The Australian Republic Issue

Where possible I have tried to group them by subject. Those which have don't easily fit in one of the nominated pigeon-holes are filed under one of the General categories.

Australia's Constitutional Dilemma: Monarchic and Republican Traditions in the Australian Polity

By Graham Maddox. Paper delivered to the workshop conference The Dominion Concept: Inter-state and Domestic Politics in the British Empire at the University of Warwick, July 1998. At the Political Science Discourse site.

In Defence of Republicanism: A Reply to George Williams

By Andrew Fraser. In Federal Law Review Vol. 23 No. 2. Biblio. For Williams's response, as well as his original paper, see below. Stored at the archived copy of the Federal Law Review at the National Library of Australia.

A Republican Tradition For Australia?

By George Williams. In Federal Law Review Vol. 23 No. 1. Biblio. Stored at the archived copy of the Federal Law Review at the National Library of Australia.

The Traditions of Australian Republicanism (63K)

By Dr Mark McKenna - Consultant. Research Paper of the (Federal) Parliamentary Library. (Research papers are "in depth analyses of issues of interest to the Parliament".) Bibliography.

We are on our own: the global and historical context of an Australian Republic

By John Warhurst. November 2002. Presented to the Australian Constitutional Futures 2002 conference. "[A]ddresses the topic of the global and historical context of an Australian republic from the perspective of the Australian Republican Movement". (A PDF version of the document is available here at the ACF 2002 site.)

What Role for Republicanism? A Reply to Andrew Fraser

By George Williams. In Federal Law Review Vol. 23 No. 2. Biblio. Stored at the archived copy of the Federal Law Review at the National Library of Australia.

Monarchy v Republic: Some Biblical Considerations

• Page 1
• Page 2

By Dr Noel Weeks. Dated 24/2/2000. At the Evangelical Action Online site.

The Real Issue in the Republic Debate

• Page 1
• Page 2

By Reverend Andrew Stewart. Dated 24/2/2000. The republic issue from a Christian perspective. At the Evangelical Action Online site.

The Recent Republic Debate--A Chronology: 1989-1998 (273K)

• By "Carolyne Hide" - Consultant, Karen Davis, and Ian Ireland. Background Paper of the (Federal) Parliamentary Library. Covers 16 February 1989 to 2 February 1998. An update of a June 1996 paper.
• The original 1996 paper by "Carolyn Hide" [sic?] (covering 16 February 1989 to 1 March 1996) can be found here (200K).

Citizenship And The Australian Republic

By Glenn A. Davies. Essay (plus long list of references). "The majority of the republican debate over the past four years has concentrated on the headship of the state. For republicans it should focus on the meaning and powers of citizenship." At the Discovering Democracy site. (Note: some older browsers may see blue horizontal stripes across the DD's webpages.)

Dual Nationality and an Australian Republic

By Nick Hobson. At the The Australian Republic Unplugged site. Section 44(i) of the Constitution and the dual nationality question.

Security and Defence in an Australian Republic (missing)

• By Captain Brian Adams, RAN. Essay. July 1997. At the Australian College of Defence and Strategic Studies site.
• The republic issue from the military's perspective: allegiance, oaths of allegiance, the Constitution & Defence, and other matters.

Averting Constitutional Crises in a Republic

• By Linda J. Kirk. Paper delivered to The Women's Constitutional Convention on 29 January 1998. A large slice of the paper focusses at the McGarvie model. But also looks at the direct election & Keating models, and the existing arrangements. Stored at an archived copy of The Women's Constitutional Convention site at the National Library of Australia.
• "There must be a mechanism in a republican constitution to ensure the prompt dismissal of a Head of State who acts to obstruct, or collude with a government, to subvert the democratic process."

Dismissing a President

By Ian Ireland. Brief research note at the Department of the (Federal) Parliamentary Library site. Compares the present situation with regard to the Governor-General and the one proposed for the so-called Bipartisan Model voted on at the Convention with the practices of several other countries, such as Ireland and the United States.

Lessons from the Hollingworth Affair (PDF)

• By George Winterton. Includes a canvassing of implications for the republic issue. Stored at Democratic Audit of Australia site of the ANU.
• "The Affair crystallized what had for some time been immanent, but perhaps not obvious: the publicÕs sense of ownership and demand for accountability of this once obscure and remote, but now prominent, public office. Ironically, by aggrandizing the office of Governor-General, the monarchists may have served the republican cause, for the Australian people are likely to conclude that the present office is too weak and lacking in popular legitimacy to sustain the sort of Head of State they now demand."

Methods of Choosing a Head of State (77K)

• By Anne Twomey (original text) Rosemary Bell (update). A background paper of the Department of the (Federal) Parliamentary Library. 23 January 1998. An update of Background Paper No. 12 issued in June 1993. Starts off with some of the arguments put at the 1891 Convention (Sir George Grey was in favour of directly electing the Governor-General, Alfred Deakin was not), and looks at both elective and non-elective methods. Also looks at what other countries do, including qualifications for office, term, etc for their heads of state.
• "This paper does not canvass the relative merits of monarchies and republics. Rather, it considers how an Australian head of state may be chosen if Australia were to become a republic."

Queen's hand a royal flush for monarchists (missing)

• By David Marr. Dated 19 October 1999. At the Sydney Morning Herald's site. Journalist seeks (& cites) various opinions (from the Queen down) on who is Australia's head of state. Note: the Queen's website is actually "http://www.royal.gov.uk".
• "The lady in question is covering her tracks. The Queen's Web site--www.royal.gov.au [sic]--used to say, in amongst the history of her corgis and the latest news of Princess Margaret, that Her Majesty was 'head of state' of Australia, Canada, Barbados, etc. Some time in the past month the terms have changed. She now describes herself as 'sovereign'."

Selection and Tenure of the Head of State

By Cheryl Saunders. At the archived copy of the Legal Forum on the Proposed Republic site at the National Library of Australia.

1788 to 1993: Tracking the History Of Republicanism in Australia

By Mark McKenna. Drawn from his Ph.D thesis. At an archived copy of the Australian Republican Movement site maintained by the National Library of Australia.

Australians and The Monarchy

• By Peter Spearritt. At the website for the National Centre for Australian Studies at Monash University.
• "Australians over the age of 40 have grown up with the monarchy. Most still know one or two stanzas of 'God Save the Queen' and many sing it with more certainty than they bring to 'Advance Australia Fair'."
• "Until the 1990s there were only a few short periods when over one-third of Australians were attracted to the idea of a republic. In the latter half of the 1960s, when the issue briefly surfaced on the public agenda, and again on the election of the Whitlam Labor Government in December 1972, republicanism seemed to be on the rise. In a poll taken just two months after Whitlam's election, 41 per cent of adults over 21 years of age favoured a republic, with 49 per cent of ALP voters and 32 per cent of Liberal-National Party voters favouring the change."

