ARM is not anti-Commonwealth (Media release - 27/7/09)

“There is a perception being that the ARM must be anti-Commonwealth,” said the Chair of the ARM, Major General Michael Keating.

“Let’s set the record straight: becoming a republic will not mean Australia is out of the Commonwealth and the Australian Republican Movement (ARM) supports Australia’s continuing membership of the Commonwealth of Nations,” said Major General Keating.

Major General Keating also made the point that becoming a republic would not threaten Australia’s continued participation in the Commonwealth Games.

“In my discussions with people all around the nation about Australia becoming a republic, one of the concerns I hear, especially from young people, is that it might prevent us competing at the Commonwealth Games,” said Major General Keating.

“No so. Thirty-one of the fifty-three nations that make up the Commonwealth are republics, including India, Fiji, Pakistan and South Africa,” he said. “All of them compete at the Commonwealth Games.”

The ARM applauds the efforts the Commonwealth of Nations makes to improve the lives of over two million people, many of them amongst the poorest in the world, said Major General Keating.

“The ARM wholeheartedly supports Australia remaining as part of the Commonwealth after becoming a republic,” he said.