Royal rebels ham it up

Edited by Nick O'Malley
Spike - smh.com.au, 3 Dec 2001

Whenever republicans and defenders of the crown rub shoulders the sparks fly. Name calling is always expected, and an honest to goodness brawl is not unusual. This weekend was no different when 450 of them got together in Corowa to discuss methods for advancing the debate about Australia's head of state.

So when the Queen's number one defender in Australia, David Flint, took the floor and announced, "We are dwarves standing on the shoulders of giants", the Australian Republican Movement's director, James Terrie, was waiting. An ex-army major who served for five years with the 1st Commando Regiment, Terrie is a passionate republican and not the type of bloke to back away from a challenge. Fumed Terrie: "What does he think we should do - change our name to the Australian Dwarf Movement? And are we intellectual dwarves or moral, political or constitutional ones?" Flint was kept safe by ARM's deputy chairman, Richard Fidler, who decided Terrie needed to be "tied down" whenever Flint appeared.

Terrie was proud of his self-control: "I was very restrained. I didn't hit anyone and I only told one person to piss off." But in the Queen's English, of course.