Australians and The Monarchy--The Book (212K)

Edited by Annette Shiell and Peter Spearritt. At the website for the National Centre for Australian Studies at Monash University. Consists of a webpage of short essays by a range of authors, including Sir Harry Gibbs, Helen Irving, & Mark McKenna. Most of the pieces deal with the monarchy in an historical context (eg the origins of Empire Day) but several deal specifically with republican matters. Produced for a 1993-94 exhibition of the same title.

The Crown and the Constitution

By Sir Walter Campbell (Governor of Queensland 1985-1992). The Field Marshal Sir Thomas Blarney Memorial Oration for 1993. Delivered 15 September, 1993. Stored at the The Monarchist League in Australia site. Does not directly address the republic issue, except right at the end. More of a recapitulation (and perspectives) of various selected events in Australian constitutional history, tying them into its theme of the monarchy.

The Historical Background

By Audrey Oldfield. At the State Library of NSW's Republic of Australia: A Forum site, which was held at the library on 14 August 1999. ("My part in this forum is to give an overview of nineteenth century republicanism, which will provide a background for the coming discussion. I will concentrate on the people involved, and the reasons why their efforts came to nought, in (a) the convict period (b) the years leading up to the 1856 colonial constitutions, and (c) the 1860s to 1901.")

Monarchy vs Republic

• By Professor Godfrey Tanner. 12 September 1997. At the Godfrey's Gripe website, which in turn is part of the 2NUR FM site at Newcastle University. Has some partisan material, but mainly consists of some useful reflections on the Crown and its representative in an historical context.
• "[W]hen...the colonies in Australia and Canada and elsewhere in the world [were founded], the Crown appointed an executive Governor[. ... L]ike the Ministers of State and the bureaucracy[, they] acted on behalf of the Crown in their colony. Once the colonies got, under Lord Durham's plan, responsible government, first in Canada and later here, this changed the whole situation. Unlike the American State Governor--who grew out of the British colonial Governor with executive powers--Governors in this country did not have executive powers. They were Regents for the Sovereign to open Parliament, sign bills when appropriate and conduct ceremonies of various sorts. If we have a President, what is the relation of six Governors, appointed to represent as Regents an absent Sovereign when there's a very present Head of State on the campus?"

The Republic Debate (Missing)

Author unknown. At the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade website. A somewhat dated but still useful Fact Sheet from DFAT outlining the recent history of the republic issue and the attitudes of the various political parties. Not updated since late in the Keating era (going from the URL date, presumably very early in 1996).

"With Eyes Open": Andrew Inglis Clark and our Republican Tradition (137K)

By John M. Williams. In Federal Law Review Vol. 23 No. 2. Biblio. Stored at the archived copy of the Federal Law Review at the National Library of Australia.

The Monarchy, The Media and The Polls

Press release. Presented to the Australians for Constitutional Monarchy 22 October, 1993 by Gary C. Morgan. After some to-ing & fro-ing I've placed this one here. Covers opinion polls, Barry Jones, Gary Morgan's father, and why "If a referendum were held today, Australia would remain a monarchy, despite the last published Morgan Poll in Time [April 1993] which showed the republic ahead [52% vs 38%]." Includes the results of an April 1993 poll which tested which mechanism Australians preferred for choosing a president if Australia were to become a republic.

Newspoll

• 4/4/1993: In the Australian (PDF)
  Asked whether in favour or against, and whether the flag should be changed.
• 11/7/1993: In the Australian (PDF)
  Asked whether in favour or against, when a referendum should be held, how a president should be chosen, and what a president's powers should be.
• 19/3/1995: In the Australian (PDF)
  Asked whether in favour or against and how a president should be chosen.
• 1/6/1995: In the Australian (PDF)
  Asked whether in favour or against, how a president should be chosen, and their about their powers; and also about the relative merits of the Howard & Keating approaches, also how the republic issue might affect voting in the then forthcoming 1996 election.
• 9/2/1997: In the Australian (PDF)
  Asked whether in favour or against, when a referendum should be held, and a question about the convention.
• 29/6/1997: In the Australian (PDF)
  Asked whether in favour or against, and whether in favour of the convention being postponed.
• 9/11/1997: In the Australian (PDF)
  Compares trends over several previous polls in three areas: whether in favour or against a republic, the preferred method of choosing a president, and whether they preferred the head of state to be or not be a politician.
• 13/11/1997: In the Australian (PDF)
  Asked whether in favour or against, the preferred method of choosing a president, and whether they preferred the head of state to be or not be a politician.
• 7/12/1997: In the Australian (PDF)
  Asked whether in favour or against.
• 1/2/1998: In the Australian (PDF)
  Asked about the kind of issues to be considered by the then forthcoming convention.
• 8/2/1998: In the Australian (PDF)
  Asked about the kind of republic model preferred.
• 17/1/1999: In the Australian (PDF)
  Asked whether in favour or against.
• 28/2/1999: In the Australian (PDF)
  Asked whether in favour or against and whether will "most likely" vote YES or NO.
• 28/3/1999: In the Australian (MS Word)
  Asked whether in favour or against and whether will "most likely" vote YES or NO.
• 25/7/1999: In the Australian (PDF)
  Asked whether in favour or against.
• 15/8/1999: In the Australian (PDF)
  Asked about the kind of republic preferred. (And compared the results with several previous occasions usingvariants of the same question.)
• 12/9/1999: In the Australian (PDF)
  Asked about the kind of republic preferred.
• 24/10/1999: In the Australian (PDF)
  Questions asked related to the then forthcoming referendum.
• 31/10/1999: In the Australian (PDF)
  Asked why respondents would vote NO in the then forthcoming referendum, whether they considered the YES & NO cases accurate or not, and who would be their first choice as president.
• 4/11/1999: In the Australian (PDF)
  Questions asked related to the then forthcoming referendum.

Republican Sentiment In The Realms Of The Queen: The New Zealand Perspective

By Noel Cox. First published in the Manitoba Law Journal (vol. 29, 2001-2002). Mainly about republicanism in NZ, but also includes a look at republicanism in two other jurisdictions: Britain & Australia. Stored at the author's website.

Concon Preambles Compared

• At the Australian Broadcasting Commission website on the convention. Gives the preambles of nine other countries plus the Magna Carta, the one to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act, together with the Howard, ALP, and Premier Kennett proposals and the recommendations for a preamble by the 1998 Convention. Also includes an explanation for why those nine countries (and the Magna Carta) were chosen.
• "The Magna Carta: The most celebrated document limiting autocratic power since Roman times...is not a democratic document: it entrenches and codifies power in the hands of a small unaccountable elite, but in its attempt to set explicit limitations on executive power and to reinforce the rule of law it set the stage for the emergence of the American democracy 500 years later."

Constitutional Preamble

By George Winterton. Professor Winterton discusses what modifications might be made to the preamble in "the advent of an Australian republic". Includes a list of "do's and don'ts". At the AustLII site.

The Need for a New Preamble to the Australian Constitution and/or a Bill of Rights (135K)

By Mark McKenna. At the Department of the (Federal) Parliamentary Library site.

