of parliament’s candidates, with powers of head of state to be codified
- direct election by the people, with powers of head of state to be codified
- In the third stage, a drafting Convention would develop the details of the model selected by the voters, and it would then be put to the Australian people in a referendum.
Lets hope we do not need to wait too long for this process to get under way.