Conversations About The Commonwealth (22/7/09)
There has never been a campaign for Australia to leave the Commonwealth. In fact there has never been a serious debate. But there has been in the recent past a fraudulent campaign claiming that Australia would be ejected from the Commonwealth if it chose to become a republic with an Australian head of state. This dishonest claim was made by monarchists during the 1999 referendum campaign to try to turn Australians away from constitutional change.
Yet there has never been any problem at all with republics remaining in the Commonwealth. The Australian Republican Movement has always supported Australia remaining in the Commonwealth. The fact is that of the 53 member countries 31 are republics. This includes some of the largest, most influential members such as South Africa and India. It is obvious on occasions such as the Commonwealth Games. The Commonwealth Secretary-General has reinforced this position in his official capacity. The Commonwealth would be an empty shell without its republican members.
It is surprising that a poll has emerged claiming that a majority of Australians allegedly would be ‘happy to leave the Commonwealth’. It is just not going to happen. Before examining the poll some background is necessary.
The Commonwealth evolved out of the British Empire as decolonization took place to become first the British Empire and Commonwealth, then the British Commonwealth, and finally the Commonwealth. It is a family of nations with a British heritage, headed by Queen Elizabeth, and with a secretariat based in London. The best known Commonwealth event is probably the Commonwealth Games (once the Empire Games), held in Melbourne in 2006 and in other Australian cities like Perth and Brisbane before that. The most serious political manifestation of the Commonwealth is the regular Heads of Government meetings. Australia is a major player in both. But there are many other Commonwealth activities in fields like the arts, education and scholarship, and writing.
The Commonwealth has long been changing and an increased role is being played by former British colonies in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific. This led to worries about the future of the ‘new’ Commonwealth from leaders of what was then called the ‘old’ Commonwealth in the 1950s. Sir Robert Menzies, then Australian Prime Minister, was one such leader who was committed to the Commonwealth but worried about its future.
Worries about the future of the Commonwealth today do not emanate from Australia. Successive Australian Prime Ministers have recommitted Australia to the organization. It is a conveniently sized political family in which to exercise influence at a level below the United Nations. As a sporting and artistic organization it is admired by Australians, though as far as the Commonwealth Games are concerned many sports lovers worry that the few big countries, like England and Australia, bully the many under-resourced smaller developing countries in a mad search for gold medals.
The poll in question, one of seven conducted in Australia, Canada, Britain, India, Jamaica, Malaysia and South Africa, was initiated by one of the Commonwealth family, the Royal Commonwealth Society, and launched by David Miliband, the British Foreign Secretary. It reflects some unease in Britain and parts of the new Commonwealth rather than in Australia. It marks the Commonwealth’s 60th anniversary at a time when an earlier poll, in March, showed a great drop in knowledge about the Commonwealth in Britain.
The results are interesting all the same. Ignorance about the Commonwealth is widespread (37% of Australians could not name its activities), just as it is about the Australian Constitution and important aspects of Australia’s political institutions. More political and constitutional education is required all around in Australia.
Perhaps as a consequence of relative ignorance few Australians feel strongly about the Commonwealth. At the extremes of opinion 10% would be appalled and 9% would be delighted if Australia chose to leave it. In the centre of public opinion 25% would be sorry and 38% wouldn’t mind one way or another. That is hardly a ringing endorsement but it demonstrates the essential good sense of the Australian mainstream. Not surprisingly many Australians (43%) look to Asia for Australia’s future ahead of the Commonwealth (22%).
The survival of the Commonwealth will not be determined by Australia (we will not be going anywhere), but by the majority made up of newer, often smaller, states. To its credit the Commonwealth is an institution that has always been willing to evolve as its circumstances change. It must continue to do so. Political institutions that do not evolve eventually wither and die.
John Warhurst is Deputy Chair of the Australian Republican Movement and Adjunct Professor of Political Science at the Australian National University