Preambles

Collected by the Women's Constitutional Convention (steering committee). At the Australian Women's Constitutional Network site. A page of preambles from other nations' constitutions, from Albania to Zambia.

Preamble Quest: Background Paper

Background paper prepared by the CCF. Parts are drawn from one of the CCF's factsheets, others are new. At an archived copy of the Constitutional Centenary Foundation site at the National Library of Australia.

• What does a Preamble do?
• The Legal Effect of a Preamble
• How has the Existing Preamble been used?
• How has the Preamble been used in Other Countries? (Canada, Ireland, and India are cited.)
• What did the Constitutional Convention say?

Queen's Official Website

Contains assorted information on the Queen's role, esp. for the UK but also for the Commonwealth of Nations (as distinct from her role under Australia's State and Federal Constitutions).

Constitutional Referenda in Australia (153K)

By Scott Bennett & Sean Brennan. Research paper at the Department of the (Federal) Parliamentary Library site. Examines the history of federal referenda in Australia, the impact the eight successes have had, the constitutional aspects of s128, and other issues. Lots of tabulated facts and figures. Makes reference now and again to the forthcoming republic poll, but saves a closer look at it for the end, where it examines (briefly) what the outcome of the vote might be.

An Historical Perspective of the Reserve Powers

By J. B. Paul. Stored at the Australians for Constitutional Monarchy site.

The Reserve Powers of the Governor-General

• By Susan Downing. A January 1998 (the note itself gives "1997", but this is clearly an error) research note from the Department of the (Federal) Parliamentary Library.
• A brief statement and discussion, with particular reference to their use in 1975 and the republic issue.
• "The Constitution provides the Governor-General with a number of express powers such as the command of the defence forces.... These seemingly far-reaching powers are in practice tempered by the convention that the Governor-General exercises them in accordance with Ministerial advice ('the principle of responsible government'). However, there are powers that the Governor-General may, in some situations, exercise without Ministerial advice or even contrary to Ministerial advice. These 'discretionary powers' are known as the reserve powers."

Reserve Powers Rejected

No author given. At the Australian Constitution Research Projects site. Canvasses the issue of the reserve powers under a republic.

The so-called Reserve Powers and the Head of State

By Clifford Einstein QC. At the archived copy of the Legal Forum on the Proposed Republic site at the National Library of Australia.

Amendment Issues: States' and Territories' Issues

By Keith Mason QC (Solicitor-General for NSW). At the archived copy of the Legal Forum on the Proposed Republic site at the National Library of Australia.

The Australian States and an Australian Republic

By George Williams. At the archived copy of the Legal Forum on the Proposed Republic site at the National Library of Australia.

The Framework of Constitutional Monarchy in the Australian States

By R. D. (Darrell) Lumb. Stored at the Australians for Constitutional Monarchy site. The Statute of Westminster, the Australia Acts, State constitutional procedures, etc.

Implications of a Republic for Western Australia (PDF)

By Greg Craven. A discussion paper stored at The Constitutional Centre of Western Australian site.

Queensland Constitutional Review Commission: Issues Paper (1896K) (PDF)

• July 1999. At least one chapter (#12) of this weighty (>200 pages) tome deals with republic issues from a State's perspective. Specifically, Queensland's.
• Note it also contains at least one error: "The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 (Imp), the Schedule of which is the Commonwealth Constitution..." The Constitution is, of course, in fact contained in s9 of the Act. The Act itself has no schedule (though the Constitution does).

The Republic: Problems and Perspectives

• By Peter Howell. Largely (but not entirely) a State's perspective on the republic issue. Paper presented to the Samuel Griffith Society in June 1996.
• Professor Howell is a member of the South Australian Constitutional Advisory Council (whose role re matters republic he explains in the paper).

State Constitutions in a Republican Australia (PDF)

By Michael Lavarch MP, Federal Attorney-General. Speech to the Australian Study of Parliament Group (Queensland Chapter), at Parliament House, Brisbane, 18 May 1995. At an archived copy of the Constitutional Centenary Foundation site at the National Library of Australia.

The States and a Commonwealth Republic in Australia (PDF)

By Chris Ballinger. At a University of Oxford website. A thesis for the Honour School of Philosophy, Politics, and Economics of the University of Oxford.

The States and the Republic: Background Paper

Prepared by the CCF for the Queensland Constitutional Convention of 16-18 June 1999. Appears to a HTML-ised version of a printed text (there are spaces for diagrams which do not appear on the page.) A long and detailed look at the issue of the States under an Australian republic. (Also looks at some aspects of a republic for Territories.) At an archived copy of the Constitutional Centenary Foundation site at the National Library of Australia.

The States if Australia Separates from the Monarchy

By Richard McGarvie. Paper presented at the Australian Legal Convention, Canberra, 12 October 2001. At the author's website.

Gender Issues Associated with the Powers and Appointment of the Head of State

1. Gender Issues to be Considered in Discussions about the Role of the Head of State
2. Gender Issues for a Move to a Republic: The Appointment of a Head of State
   • By Kim Rubenstein. Two papers delivered to The Women's Constitutional Convention on 29 January 1998. Stored at an archived copy of The Women's Constitutional Convention site at the National Library of Australia.
   • "The most conclusive way of ensuring that women are properly included in the selection of the position of Head of State is to mandate the alternating gender of the position."
   Women in the Republic
   By Geoff Pain. Based on an article first published in the Fremantle Herald. ("We don't need a President, Senate or the States in our Republic but we need more Women!")

Reports

An Australian Republic--Issues and Options

By the Republic Advisory Committee. Reproduced from the Year Book Australia, 1995. At the Australian Bureau of Statistics site, which in turn was a "reproduction of the summary report, under the same title, of the Republic Advisory Committee, subject to minor changes in presentation for the Year Book".

Reactions

Ho-Hum for the Republic

Fairly brief. c. 1993. At the the Green Left Weekly Home Page site.

The Republic Advisory Committee: A Review by Committee Chairman Malcolm Turnbull

At the ARM site.

Alternatives for an Australian Presidency

• By Peter Costello. At the official federal treasurer's website. Hard to place this one. The title is mine and more or less reflects the content. This is actually a speech Mr Costello gave to the Constitutional Convention on 3/2/1998 and is simply labelled "Address by the Hon Peter Costello, MP: Commonwealth Treasurer". I have put it here because although it contains an expression of his views, it seems by and large an assessment of the main alternatives (popular election, parliamentary vote, McGarvie model) offered at the convention.
• "It is quite commonly said that all this argument is about whether we want an Australian as our head of State. If that were all we wanted then one of the options to fix it would be an Australian monarchy. But in truth, the problem is more with the concept of monarchy."

An Australian Republic

By George Winterton. An even-handed look at the Australian republic issue. Published in the Summer 1998 edition of the NIRA Review, a publication of the National Institute for Research Advancement of Japan. At the NIRA website. Includes a brief description of the model proposed by the 1998 Convention.

