ARM Media Statement - 23 October 1999

No case is lying again - there is no complete rewrite of the Constitution at November republic referendum

The Australian Republican Movement today labelled as more lies claims by the No campaign that the republic referendum on November 6 will mean a complete re-write of the Australian Constitution because there are "69 changes."

There simply will not be a re-write. Most of the changes involve changing the words "Queen" and "Governor General" to the word "President."

The changes are simple and have been supported by people such as the former Governor General Sir Zelman Cowen, former High Court Chief Justices Sir Anthony Mason and Sir Gerard Brennan and Australians as varied as John Newcombe, Hazel Hawke, Steve Waugh and Nobel Prize winner and Australian of the Year, Professor Peter Doherty.

The facts, which the No case will do anything to ignore to try and frighten Australians and make sure that Prince Charles instead of an Australian is our next Head of State, are:

• 43 of the 69 proposed changes to the Constitution involve deleting of the words "Queen" or "Governor-General" and replacing them with "President";

• These simple word changes represent 63 per cent of all the changes;

• The remaining proposals allow all Australians of voting age to nominate candidates for president; dilute the power of the Prime Minister by making him account for his actions to Parliament if he ever dismisses a President; and makes the longest serving State Governor the immediate Acting President if the President dies, is dismissed or retires.

There is no bogeyman in the changes to be put at the referendum. They are available for anyone and everyone to see.

The changes can be obtained from the federal Attorney General's department or from the Australian Electoral Commission brochure now being distributed to households across Australia.

The No campaign's lies about the "69 changes" are designed to scare people about the extent of change, when in fact the changes proposed are simple, sensible and have very wide community support.

Telling lies about the changes proposed is a very nasty tactic, and instead of giving people information as the No case says it wants to, it is designed to worry people about what is a very simple choice: a Yes vote for an Australian as Head of State; or a No vote to keep the system as it is today, with a British monarchy irrelevant to life in Australia at the top of our constitutional tree.

Authorised by Malcolm Turnbull, Australian Republican Movement, 60 Park Street, Sydney NSW 2000