Steady march to a republic

Editorial
The Courier Mail, 6 Dec 2001

Slow but sure. That is the message to the majority of Australians who would prefer Australia to be a republic.

Last weekend a conference of about 450 people was held in Corowa to try to discuss the proposition. While many of the well-known monarchists were present, together with some of the minimalists who want little more than to make the governor-general Australia's official head of state, the conference adopted a resolution about the process that should now be adopted to allow Australia to move towards becoming a republic. Essentially they proposed an all-party committee of the Federal Parliament should begin preparing for a plebiscite on whether Australia should become a republic and what kind of republic it should be – one where the head of state was selected by a prime minister, or by a two-thirds majority of the Parliament, or be nominated by an electoral college, or be elected by the people.

Earlier this year the Labor Party proposed a three-stage process: first a vote on whether people wanted a republic, then a plebiscite on what kind of republic and finally a referendum to change the Constitution to implement the most popular option.

The Corowa proposal merges the first two of those stages. That should reduce the time it takes to get to the ultimate question.

However, no one expects that there will be progress of any kind while John Howard remains Prime Minister (at least another 19 months, on his calculation, until he reaches the age of 64). Mr Howard will not allow anything to be done to abolish Australia's ties with the British monarchy while he has power. That is one part of Australia's historical development of which he wants no part.

While many republicans are anxious for faster progress, there is virtue in the consultative process the Corowa convention proposed should be undertaken by a parliamentary committee. If there is any lesson from the 1999 exercise, it is that the Australian people need to be involved in the formulation of a republican model. They don't want one foisted on them. They need to be part of the process of making Australia a republic.

Perhaps the best news for supporters of the republic is that the new chairman of the Australian Republican Movement, Greg Barns, is already prepared to accept that the most likely republican model is one where the president is directly elected by the people. It was the ARM's refusal to countenance such a model that allowed the Prime Minister to call a referendum where the supporters of the republic were divided. The ARM model that was approved, though not by a majority, at the Constitutional Convention – giving the prime minister and the leader of the opposition power to nominate the head of state – was flawed because it gave more power to politicians. A republic worthy of its name must give power to the people. Mr Barns accepts the evidence there is a strong community desire for direct election by the people of the president. What is certain is Australia will not become a republic until republicans can unite and support a single model.