Constitutional Change in Australia (117K)

By Darius von Guttner-Sporzynski. A somewhat different version of his "Policy Debate Discussion Paper" for the Young Liberal Movement of Australia Victorian Division's Policy Committee. Not a bad canvassing of the issues and options. Although be warned: it is a political party product, and the ALP gets a bucketing now and again (one of it's purposes is stated in the abstract to be about showing "Labor's hypocrisy in dealing with republican issues".) Has a huge bibliography and very extensive footnotes.

Constitutional Mechanisms and the Republic (missing)

By Stephen Moignard. A "research essay" for what would seem to be a university course (MLL 216). The students were asked to "describe and analytically assess" three "legal issues involved in constitutional change of Australia into a republic". Note: the title listed above is one I have assigned to it (on the basis of two of the above-mentioned questions), as the one that appears on the essay itself ("Public Law and Civil Rights") does not appear to reflect the content.

Hot Topic 22: A Republic?

By Trish Luker. One of a series of publications on legal issues published by the Legal Information Access Centre. This particular one has now been made available online (at the AustLII site). It provides an overview of the history of republicanism in Australia, the 1998 Convention, an explanation of the key constitutional issues, and a summary of the arguments presented by both monarchists and republicans. Also presents 3 case studies of non-executive presidencies (Ireland, Trinidad & Tobago, and Germany). Information about other this Hot Topics published by the LIAC can be found here.

The Inauguration of a Republic by Constitutional Change

By Warwick T.M. Peters. A law student's view of such issues as "what type of republican government should be adopted and what changes should be made to the constitution to affect a republic are ones that continue to spark much argument...[the] questions and also the reasons for and against Australia becoming a republic" and "the problems of interpreting s. 128 of the constitution, the nature and powers of the head of state and lastly how the Australian States will be affected by the inauguration of a republic."

A REPUBLICAN AUSTRALIA? Issues for Tasmanians

• By the Tasmanian Advisory Committee on Commonwealth/State Relations. (Surprisingly) clear, concise, and dispassionate. Does not adopt any particular point of view. Looks at a wider spectrum of republics than the recent federal committee did (which concentrated mainly on the Westminster parliamentary sort, and virtually ignored the US model).
• Note: unhappily this page seems to have been pulled from the Net.

Of Royalty and Republics: Implications for Queensland from the 1998 Constitutional Convention (PDF) (193K)

By Helen Gregorczuk. August 1998. Examines changing to a republic at Commonwealth Level, republican options for Queensland, can the states be compelled to become republics? Also looks at the 1998 Constitutional Convention. Research Bulletin 6/98. 60 pages. For the Queensland Parliamentary Library. At the website for Queensland Parliament.

A Republic Strong in Democracy

Author not stated, but the paper is declared to be a "Report of [an] Address [by Richard McGarvie] to Classes of the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology on 3 May 2000". Lengthy, but thorough. At the website for Richard McGarvie.

A Republic: the Issues

• By Sir Harry Gibbs. An ex-Chief Justice's analysis of what changing to a republic would (constitutionally) involve: Reserve Powers of the Governor-General, Appointment of a President, Dismissing a President, Progression to a Republic. A paper to the Samuel Griffith Society, 8th March 1997.
• Another copy can be found here at the The Monarchist League in Australia's site.

Republic--Yes or No?

An online version of those lift-outs that were in the newspapers of the weekend of 8-9 November 1997. At an archived copy of the Dept. of the PM & Cabinet's Convention website now hosted at the National Library of Australia's site.

Richard E. McGarvie (Former Governor & Supreme Court judge of Victoria)

[Other papers more specifically on the model McGarvie prefers may be found in the Other Blueprints section (under "Other Proposed Republican Models"). See also The 1999 Blueprint for his view of the Bipartisan Model and the prospects for his own post-1999. More of his views post-1999 can also be found in the The Republic Post-1999 section.]

Democracy: Choosing Australia's Republic

By Richard McGarvie. Online edition of the 1999 book published by Melbourne University Press. At the latter's website.

Governorship in Australia

• "The role and function of the Governor in a parliamentary democracy". Paper presented to the Senior Executive Chapter Luncheon of the Australia Institute of Management in Melbourne on 8 September 1993 and has been "specially revised for publication". (Another copy here.)
• Title & subtitle are somewhat misleading. Although the paper does deal in large part with these things, it does so in the context of the republican debate, and (more particularly) with a view towards proposing a "possible republican scenario".
• "The current debate whether to change from the Queen as Head of the Commonwealth of Australia and each state to each having an Australian as republican Head of State reveals that many on both sides lack knowledge of what a Governor now does in Australia."

Maintaining Our Democracy in Monarchy or Republic

• Paper presented to Australian Institute of International Affairs, 31 July 1997. Examines the question of which of three models for a Presidency (direct election, parliamentary election, or appointment/dismissal on advice of PM) would "best maintain the strengths and safeguards of our democracy". (Another copy here.)
• "Of the four essential organs of government in our system, two of them, Parliament and government, must be elected and the other two, head of state and top courts, must not."

Our Democracy in Peril

• Paper published "substantially in the Australian (its version can be found here), Age, and Herald Sun, 1 May 1997 and fully in (1997) 101 Victorian Bar News, p.31." (Another copy here.)
• "The models for an elected republican President sharing 94% support last year [a reference to the combined tally for the direct & parliamentary election model options] are recipes for disruption that would cost us our democracy by giving us an undismissible President."

A Prediction: We'll be a Safe Republic by About 2005

Article published in The Age, 5 November 1999. Strictly speaking, the author actually makes two predictions in his article. The first: "Tomorrow's vote will fail". The second: "The next vote will be on an even more minimalist model."

Preserving the Democratic Character of Government, Including the Role of the Courts

• The 1998 Ronald Wilson Lecture. The republic issue gets a passing mention (and the 1998 Convention's chosen model a swipe), but mainly looks at deeper issues such as judicial independence and the procedure for dismissing a Governor.
• "What are the essential components of a good democracy? The quality of a democracy reflects the quality of both its constitutional system and its community."
• "The method of dismissal is even more important because it provides the penalty that makes conventions bind the Governor."

A Submission to the Republic Advisory Committee (removed)

By Jason Clift Johnston. At his own website. A private citizen canvasses the issues. Favours a president elected by Parliament. (His more recent thoughts on the matter are here.)

Trapped in a Dominion: The Head of State in an Australian Republic

• By Alan J. Ward. Paper delivered to the workshop conference The Dominion Concept: Inter-state and Domestic Politics in the British Empire at the University of Warwick, July 1998. At the Political Science Discourse site.
• "This paper is about Constitutional Conventions and constitutional conventions. ... [It is] also about the difficulties that Australia has had in breaking away from certain provisions of its constitution that were already obsolete when they were adopted in 1900."
• "[E]ven if Australia becomes a republic, it will not have escaped the influence of its original dominion constitution because the President will retain the Governor-General's uncodified reserve powers. I appreciate that there are reasons for this, both tactical and principled, but I contend that it represents a degree of contempt for ordinary Australians. One of the few founders to argue that British conventions should be written into Australian law, Joseph Curruthers, of New South Wales, saw the folly of not codifying them when he said, in 1891, 'It is better to let [the Australian] Constitution clearly express what it is intended to effect; do not let us have to back it up by quoting whole pages of Dicey'".

