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In
a word Yes.
As to whether the Republic will be achieved sooner rather
than later is simply a question of education, time and
the degree of political literacy amongst Australians.
One of the essential differences between a Republican
and a Monarchist is that Republicans believe in Australia
and the Monarchists believe in an anonymous institution
twelve thousand miles (19000 km) away.
This anonymous institution is currently the Queen of
Australia. She is also the Queen of New Zealand, Jamaica,
Barbados, St Christopher, and the Solomon Islands not
to mention the Queen of England. Talk about an identity
crisis.
Speaking of an identity crisis, that is what Australia
seems to have in the eyes of our international trading
partners.
It was at the turn of the nineteenth century when the
Australian Constitution became an issue. The first convention
was held in 1891 and attended by a delegation of appointments
by the colonial governments. The issue of Federation
then faded into political obscurity and the same arguments
were put forward as they are today - that there were
more urgent matters to attend to. It took the will of
the people to overcome the rhetoric of politicians and
to make Federation happen. If Federation was inevitable
than so of course is Republican.
The states of America, Switzerland and Germany were
drawn together under the shadow of war. Even the Canadian
provinces were forced unite under a great foreign power.
The Australian Commonwealth was the fifth great federation
in the world. It came into voluntary being through a
deep conviction of national unity.
Since a change in national consciousness has engendered
a much greater focus on inclusionary policies that reflect
the social conditions of the 1990s, the Australian constitution
becomes increasingly out of date.
According to most Australians we are: an independent
nation with self-governing Houses of Parliament, a gender
balanced, and non-secular community, comprising over
260 different nationalities and ethnic groups.
The Australian Constitution does not even mention the
Prime Minister and the bulk of the Parliamentary system
in Australia is run on convention and Common Law. It
may surprise some of you here this afternoon to learn
that under section 59 of the Constitution, the Queen
may disallow any law within one year from the Governor-General's
assent. With so much constitutional power vested in
a foreign monarch it is inevitable that Australians
will chose to have their own head of state.
The acknowledgment of a multicultural Australia is a
very important part of the formation of the Australian
Republic. As a noted Australian said,
Only after the Prime Minister began in 1992 to talk
about Australia becoming a Republic did editorials in
Indonesia suggest that Australia could be treated as
belonging to the region. Only then did the Indonesian
Ambassador reverse the long-standing insult about Australia
being as irrelevant to the region as an appendix to
the human body..
Quite a confusing image for Australia indeed. All the
more reason why Australia will inevitably become a Republic.
Australia has a political history unusual in its stability
and was one of the first countries in the world to have
and maintain universal suffrage. Compulsory voting with
a combination at a Federal level of preferential and
proportional voting has contributed to a 'fair go' for
minority parties whilst perpetuating the existence of
the two major political parties. Maintaining this political
stability is essential in the formation of the Australian
Republic and is a basis for an examination of Australia's
political identity.
In anticipation of the well-used argument, "if it ain't
broke don't fix it", the sole argument advanced by the
monarchists, it is clear that Australia's Parliamentary
system certainly isn't broken. It is equally clear that
Australia's Constitution is totally irrelevant, out-dated,
elitist, exclusionary, sexist, racist and not representative
of contemporary Australia.
Yet the monarchists are promoters of ignorance. A Saulwick
Poll taken in NSW and Victoria in May 1992 found that
one-third of Australians were either unsure whether
we have a written Constitution or thought we did not.
It is difficult to see how a country can have any sense
of national understanding or democracy when it is almost
totally ignorant of the political basis under which
it is governed, and of the conditions that make some
parts of the Constitution irrelevant in contemporary
Australia. Now that Republicanism is placed firmly on
the agenda, more Australians are learning about our
Constitution and it becoming increasingly clear that
the meat and three veg is missing the potato.
Detractors of the Republican Movement fear a loss of
their history to a new national identity. However, there
is no reason to fear that history would be changed or
removed in order for a national identity to be strengthened.
The Australian Republican Movement has no position on
whether Australia should keep or change the flag. It
is an entirely separate issue and beyond the scope of
this debate. An Australian Republic by definition is
derived from Australia's history and builds a contemporary
and relevant identity.
An Australian Republic will provide a sense of unity
for all those new Australians who have arrived Australia
for the past two hundred years and for the prior occupants.
We may indeed ask ourselves "Is the Republic Inevitable?"
but perhaps a more important question is "What benefit
will be a British Monarchy for Australia in the next
century?"
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