AUSTRALIA has just emerged from perhaps the most reflective 12 months of its history.

1999's republic referendum, the highly successful Sydney Olympics and the current Centenary of Federation celebrations have all prompted us to pause and ask ourselves what it means to be an Australian in this new century.

In November 1999, the answer was an ambiguous one.

Fifty-five percent of the Australian people voted no to the proposed republican model.

Theories on the outcome of the vote are many and varied although only two things seem certain … Elizabeth II is still our Head of State and most Australians don't think she should be.

They are even more certain that they don't want Prince Charles as the next King of Australia.

Ignoring these facts will not make them go away.

A poll conducted a few days before the vote showed that only 9% of people who voted no wanted to retain the British Queen as our Head of State. This figure will, I believe, only continue to shrink.

Monarchists would rather not face the "monarch' question at all.

We hardly heard mention of the Queen from the Kerry Jones camp during the debate … and with good reason.

Australians rightly perceive Elizabeth as a nice lady. She does a grand job as ambassador for Britain and has retained her dignity despite the best efforts of her family to hasten the republic debate, even in their own country.

Where exactly the debate does move in this new century, however, is
the matter of most interest.

Importantly, a number of recent events, most notably the 2000 Olympics, have helped shift the Australian psyche in a positive way.

Despite the comments of some cynics the Olympics were much more than an athletics carnival. For a fortnight we witnessed a celebration of not only our sports people, but our arts, our history and our people.

Our whole culture was seen as being, not only uniquely Australian, but, perhaps for the first time, proudly so.

Just like the "no' vote, the Olympics were a real turning point in our history. This time, however, it was very much a positive step.

More recently we have seen the start of celebrations of our Centenary of Federation.

Perhaps it will be during this reflection of our 100 years as a nation that
debate about our republican destiny will again
surface.

What I find most strange is that those who believe in an Australian republic
are accused of neglecting the past.

I can assure you that nothing could be further from the truth. Most are
republicans precisely because of our heritage,
not in spite of it!

Cast your mind back to the Olympic opening ceremony.

We saw the history of our nation condensed into a magnificent three hours. The thundering hooves of the stock horses, the Aboriginal dreamtime, the diggers, the woodchoppers, the beach, Victa lawn mowers and the Hills Hoist.

No one shares this past with us. It is ours alone and for the first time we shouted it from the rooftops to billions worldwide.

What better way to continue this celebration than by doing what we have become so proficient at during this past 12 months and casting off the last vestiges of our long-dead colonialism?

The coming decade is without doubt one of real opportunity for our nation.

The cultural cringing that weighed so heavily on our national consciousness last century is at last being cast aside. I believe it will soon be shed altogether when we
stand as one nation, proud of where we have been and where we are headed.

How appropriately would an Australian republic symbolise this resurgent national pride and cultural freedom?

Surely we deserve one of us, an Australian, as Head of State to not only make a statement about Australia to others but, more importantly, to symbolise what we have come to think of ourselves.

Stephen Crowe is a member of the NSW committee of the Australian Republican Movement.