September 2007

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Chair's Report
National Office Report
ACT Branch Update
NSW Branch Update
WA Branch Update
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Multiplex Founder Honoured by Australian Republican Movement

THREE prominent Australians have been honoured at an Australian Republican Movement assembly held in Perth.

The recipients, who are recently deceased, include Multiplex founder Mr John Roberts, well known social worker Mr Joe Goerke and UNESCO professional Mr Fred Ashton.


Mr. John Roberts - founder of Multiplex - honoured

Ms Julie Armstrong, Convenor for the Australian Republican Movement - WA Division, said the names of the men were placed on the Movement's State Honour Board in recognition of their support for the republican movement and significant contributions they had each made to the Australian and international community.

"Mr Roberts was one of this State's most well known entrepreneurs and founder of one of the world's largest building companies," said Ms Armstrong.

"Mr Goerke was highly regarded for his long-term commitment to the specialty area of child protection and for establishing a support service for natural parents who have had their children removed from them and placed in State care.

"And Mr Ashton was a talented mathematician and engineer who was appointed as the chief consultant of the Snowy River Scheme before taking a career change to work for UNESCO where he founded schools in Nigeria, Malaysia and Pakistan.

Ms Armstrong said the Australian Republican Movement was experiencing resurgence in interest due to the forthcoming election.

"People are starting to ask questions again," said Ms Armstrong. "Even Mr Rudd has placed the notion of Australia becoming a republic high on the agenda."

Ms Armstrong said Australians were intelligent and wanted a government in power that was willing to look at the concept in a fair and impartial manner.

"We are entering exciting times," said Ms Armstrong.

Also recognised on the night was Mr Gary Mitchell who received a life time membership for a decade of excellent service and commitment to the Movement.


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Federal Election

There hasn't been much media attention about the republic over the last month, with newshounds focussing almost myopically on Australia's forthcoming Federal election. But then again, if you look more broadly, things have been happening which are very pertinent to our cause. For instance, just over the last week, the Prime Minister and arch-monarchist John Howard declared he would finally retire if he managed to perform his latest Lazurus act at the approaching poll. But, with Peter Costello anointed as his certain successor, and Rudd rampant in the opinion polls, one way or another it seems reassuring likely that a republican will, at last, be the Australian Prime Minister again in the relatively near future.


Kevin Rudd - a republican

ALP Republican Platform

Even with brave republicans as leaders of both political parties, a republican referendum or plebiscite is not necessarily a certainty. The leader is not, of course, the sole arbiter of policy in a political party, the party-room has its say. Although for the ALP, the party's position is spelt out in some detail, through points 20 through 25 in Chapter 11 of the National Platform, which has only recently been released following their National Conference.

(http://www.alp.org.au/platform/chapter_11.php#11respect_for_the_constitution)

The platform says:

20. Labor believes that the monarchy no longer reflects either the fundamental democratic principles that underpin the Australian nation or its diversity. Labor believes that our head of state should be an Australian who embodies and represents the traditions, values and aspirations of all Australians.

21. Labor recognises the difficulty of advancing constitutional reform if the Australian people are not fully involved in the process and unless bipartisan support is obtained.

22. Labor is committed to consulting with the Australian people, other political parties, the States and the Territories as to the form that the Republic should take. Labor will promote community debate about the advantages and disadvantages of the various republican models.

23. Labor will conduct plebiscites to establish support for an Australian head of state and the preference for different forms of a Republic. When a preference has emerged Labor will initiate an appropriate referendum under section 128 of the Constitution.

24. Labor believes that every Australian citizen should be eligible to be our head of state.

25. Labor supports Australia's continued membership of the Commonwealth of Nations.

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Chair's Report

Acting Chair Mike Keating

Firstly, thank you to all those members who responded to my question 'What do you think?' in last month's Roundup. The responses were mainly constructive and thought-provoking. I have tried to respond individually to each contributor.

As I write this, two different elections are about to happen. Both will have considerable influence on the ARM. The first is the federal election which may well be announced by Mr Howard before you are reading this. The second election is the one announced in the email / letter you would have received in the first week of September - our ARM elections for Branch Councillors in each State.

In the past, there have occasionally been dark murmurings about some fictitious 'Sydney chardonnay set' running the ARM as a personal fiefdom.

