dibo
Well-Known Member
Anyone else remember the republic referendum ten years ago?
It was the first national poll I voted in. I was still in primary school when Paul Keating made the first big push to get a republic discussed, while a banker and lawyer called Malcolm Turnbull headed the Australian Republican Movement.
It just kinda made sense to me that we should have an Australian as our Head of State. I have never been comfortable with the idea that we're an independent nation but that our head of state, the person on all of our coins and the top right corner of our flag are all from another country.
I quite liked the minimalist model - there's nothing inherently wrong with our system of government. I don't even mind the idea of simply cutting the tie to Britain and that being the end of it, so that the Governor-General continues to be appointed in the same fashion and performing exactly the same functions as before (though codifying the 'reserve' powers to prevent another 1975 would be good).
But then when it came down to it, republicans couldn't unite over one model and the monarchists sought to run a scare campaign about the Policiticians' President. Never mind the fact that the Queen got her position by birthright and the GG at present is selected by the PM alone.
Since then there's been talk about when to go again, and now we have a Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition who are both moderate republicans. Surely it's time to take stock of 1999 and have another go?
Incidentally, Dobell voted Yes: 42.54%, No: 57.46%.
Robertson voted Yes: 43.98%, No: 56.02%.
It was the first national poll I voted in. I was still in primary school when Paul Keating made the first big push to get a republic discussed, while a banker and lawyer called Malcolm Turnbull headed the Australian Republican Movement.
It just kinda made sense to me that we should have an Australian as our Head of State. I have never been comfortable with the idea that we're an independent nation but that our head of state, the person on all of our coins and the top right corner of our flag are all from another country.
I quite liked the minimalist model - there's nothing inherently wrong with our system of government. I don't even mind the idea of simply cutting the tie to Britain and that being the end of it, so that the Governor-General continues to be appointed in the same fashion and performing exactly the same functions as before (though codifying the 'reserve' powers to prevent another 1975 would be good).
But then when it came down to it, republicans couldn't unite over one model and the monarchists sought to run a scare campaign about the Policiticians' President. Never mind the fact that the Queen got her position by birthright and the GG at present is selected by the PM alone.
Since then there's been talk about when to go again, and now we have a Prime Minister and Leader of the Opposition who are both moderate republicans. Surely it's time to take stock of 1999 and have another go?
Incidentally, Dobell voted Yes: 42.54%, No: 57.46%.
Robertson voted Yes: 43.98%, No: 56.02%.