The Truth About the Republic Debate

• Author unknown. Dated November 1999. An even-handed look at the republic issue by someone intending to vote "YES" in the 1999 referendum. At the Law For You site.
• "There has been a fair measure of rubbish put about by both sides in this debate, a great pity considering the seriousness of the issue and the long term effects on the future of our country."

The Constitution and the Republic

• Bill Hayden, Suzanna Lobez, and Prof. Cheryl Saunders (Deputy Chairwoman of the Constitutional Centenary Foundation) debate the republic on Radio National's The Law Report (20 February 1996).
• "In light of all the recent discussion regarding Australia as a republic, why then do we need a plebiscite, convention or referendum, and will a referendum on the Head of State alone make us a republic?"

First Wednesday Transcript

A transcript of the ABC TV's First Wednesday program which dealt with issues related to the Australian Constitution. Touches on the republic issue. First broadcast on 1 October 1997. The presenter was Radio National's Peter Thompson. Guests included Harry Evans, Senator Bolkus, and Cheryl Saunders.

Constitutional Centenary Foundation
(The CCF appears to now be defunct. The links here come from an archive at the National Library)

Head of State

• Background material. One of the CCF's Fact Sheets.
• ("The Head of State in Australia", "The Role of a Head of State", "Other Models for a Head of State" (2 executive presidencies and three non-executive ones), "Designing a Republican Model for Australia, "A Republic and the States", "Altering the Constitution for a Republic").

Very brief essays from the Other Issues for Consideration part of the Foundation's Models for an Australian Republic series of essays. (Note: this series of links from the CCF now appear to be off-line.)

• Links with the Crown at State Level
  Very brief. Poses a series of questions and then points out (with examples) that "[t]hese issues also have been encountered by other federal systems which are republics".
• The Constitution as part of the British Act
  The Constitution as part of an Act of the British Parliament: the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act.
• The Constitutional Preamble
  
• The System of Government
  "Chapter II of the Constitution presently says very little about executive government, partly because its main focus is to confer power on the Queen and the Governor-General." (Note: actually only one of the ten sections in Chapter 2 confers power on the Queen (s61). By comparison, five of them are concerned with the federal ministry and the Federal Executive Council.)

Legal Forum on the Proposed Republic
(held in the Great Hall, University of Sydney, 30 November 1996)

Note: some of the papers previously filed under this heading have now been filed separately under one of the new subject headings of the Issues & Analysis section. The Forum's website is now held in an archive at a National Library of Australia site.

Constitution Building for a Possible Republic: The Problems

By Justice Ken Handley, NSW Court of Appeal. (Another copy is here at the Australians for Constitutional Monarchy site.)

Blocking Supply in the Senate - Now and in a Republic

By Justice Santow, Supreme Court of NSW

What if Britain becomes a Republic?

By Michael Stokes

The need for Constitutional Recognition and Protection of those who have always constituted Australia

By Father Frank Brennan

Sovereignty and the need for recognition of Indigenous people in an Australian Republic

By Susan Phillips (but never made available on the WWW)

Constitution Building for a Republic? Possible Solutions

Transcript of the open discussion session. Moderator: The Honourable A. M. Gleeson, Chief Justice of NSW.

Views specifically about the 1998 Convention's adopted model (or particular features when these are duly revealed) can be found down in the section on the 1999 Blueprint. Also links to speeches on the republican issue by delegates at the 1998 Convention can be found in the Speeches subsection of the The 1998 Constitutional Convention.

ACTU

An Australian Republic

• Congress resolution. September 1993. ("The ACTU Congress, having considered developments in regard to the introduction of a republic...")
• Note: item 1.5(ii)(d) would appear amount to be suggesting that pre-teenage children should be given the right to be appointed president.

ACTU Republic Resolution (missing)

Dated 1995. ("Congress calls on unions to actively promote an Australian Republic by the year 2000.")

Australian Democrats

The Republic: An Australian Democrat Issue Sheet

Would be more fairly described as an "Australian Democrat Position Sheet", since it canvasses no issues but simply states the Democrats' policy position on Matters Republic. (Note: missing. Link disabled.)

Australian Republican Movement

Note: some of the ARM's State & Territory branches now have their own websites:

[ACT] [Victoria] [Gold Coast]

The ACM Exposed

The ARM responds to claims in a "leaflet from the Australians for Constitutional Monarchy". At an archived copy of the Australian Republican Movement site maintained by the National Library of Australia.

Frequently Asked Questions

"What is a republic?", "Who is Australia's head of state?" etc. Best described as a list of frequently asked questions (FAQ) for why Australian should become a republic. ("We believe our Head of State should be an Australian Citizen. We believe our Head of State should live in Australia and know what it means to be Australian.")

Towards a Republic (removed)

States the objectives of the ARM & the kind of Australian republic it would prefer. Essentially endorses the blueprint outlined by the former Prime Minister Mr Keating.

What is a Republic? (removed)

While it does cover the issue in the title, it also mixs opinions on the question in as well (eg "Our monarch is Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Australian Republican Movement believes this arrangement is no longer appropriate nor suitable for Australia."), which is why this essay is here rather than in Issues & Analysis section.

Why Australia should become a republic

At an archived copy of the Australian Republican Movement site maintained by the National Library of Australia.

Greg Barns

Belittling our own potential

• Published in The Australian, 8 January 2002. At the website for ARM's ACT branch. A response to a speech Tony Abbott had made to the Young Liberals.
• "Tony Abbott's speech to the Young Liberals last Friday demonstrates the intellectual bankruptcy of a populist conservatism that prefers to cling to the values and symbols of the past rather than embrace those that define our future."

Bill Bunbury

The Australian Republic: Inevitable or in the Never-Never (missing)

• Essay at the Canning Electorate Forum of Western Australia site. (Note: non-graphical browsers will not be able to read it.)
• "'Inevitable' is a word we should never use about the Australian republic. 'Inevitable' means 'some day, not now'. It also implies that, like some ripe apple, it will fall into our laps."

William Byrne

Republic versus Monarchy

• Argues the case for a republic, plus presents rebuttals to pro-monarchist arguments. ("To have an English Monarch as 'ruler' of Australia is an impediment to our nation obtaining its own sense of full independence and true self-government.")
• At the Australian Nationalism Information Database site. NB: that same site also deals in very much more extreme (but anonymous) views on matters republic (eg "Our duty is clear: Smash the Traitor State, and proclaim a patriotic Australian republic.").

A Cockatoo's View of the World

The Australian Republic Debate (missing)

A series of (brief) weekly essays on various aspects of the debate.

