A republic will only come from hard work
Article by Natasha Stott Despoja in Canberra Times
17 March 2006

With the Queen opening the Commonwealth Games this week, we were reminded that Australia's top job is based not on hard work nor talent but inheritance. I have no problem with Her Majesty - and enjoyed her dinner this week in Canberra - but the notion that the success and stability of our country is in any way dependent on the rule of an absent monarch is ludicrous. The republic debate is about much more than principles of democracy. It is about who we are as Australians. The republic has never been about dismissing our history or traditions - it is about facing them. It is about understanding that our past is filled with so much for which we can be justifiably proud while acknowledging that for which we should feel ashamed. Our country today is dramatically different from what it was 100 years ago. No longer is Australia a distant outpost of empire. It is a modern, stable and most importantly, independent democracy.

Our diverse population is drawn from more than 160 countries around the globe: a fact reflected and celebrated throughout the country. The republic will give us the opportunity to find out who we really are and to redefine our common bonds and shared goals. We can add to our proud history by formally acknowledging the status and rights of the indigenous people recognising their unique position as Australia's original inhabitants. The republic will allow all Australians to have a say in how their future is to be built. A republic will allow us to move beyond our colonial past, beyond our mistakes and beyond our division. And we will do so with an Australian as our representative. I have no doubt that this is the direction Australia will take (it seems the Prime Minister now concedes Australia may become a republic - albeit not while the Queen is on the throne), but at the same time we must never just accept that it is inevitable. In the five years since 2000, support for the republic has fallen from 52 per cent to 46 per cent. While in the last decade, those opposed to a republic have remained almost without deviation at 35 per cent. So republicans are losing ground to the unsure, the uncommitted and the unaware. More than one in five Australians aged between 18 and 34 have no real opinion on the republic.

We need to engage young people - the youth vote in the referendum was not at the levels we expected. But this is not simply a matter of votes and percentages - it is a matter of identity, of young Australians feeling engaged in the future of their country. We will always be at a disadvantage in this respect, unless we can provide a clear and decisive option. Perhaps our greatest challenge is overcoming our own differences as republicans. We remain open to attacks from opponents who use this division against us. Their strength is the status quo; their strongest weapon is uncertainty; and, their best argument is ''Don't know? Vote no''. While people remain poorly informed, they are unlikely to feel confident enough to consider change. As we well know, scare campaigns do not need a great deal of information to be effective. We must ensure that every Australian has the information that they need so they can confidently show their support. We must ensure that people know that with an Australian Head of State, sovereignty has been placed into the hands of Australians where it rightfully belongs. What unifies republicans is not party politics, a shared ideology or social status - it is the common purpose that we all share for an Australian republic. We need to focus on the simplest of questions: Do Australians want a republic? It is the question monarchists fear because they know as well as we do that the answer will be a resounding yes. Republicans can take our inspiration the words of a late, great Australian, Gatjil Djerrkura: ''If we want to break away from the colonial past, and begin anew, then we have to walk together hand in hand and side by side ... My dream is of Australia as a reconciled republic''.

The republic offers us the promise of renewal, a chance to acknowledge the role of indigenous Australians in our history, and finally give them their rightful place in the Constitution. From this foundation, every Australian can be given the chance to shape the future of our nation, to walk together hand in hand and side by side under the flag of an Australian republic.

* Senator Stott Despoja is a national executive member of the Australian Republican Movement and a former patron of the South Australian ARM.