Nothing could be further from the truth! Our Constitution requires elections every two years for both the National Committee and Branch Councils.

Any financial member can stand.

What do Branch Councils do? They help to keep alive an organizational structure that will be needed when our opportunity arises. They organize meetings and events to raise awareness; they raise much needed funds; they engage with organizations and individuals in the community and they encourage ARM membership.

Most Branch Councils are roughly structured along the same lines as the National Committee portfolios - Chair, Treasurer, Secretary, Fundraising, Media, Communications, Community Relations, and so on.

What skills do Branch Councillors need? The main requirement is to be a 'doer' not a 'talker'. There are always jobs to be done in every portfolio and talking about them doesn't help to achieve a republic. There is really not much point in becoming a Councillor unless you want to contribute and can allocate the time to do so.

What's in it for you? Not much. There's no pay - quite the opposite, you fund your own expenses. And often, there not even many thanks! Inevitably, there are meetings to attend and, occasionally 'they' (the National Committee) want things done in unreasonable timeframes. Australia, however, is a nation of volunteers and what could be better than to volunteer for an organization focussed on achieving the dream of an Australia with an Australian as our head of state.

What's in it for you? Not much except the satisfaction of having contributed.

The 'other' election may well produce a more level playing field on which we can advocate our cause. The work of the National Committee and Branch Councils over the next two years may well be a vital part of a great national achievement.

BE PART OF IT - don't just think about nominating - DO IT!

Mike Keating, Acting ARM Chair
chair@republic.org.au

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NATIONAL OFFICE REPORT

After two wonderful months of leave, where I travelled throughout Scotland, I have returned to the reality of work. I'd like to thank Kate Holloman, who replaced me as Executive Officer for this period; she has done an excellent job. ARM is lucky to have young members such as Kate - the future bodes well for the Australian Republic.

The next three months sees the office handling a number of events which certainly will keep us busy, including the Annual ARM Raffle and the Branch Elections. Members support for both certainly will be appreciated.

ANNUAL ARM RAFFLE

The National Committee has gathered together a wonderful array of prizes for this year's raffle, including a Russell Morrison Painting valued at $1500, a Westfield Shopping Voucher valued at $1000, three nights accommodation at Surfers Paradise, a York C201 Exercise Bike valued at $499, and a $250 Travel Voucher.

It is anticipated that raffle booklets will be posted out in the period 25 September to 11 October. They will be priced at $5 per ticket or $40 for the book of ten tickets. The raffle will be drawn at the NSW End of Year Drinks Event on Thursday 6 December. Any member not wishing to receive raffle tickets should contact National Office before 25 September.

BRANCH ELECTIONS

The process of conducting the ARM Branch Council Elections is about to begin.

Only members financial by 24 September will be eligible to stand for Branch Council positions or vote in the process.

Members should be receiving information by email or mail by Thursday 13 September on the Ballot and Call for Nominations.

The Electoral Roll and Nominations for the Branch Council close at 5pm on Monday 24 September.

Voting will be available either by the online process or by post from Friday 12 October to Friday 26 October, with the results being declared on Wednesday 31 October.

MEMBERSHIP

Thank you to those members who have renewed their ARM membership over the past few months, it certainly has been a busy period for both Kate and myself.

The office is currently endeavouring to provide all financial members with a membership card. When we commenced this I anticipated we would be able to do this by the end of 2007. With the EO position only being three days a week, I have had to train a talented Volunteer, Chris McCaffrie, who turns up at NO every week for a few hours, it will probably take us until well into 2008 to complete the task.

Pamela Hunt
Executive Officer
staff@republic.org.au

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ACT Branch Update

ACTivities

A group of enthusiastic ACT members is gearing up to conduct a pre-election survey of all candidates for the Senate and local federal electorates. The local branch discussed how best to inject the republic issue into the upcoming election and decided that an approach that asked candidates to indicate their views on the republic issue was the most productive. The Branch will publish the results of the survey prior to the poll so that electors can take account of the views of the candidates on support for a republic.

Also, the ACT Branch provided strong support for the Rally 4 Republic Rally that was held in Canberra's Garema Place on Saturday 15 September. This innovative 'street' event was organised by local ARM members and ANU Republican Club supporters and catered for all age groups, but with a younger generation focus. It featured performances from several bands and musicians along with a sprinkling of speakers who highlighted the republican cause.