Communique Australia

Republic Australia (removed)

Describes itself as "an indepth look at frequently [asked] questions and answers concerned with the Australian Republic". Better described as an FAQ (="frequently asked questions")-style page giving brief answers to a series of questions about an Australian republic. Includes Republic Australia-Why?

Peter Coroneos

A Republican Australia (missing)

A "talk" given to the Salamanca Rotary Club, Hobart 25 July 1995. At the ARM's NT site.

Sir Zelman Cowen

Inaugural Melbourne Lecture (removed)

Delivered 24/9/1997. Qualified support for a republic. Supports parliamentary election of President. However: "if direct election was preferred as the appropriate mode of choice of a president, I would see it as producing such undesirable outcomes that I would prefer to stay where we are and retain the constitutional monarchy."

Stephen Crowe

Time is right to ask the hard questions

Article in Newcastle Herald, January 2001. Reflections on the Olympics, the Centenary of Federation, & the Republic. At the Australian Republican Movement site.

Glynn Davis

Opening Address to the Australian Constitutional Futures conference 2002 (103K) (PDF)

• Presented to the Australian Constitutional Futures 2002 conference. The Duke of Wellington, the Reform Act of 1832 and why monarchists may live to rue the day they opposed the 1999 model.
• "By refusing to accept moderate--indeed minimalist--reform, monarchists and their allies have ensured any new proposal must be more populist, more ruthless. It is likely that next time the issue resurfaces--and it will--the outcome will be much more substantial change to the Australian constitution than was rejected in 1999."

Senator Alan Eggleston

The Republic: an idea that has reached its time

• Speech delivered to the John Stuart Mill Society 22/9/1997. At the ARM site.
• "I believe a country's Head of State should symbolise the ethos, values and aspirations of a nation and it is for this reason that I personally support an Australian Republic."

Time for a Republic

Extract from Senator Eggleston's maiden speech in the Senate. Delivered 11/9/1996. At the ARM site.

Chris Gallus MP

I am a Patriot

• Options #10, September 1999. At Christopher Pyne MP's homepage at the Liberal Party of South Australia's site.
• "I am a patriot. Unashamedly I am biased in favour of Australia. I buy Australian made, I cheer Australian sportsmen, I still mourn Peter Allen. I want Australia to have the highest standard of living in the world, to win the Olympics, to lead nations. Is it too much to ask that Australia's Head of State feel the same way about Australia as I do?"

Cassandra Gelade

Is the Republic Inevitable?

• A speech at "The Great Debate" on radio 5AN in Adelaide, 7 June 1994. At the ARM website.
• "In anticipation of the well-used argument, 'if it ain't broke don't fix it', the sole argument advanced by the monarchists, it is clear that Australia's Parliamentary system certainly isn't broken. It is equally clear that Australia's Constitution is totally irrelevant, out-dated, elitist, exclusionary, sexist, racist and not representative of contemporary Australia."

Jennie George

Address To Queensland Branch of the Republican Movement

29/11/1995. At the ACTU website. Two main themes: unions & the republic & women & the republic.

Leigh T Gillespie

Australia--A Republic? (Missing)

• "A short article on the need for an Australian republic and the difficulties in implementing the necessary changes."
• "...the terms 'democracy' and 'monarchy' are mutually exclusive."

Allison Henry

Conclusion to the Australian Constitutional Futures conference 2002 (103K) (PDF)

Presented to the Australian Constitutional Futures 2002 conference.

Roslyn Lucas

Debating the Republic (missing)

• Correspondence between Ros Lucas and Ria Arinta Mukti. (From Societial Influences on Leadership, a "Web book" of "edited email correspondence" between "student teachers from the Faculty of Education at the University of Tasmania and the Institut Keguruan dan Ilmu Pendidikan (IKIP) at Malang [Indonesia] on the meaning of citizenship in their countries and on the education of children for citizenship.")
• "I certainly believe a Republic rather than a Monarchy is more culturally appropriate to our contemporary Australian society."

Jenny Macklin

Visions for Australian Polity 2020 (PDF)

• Presented to the Australian Constitutional Futures 2002 conference. Note: the title seems to bear no relation to the content.
• Another (HTML) copy can be found here at the ALP site.
• "Those who say they support a republic but rail against the problems and dangers of having an elected head of state miss the point. Instead of lambasting the public for their decision, it is my view that we who want a republic have to find a way to make an elected head of state work."
• Note: her statement about s25 of the Constitution ("people who are disqualified from voting on the basis of their race are not included in population calculations") appears to imply s25 excludes such persons from the census. It could also be construed as referring to those disqualified by the Commonwealth. In fact, s25 applies only to people disqualified by a State from a State's franchise, and the only exclusion it makes is from the calculation s24 uses to determine the number of MHRs a State is entitled to. In other words, s25 penalises those States who exclude people from their franchise on the basis of race (by reducing their representation in the House of Representatives). The provision itself is based on a similar one in the 14th amendment (section 2) of the US constitution whose intention was to penalise those American states who persisted, even after the US Civil War was over, in excluding Black Americans from the franchise. For more on s25, see the report of the Constitution Commission.

Sir Anthony Mason

Reassessing Constitutional Links with the UK

• Sir Anthony talks to Liz Jackson on Four Corners via the ABC's Radio National's The Law Report (28 October 1997).
• Sir Anthony, it seems, has "been a Republican since I was seven, and the Bodyline series in 1932-1933."
• (As a bonus, after Sir Anthony's transcript Susanna Lobez discusses the Caribbean's constitutional ties with Britain, which are not without some bearing on the Australian republic issue. Unlike Australia, any of Britain's former colonies there still retain appeals to the Privy Council. However, in the Caribbean "support for the death penalty is said to run at about 95%", unlike the Privy Council of "more merciful Mother England", which is commuting death sentences left and right. So now "there are...moves afoot to sever this legal umbilical cord" and "create a Regional Court of Appeal more likely to reflect local values.")

Benjamin May

Renewing the Australian Constitution

At the Randomness Central: Ish's Website. ("Given the republican sentiment of Australians38 the monarchy should be excised from the Constitution. The defeat of the 1999 model demonstrates that a minimalist approach is unpopular. This leads us to the second major aim of Constitutional reform, which is to bring the Australian people into the process of governance in a more effective manner.")

Millennium Dilemma: Constitutional Change in Australia (at the University of Wollongong)
(interviews with legal experts, academics, and other notables on a broad range of constitutional matters, among them the republic issue)

Tony Blackshield

"I began in the recent round of debate by being resistant to the idea of direct popular election. I was persuaded by the argument that the degree of democratic legitimacy would give the head of state too much real political power. But it is overwhelmingly clear that the Australian people want the head of state directly elected, and if that's what they want they should have it. I actually then began to think that there might be good reasons for direct popular election, that the people might actually be right. Even if they're wrong, I always remember Oliver Wendell Holmes in the US Supreme Court who took some very radical decisions on very conservative grounds, and essentially his philosophy was, 'If the people are damn fool enough to want this sort of law they should be allowed to have it'."

