ARM Media Statement - 5 July 1999
Republic bill must tell the people what they are actually voting
on, says ARM submission to Parliamentary Committee
The Australian Republican Movement (ARM) today proposed three
changes to legislation which will have an impact on the nation's
consideration of whether an Australian selected by Australians becomes
our Head of State following this year's November 6 referendum.
The ARM's submission to the Joint Select Committee examining the
Constitution Alteration (Establishment of Republic) Bill 1999
argues that the long title of the Bill which will appear on the
ballot paper in November should more accurately represent what is
proposed and that changes should be made to sections dealing with
the dismissal procedures of the President and membership of the
public nomination committee which recommends candidates for Head
of State.
Appearing before the Committee, the chair of the ARM, Malcolm
Turnbull, argued that:
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the long title of the Bill which appears on the ballot paper
should accurately reflect what is being proposed. At the moment,
the proposed long title of the Bill does not mention that the
Bill seeks to replace the Queen with an Australian Head of State,
does not mention the public nomination process for Presidential
candidates and seeks to indicate that the Head of State is "chosen"
by the Parliament, when in fact the nominee is "approved", following
the public nomination process and bi-partisan agreement the
Prime Minister and Opposition Leader. The ARM proposes that
the long title of the Bill be as follows:
"A Bill to alter the Constitution to provide for
an Australian citizen to replace the Queen as Australia's
Head of State, following consideration of nominations submitted
by the people and approved by a two-thirds majority of a joint
sitting of both Houses of the Commonwealth Parliament."
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the dismissal procedure proposed should faithfully reflect
the will of the Constitutional Convention by stating that if
after dismissing a Head of State, the Prime Minister's action
is not ratified by the House of Representatives, such a vote
would constitute a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister.
Inclusion of this in the dismissal process imposes a formal
discipline on the Prime Minister and makes the Prime Minister
more accountable for his or her actions to the people via the
Parliament;
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criteria for membership of the Presidential Nominations Committee.
The Convention resolved that membership of this critical committee
should reflect federalism, gender, age and cultural diversity
of the nation. This should be included in the legislation, instead
of the present mention - "committee has 16 community members."
"We urge the Joint Select Committee," said Mr Turnbull, "to keep
faith with the recommendations of the Constitutional Convention.
It is also very important that what Australians see on the ballot
paper is what is really reflected in the Bill to change the Constitution.
That is why the long-title of the Bill, which will appear on the
ballot paper must be true to what is proposed.
"Not mentioning the Queen or the public nomination process would
be highly inaccurate and misleading. I am certain, in this light,
that the Parliament does want people to know for they are voting.
The present title of the Bill poses a big risk that voters will
be left in the dark."
Authorised by Malcolm Turnbull,
Australian Republican Movement, 60 Park Street, Sydney NSW 2000
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