The event provided the opportunity to 'road test' a number of new campaigning electronic tools. The ACT Branch is grateful to Kate Holloman and her band of enthusiasts who organised the day. Their energy, commitment and creativity augers well for the success of the republican cause in the future. ACT members provided logistic and organisational support with stalls and other arrangements. A full write-up of this event will be found in next month's RR.

ACT Convenor: Terry Fewtrell (0412 823 275 or terry.fewtrell@yellowedge.com.au)

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NSW Branch Update

Thursday 6th December: End of Year Drinks at the Treasury Bar, kindly hosted by Councillors Pooley and Mallard.

Also, a seminar with eminent lawyer George Williams is coming up in November (date and time dependant on the election).

NSW Convenor: Annie Tennant (02 9267 8022 or annie.tennant@lendlease.com.au)

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WA Branch Update

WA branch's new website http://wa.republic.org.au was launched on the 27th August. The branch would like to encourage members to have a look at it and make suggestions about how it could be improved. Contact the branch by email on wa@republic.org.au

WA BRANCH HONORS MEMBERS

The WA Branch honoured three recently deceased members at an ARM Assembly in Perth. Please refer to the story in the News section to see how the ARM branch recognized their tremendous efforts for the republican cause.

In addition, the ARM bestowed a life membership on one of the founding members of the Movement in WA, Gary Mitchells.

Secretary of the WA Branch, Alex McGavin, penned the following tribute to Gary:

Gary Mitchells

Gary Joined the ARM in 1991. Malcolm Turnbull had been over in that year to launch the movement in Western Australia. Nothing was happening so Gary in that year with Malcolm's blessing called a meeting of members at the Hellenics Centre to get it going in the "West". The night he picked finished up a stormy night, but even so 24 people turned up. From that night forward Gary became the State Convener of our movement until 2000 and also remained a member of State Council for a period after that.

Gary served in the most difficult period to date of the movement. We were fighting for recognition and to get our message across. On the horizon was the 2001 Centenary which we were aiming for Australia to be a republic with an Australian Citizen as Head of State.

My first contact with Gary was in either 1995 or 1996 when I saw an ad in a paper to join the A.R.M. This enthusiastic bloke got me along to a then State Executive Meeting at Lottery House in East Perth. From that day on I saw at close hand his dedication, enthusiasm and creativity to the goal of an Australian Republic.

We met at many places, such as Hellenics Club, Queens Hotel, and Irish Club and on many occasions finished up Northbridge or Subiaco after a late meeting drinking coffee and continuing the planning of events and activities.

With the Constitutional Convention in 1998 and the Referendum in 1999 we were very active with a membership of over 500 and forums in a number of suburbs, the largest being the coastal district forum under Dennis Kemp, which later along with others became electorate forums. All this activity with an office manned by volunteers in Martin Square (St Georges Terrace) and which later expanded in 1999 to a larger campaign office in Adelaide Terrace required a lot of Gary's time, at some cost to his business and personal time.

From 1997 to 1999 the pressure built up as the campaign gained momentum, which meant that Gary was in demand as a speaker at secondary schools, organisations such a Rotary and at public meetings as well as on radio. Who would forget some of the clashes with Sophie Panadoplos, Kerry Jones, and Jeremy Moon to name but a few? Coupled with this we had each forum running fundraising activities with all sorts of public events, all of which required Gary's support.

Activity in 1998 and 1999 was particularly heavy with a number of us on call back radio, and manning the phones at night in Senator Cook's and Senator Eggleston's offices as well as the country trips, community shows, such as an information marquee at the Canning show, and many door knocks. Gary on talk back radio had about 3 or 4 different aliases and accents in which he used. Gary came on 6WF on Liam Bartlett's Talk Back show and Liam said: "is that you Gary Mitchell?".

Gary gave a 110% to our movement, right up to the referendum and then after the gloom and despair of defeat took the reins up again in the mantle of Convenor to keep alive our hopes for the future. We owe Gary a big thank you for the magnificent job he has done for the movement in W.A.

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Don't forget that the ARM shop has a great range of republican merchandise, such as books, T-shirts, hats and mugs that make great gifts for family and friends!

ARM women's t- shirt $25 (ex postage) ARM cap $20 (ex postage)

Purchases can be made at ARM ONLINE STORE  

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