Zelman Cowen

Harry Evans

• Makes no explicit statement supporting a republic, he does say he would "prefer an executive presidency".
• "I have no doubt that a head of state, whether in a parliamentary system or a system with an executive presidency, should be directly elected by the people. In a parliamentary system, I think it is necessary for the head of state--being the umpire of the system--to have sufficient independence from the legislature and, particularly, from the government of the day. All the schemes for indirect election or appointment of the Governor-General by the parliament involve the Governor-General, in effect, being appointed by the government of the day. They are really only a gloss on the system allowing the prime minister to appoint the Governor-General. A parliamentary system, in my view, can't work unless the head of state, that is, the umpire in the system, has sufficient independence from the government of the day and from the legislature. That means direct election. If you have an executive presidency, I think that necessarily entails direct election of the head of state by the public."

Brian Galligan

John Goldring

"My concern is that if you had a head of state elected on the first past the post basis by the whole of the people, you have the potential for a very strong difference of opinion between the legislature and the head of state. You also have a system where the winner might take all. A situation where the winner of the election might say 'I have the mandate of the people and I can do what I like.' The best precedent for that is Weimar Germany where Hitler was elected chancellor. He was elected by popular vote. A person who claims a popular mandate is a dangerous thing in politics." NOTE: Hitler was never elected chancellor. He was appointed to that office by President Hindenburg. (He did, however, stand for the presidency, but lost to Hindenburg.)

Stuart Macintyre

"We need to move from a Governor-General by title and office to a President by title and office. We need to think about the choice of a system whereby we choose a President as one that Australians can discuss. It should be understood that a President is different in principle from a Governor-General."

Hugh Mackay

Sir Anthony Mason

Noel Pearson

• "[T]he republic for me, is not about who the head of state is. I think the head of state must not be somebody connected with the British Crown, but in saying that, I don't think that is what the republic is all about. The republic is about this opportunity for us to do what they did back in the United States three hundred years ago. That's what the republic represents for me: for us to write a real constitution to which we are all committed."
• "'If most Australians want to vote for the head of state, what's the problem?' 'Most Australians probably like the idea of citizen initiated referenda to impose some kind of tyranny on someone or another, but I'm not sure they ought to have the right to exercise that inclination.'"

George Winterton

Leslie Zines

"[T]he only reason I am in favour of a republic is purely for symbolic reasons. I see no great substantive things following."

Bill Peach

Bill's Republic (MS Word)

• Keynote speech at the "NSW Conference 2002". At the website for the Victorian Branch of the ARM. Much ado about the lost referendum, conspiracies from "Wily John", a certain amount of wishful thinking, and an overdosage of the royal "we". But also thoughts on the Corowa Conference of 2001, direct election, and what might have been.
• "[T]he lowest point of that awful campaign--even lower than the talk-back radio drivel about the hidden agenda and the international Jewish communist banking conspiracy behind the republic--the lowest trick of all was the 'no' campaign advertising--you'll remember James Blundell groaning 'We'll vote "no" in November'--and the persistent implication that if we voted no to this republic, to the politician's republic, that there was another proposal waiting in the wings, a democratic, non-elitist, nonchardonnay sipping republic, and that the people would have their say. Of course, there was no such thing intended and what they were really saying to the people was 'just vote "no" and shut up and bugger off and concentrate on the things you ought to, like the footy and the T.A.B.'"
• "Well, with hindsight we know it would have been a better strategy for the republicans to have stuck together at the Constitutional Convention and insisted on a process that would have let the people have their say, that would have consulted them and asked them what they preferred, and then proposed a model they would vote for. In other words, a plebiscite followed by a referendum."

John Pyke

Reasons Why Australia Should be a Republic

At his website.

Helen Razer

Helen Razer--Viewpoint

• Part of a collection of viewpoints by various "prominent Australians" at the ABC's 1998 Convention website. They were asked "to write...on the theme of the [1998] Convention--that is, about the Republican debate, the Constitution, or the questions of national identity that the debate raises." An ABC-JJJ presenter offers an idiosyncratic perspective.
• "In upholding my own civic responsibility to opine, I happen to say 'Go You Mighty Republicans'. So all you Monarchists can go right back to your search engines NOW or perhaps enjoy the simple pleasure of high-lighting all my State School engendered split infinitives and circulating said to grammatical newsgroups for further dissection."
• Also includes a link to "Education Notes" (also at the ABC site), prepared by Bryan Moloney, on her viewpoint.

Charles Sampford

One and Future Republics: W[h]ither Republicanism? What Kinds of Public Institutions do we need for the 21st Century and Should They Be Republican? (PDF)

• Presented to the Australian Constitutional Futures 2002 conference.
• "Looking back on it now, I see the Republican push as essentially a well meaning and entirely innocuous attempt to peacefully and rationally complete a nineteenth century project--the creation of an independent nation state in the modern mould. All the effective power had been transferred to Australian officials during the first 90 years of federation--all that was required was to transfer the final vestiges of formal power and the symbols of that power to Australian officials and institutions."

Tasmanian University Society for an Australian Republic

Republica

An electronic newsletter where you can "find out about the society, its publications, and general information about an Australian republic".

University of Queensland Australian Republican Club (UQARC)

A Green and Gold Republic By 2001

Amanda Vanstone

Visions for Australian Polity 2020 (PDF)

• Presented to the Australian Constitutional Futures 2002 conference. The title seems to bear no relation to the content, which is mostly about how to achieve a republic.
• "The British monarch is in there by the choice of Australians. We are not facing a situation where the British Royal Family has foisted themselves upon us. Quite the opposite, our Constitution ties them to us. It is not their fault. We did it. We should set them free."
• "Don't take the majority of support for an Australian Head of State for granted. (That's what you do when you shift from quantitative polling to offering models.) It's a fundamental flaw still present in the plan to have a plebiscite to select one of a number of models. We may simply repeat the last disaster by way of different processes. What will happen if each of the models is equally favoured, or none get a majority? I'll tell you what will happen. The constitutional monarchists will be popping champagne. We will be divided again. A divided campaign is a losing one. Clearly the task is first to raise the intensity of desire for an Australian Head of State so that the motivation is there for republicans to unite. Unless that happens we lose."

John Warhurst

Ten Critical Questions in the Republic Campaign

Dated November 2003. At the ARM website.

Anne Witheford

Translating a Republic into Reality: An ARM Perspective on the Task Ahead

Paper delivered to The Women's Constitutional Convention on 29 January 1998. Stored at an archived copy of The Women's Constitutional Convention site at the National Library of Australia.

Women's Electoral Lobby

Position Paper: An Australian Head of State

By Meredith Doig. Also looks at the advantages & disadvantages of four classes of republic models. At WEL's website.

Neville Wran Q.C.

The Australian Republic (missing)

The Whitlam Lecture of November 1997. At the ACTU website.

