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It
is one of my great hopes, that Australians, in November
this year will confidently walk onto history's stage
and boldly turn another page in our constitutional history.
It's time to take another step in our nation's journey.
We moved from being colonies to a nation in 1901. We
moved from being British subjects or aliens to Australian
citizens in 1949. We now have the chance to move from
having a British monarch as our Head of State to being
an Australian republic in the year 2000.
We are, in reality, an independent nation. Our Constitution
should reflect that fact. Our Head of State should be
an Australian citizen . The Queen of Australia is Australian
in name only. The Monarch lives in London, or Balmoral
if it's summer, and to paraphrase a former Australian
Prime Minister, is "British to the bootstraps", and
always will be.
In November, Australians will have the opportunity to
ensure our Head of State is an Australian Citizen. We
should seize that opportunity. Our system of government
has served us well. We have enjoyed peaceful, stable
and democratic government. We will continue to enjoy
peaceful, stable and democratic government under the
proposed republican model.
We cannot discard our past. We should not seek to. Our
history and cultural links with the United Kingdom will
always be there. And many Australians, especially those
who experienced the Second World War, will rightly continue
to feel a deep affection for the United Kingdom and
the British Royal Family.
But things have changed and we cannot turn our eyes
from the present and future reality. Nearly a hundred
years on from Federation we are a vastly different nation.
We, along with the U.S.A and Israel are one of the three
great immigration experiments in the world. Just over
40% of our population are either first or second generation
migrants. In percentage terms we have more people born
overseas than the United States, Canada and New Zealand.
Over time, the fabric of our society has been continually
strengthened and enriched by people arriving form all
around the globe. Since the end of the Second World
War, 5.7 million people have arrived on our shores.
National symbols are important, they should unite the
nation, they should touch its heart. A British monarch
as our symbolic Head of State no longer touches the
heart of most Australians.
My first forbear to arrive on Australian soil was a
carpenter who came from England with his family in 1838.
The German strain followed in 1848 with a 57 year old
adventurous hatmaker and his family, followed by an
upholsterer in 1856 and a cabinet maker in 1877.
The Irish strain added an agricultural labourer in 1855,
with the occupations of horsedealer, jockey and publican
thrown in later. There's nothing elitist about that
background.
All of these people from different backgrounds and homelands
had one thing in common. They had the confidence to
make a break with the past and the determination to
move on and make a better life for themselves and their
children.
We are a nation of people whose genes are loaded with
that confidence and determination. In November I hope
we use that confidence and determination to take another
step in developing our national identity.
We are a very young nation in a very old country. White
settlement just over 200 years ago has posed innumerable
and no doubt many untold problems for indigenous Australians.
The Western world has been extremely hazardous for indigenous
culture everywhere. Maintaining identity in the face
of the relentless march of Western civilisation is still
extraordinarily difficult for some and has been impossible
for others.
Over the same time, just as indigenous Australians have
struggled with their identity, so newer Australians
who left their homelands in search of a better life,
left behind the daily reinforcement of their identity
as Germans, Italians, Greeks, Chinese or whatever. They
came to help build a new nation and a new identity.
In just over 200 years we have made enormous achievements.
We have built a strong and vibrant nation. But our nation
and our identity will continue to grow. The best of
Australia lies not in the present or the past. The best
of Australia is yet to come.
In November we can further strengthen our identity as
a nation by choosing to have an Australian as our Head
of State. We will strengthen our identity by having
someone as our Head of State whose first and only allegiance
is to Australia.
Under the Constitution our Parliamentarians are required
to have sole allegiance to Australia. Yet the Australian
Head of State clearly has multiple allegiances as Queen
of Great Britain, Canada and Australia.
Monarchists who argue that the Governor-General is our
Head of State are admitting that the symbol of monarchy
no longer means anything to most Australians.
In November we will get a chance as a nation to take
our destiny into our own hands.
It will be the people's choice.
It ought to be the people's debate.
The people must be engaged in the debate.
It must be an informed debate.
History's stage, however, works like a magnet to some
and therein lies a potential problem for republicans.
For this debate, republicans must put party politics
and egos aside.
I hope we approach November with a spirit of enthusiasm
for a system that gives us the opportunity to decide
how we are to be governed. It is perhaps easy to take
for granted the opportunity for involvement in the process
of government. Some reflection on the limited opportunities
others in the world have should re-awaken us to the
reality of our good fortune.
Despite that good fortune, some Australians treat the
opportunity to participate as a burden. The political
process is not always held in high regard and current
disenchantment with it has some consequences for the
republican debate.
If the republican debate ends up being no more than
a slanging match between two opposing views the public
at large will not readily engage in the debate. What
an irony if the debate to change the people's Constitution
shuts the people out.
The proposed model has three great advantages. First,
it was endorsed by the constitutional convention and
thereby passed an early tough and fair test.
Second it provides incremental change. I know some would
prefer more change, but small and steady steps provide
a safe, sure pathway for our Constitution to advance.
And third, it gives Australians the opportunity for
greater involvement in the selection of the Head of
State than we have at the moment.
Our de jure Head of State is the British Monarch. The
rules governing succession to the throne are in a British
Act of Parliament. Australians have no say.
Our de facto Head of State, the Governor-General, is
appointed by the Government of the day. There is no
requirement for consultation or consensus. Ordinary
Australians do not have a say.
By formally making a place for the people to nominate
fellow Australians and by giving a much greater role
to the Parliament in the selection of the Head of State,
Australians will have a greater say than they do at
the present.
I believe that every Australian child should be able
to aspire to becoming Australia's Head of State. There
should be no discriminatory constitutional or statutory
limitation on that aspiration.
In summary, this debate is not about the past but about
a Constitution for the future.
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If
you believe the British Monarchy is relevant to
Australia today and will remain so in the future
you should vote NO.
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If
you want a symbolic Head of State chosen by rules
made by a British Parliament, vote NO.
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If
you want to strengthen our national identity, vote
YES.
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If
you want our Constitution to reflect our place in
the modern world, vote YES.
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If
you want an Australian Head of State vote YES.
Britain and Australia are inextricably linked by history
and I'm sure that there will always be deep mutual affection
between our two nations. But when we go to vote in November,
I hope we remember that no British Monarch can, as Australians
can, feel our dust or smell our eucalypt.
We are Australians. We must have an Australian Head
of State. It's time to take one more step.
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