This debate is about pride and confidence. It is about believing in Australia and believing in ourselves. So long as our Head of State is the Queen, or King, of England we are saying to ourselves, and to the world, that we Australians do not believe that any one of us is good enough to be the Head of State.

Australia's Head of State should represent Australia and Australian values. The Queen does a good job representing Great Britain. She actually goes on visits to other countries and promotes the sale of British goods (often instead of Australian ones).

It is true the Governor-General is nowadays always an Australian. But he is NOT the Head of State, he is simply the Queen's representative. It is the Queen's head on our coins, it is to the Queen that our public officials swear allegiance. The monarchists obviously believe that Australians are only good enough to be number two. We believe that Australians should be number one.

The values of the British monarchy are not Australian. By British law the Queen or the King must be a member of the Anglican Church and must not be married to a Roman Catholic. And yet we live in a society which is meant to respect all religions. We live in a society where public office is meant to be won by merit, not by heredity.

Australian society is very diverse. We come from many different backgrounds. Diversity is very good, certainly it makes Australia a much more interesting place to live in! But while a society can survive without diversity, it cannot survive without unity. So we need to ensure that in the midst of our differences there are strong Australian values and institutions to which everyone can relate.

The Constitutional Convention could be a very useful forum for debating this issue. The Australian Republican Movement is running candidates, including young people, in every State and Territory and will make a constructive contribution to that debate. We have our own views on how the changes should be made, but we will go to the Convention with an open mind and seek to find common ground with the other delegates so that a consensus can emerge.

However, our opponents, the monarchists, are determined to wreck the Convention. Under their banner "No Republic" they will troop in, with closed minds, and oppose any constructive discussion of the issue. The best way to ensure the money being spent on the Convention is utterly wasted is to vote for the monarchists.

In a nutshell, we propose that Australia's new Head of State should exercise precisely the same powers and functions as the Governor-General. So in a practical sense nothing changes in the way the government operates.

At the moment the Governor-General is chosen by the Prime Minister, and very often Prime Ministers use that office as a means of rewarding old political cronies. We think the new Australian Head of State should be chosen by a two thirds majority of a joint sitting of both houses of the Federal Parliament or by the people in a direct election. The first method would ensure that the Head of State had support of both sides of politics and would mean there would be no more ex-politicians in the role.

This issue will be considered by the Constitutional Convention, but only if it is not dominated by the monarchists.

The Australian Republican Movement is committed to a stronger, prouder and more united Australia. If you share our commitment, please join us.