Yes and More Coalition

Yes and More Coalition's Q & A Page

• Supports direct election of a ceremonial president from a shortlist produced by a joint sitting of the Senate and House of Representatives.
• Note: at an archived copy of the Yes and More Coalition site maintained by the National Library of Australia.

Tony Abbott

Person with the power is Australian, as republicans are well aware (missing)

• Dated 20 October 1999. At the Sydney Morning Herald's site.
• "They're replacing an Australian governor-general appointed like a judge with a president appointed like the Speaker of the Parliament. Who would want that? Only someone whose detestation of the monarch (and the tradition, ritual and faith she stands for) makes getting rid of the Crown the only thing that matters."

A Republic: Good or Bad

At the Family World News site. March 1997.

Australians for Constitutional Monarchy

The ACM Handbook (missing)

The ACM responds to republican claims.

An overview of the ACM's view (missing)

By Lloyd Waddy, the National Convenor of the ACM (taken from The Australian Constitutional Monarchy, edited by Gareth Grainger and Kerry Jones). Opposes both a republic and the blueprint as outlined by the (former) Prime Minister (see below). If Australia must have a republic, would prefer the US model ("we know it is safe and that it works, in its way, and has done so for over two hundred years").

Why Australia should not become a republic (missing)

By Mrs Kerry Jones, Executive Director to ACM.

Philip Benwell

Concerns over Constitutional Change

Address to the cross-bench peers of the House of Lords, London. At the The Monarchist League in Australia's site. ("The fear that I have--indeed the fear that all Loyal Subjects of Her Majesty--should have, is that should the Referendum to make Australia a republic succeed and it is later found that the Constitution cannot be re-written in this manner, The Queen would be placed in the untenable situation where She would through legal means rule a People who have voted to remove Her. Needless to say, there would be an overwhelming backlash of indignation both against The Queen and against Britain.")

Bronwyn Bishop MP

Debunking The Seven Deadly Myths Of The Republican Debate (missing)

The Minister for Aged Care addressed the ACM, Sydney, on 2/2/1999. At the No Republic (Chatswood) site. ("Respectful debate means we don't need Tim Costellos telling Bruce Ruxtons that their time has passed. The voice of older Australians is not only entitled to be heard, but in this the Year of Older Persons, it must be heard.")

Lady Flo Bjelke-Petersen

No Need for a Republic

• Speech for the launch of the election campaign for the 1998 Convention for the candidates for the Queenslanders for Constitutional Monarchy, 8/11/1997. At the The Monarchist League in Australia's site.
• "Republicans cannot make the system they propose any more democratic than it is at present because the great power held by the Governor-General is the power, in the event of crisis, to dissolve the parliament and return the parliamentarians to answer to the people. Nothing could be more democratic than that."

Neville T. Bonner

Why an Australian Constitutional Monarchy: An Indigenous Perspective

An edited version of a speech given to Australians for Constitutional Monarchy on 4 February 1994. At the Australians for Constitutional Monarchy site.

Senator Ron Boswell

A Question Of Patriotism

At the Family World News site. March 1997. Senator Boswell does a Plato, composing a dialogue between "Rodney Republic" and "Caroline Constitution".

Alan Fitzgerald

Some Questions That Need to Be Answered About a Republic (missing)

In Vol 1 Issue 2 of the ACM's online "newspaper" Australian Constitutional News.

David Flint

The Australian Constitution (missing)

At the Official "No" Case site. Would have been better titled "The Australian Crown", given that the subject is mainly a defence of that institution. ("Of course the Crown has a British connotation. But it is not the connotation of an English woman. Rather, it is the connotation of a British system. A system of government, developed in Britain and exported from Britain, which the constitutionalist seeks to preserve. And it is from this system that virtually all Australians draw their conception of democratic, parliamentary government. With the exception of those few advocating an executive presidency, this continues to be the source of the dominant political theory in Australia. Thus the Crown is as much a fundamental Australian institution as the Canadian Crown is Canadian."

In Defence of Our Constitution

• An Address to Australians for Constitutional Monarchy, 14 September 1995. Stored at the The Monarchist League in Australia site.
• "The design of the present Australian system may seem anachronistic, but is worthy of a political genius. To constrain the authoritarian potential of a presidential prime minister in control of the House, we have both a Senate and a Governor-General. The Governor-General is required to behave as if he were a constitutional monarch. The office is protected by any appointment and any removal being made by another constitutional monarch, the symbolic Head of State, the Queen. It works better than the two consuls of ancient Rome, who were required to act together."

A Question of Power (missing)

Brief. Refers to the convention's "preferred model", but most of the argument seems more generalised. At the No Republic (Chatswood Branch) site.

The Uncertainties of a President: Appointed or Elected--A Cane Toad Solution? (85K)

• A speech given in Sydney, 27 August 1996. Stored at the The Monarchist League in Australia site. (Another copy here at the ACM site.)
• "No American would have the temerity to refer to their Constitution, drafted one century before ours, as a 'Horse and Buggy' constitution. Neither should we."

Sir Harry Gibbs

The Monarchy and our Constitution

• Address to the Rockhampton branch of the ACM. At the The Monarchist League in Australia's site. Note: the title given above does not actually appear on the text itself, though it does on the MLA webpage listing it.
• "In the circumstances, it seems somewhat over-confident to assert that a republic is inevitable. In fact, throughout the nineteenth century there were influential people in Australia who even then were saying that a republic is inevitable. Let us hope that in another hundred years time, the present predictions of inevitability will still have not been fulfilled."

Our Current Constitutional Set-up

• Sir Harry Gibbs talks to Suzanna Lobez on the ABC's Radio National's The Law Report (18 November 1997). Note: you will have to scroll past a discussion of insurance compensation schemes ("'no-fault' versus negligence") in order to get to Suzanna's talk with Sir Harry.
• The former High Court Chief Justice, "puts the case for retaining our current constitutional structure, which Sir Harry says is 'subtly effective'."

Barbara Greenwood

Barbara Greenwood--Viewpoint

• Part of a collection of viewpoints by various "prominent Australians" at the ABC's 1998 Convention website. They were asked "to write...on the theme of the [1998] Convention--that is, about the Republican debate, the Constitution, or the questions of national identity that the debate raises." A monarchist candidate to the 1998 Convention, observer at the 1976 & 1983 constitutional conventions (and, according to one source, former literary critic to the ABC) gives her perspective.
• "Any major change to the structure of power at the apex of the system of government we have in Australia threatens and undermines the checks and balances carefully put in place, not only by the founding fathers who drew up our constitution, but also by the people of the separate states who voted our federation into being."
• Also includes a link to "Education Notes" (also at the ABC site), prepared by Bryan Moloney, on her viewpoint.

Nick Hobson

The Australian Republic Unplugged Home Page

An on-line version of the booklet The Australian Republic Unplugged, which "provides an in-depth look at former Prime Minister Paul Keating's proposal for a republic by unravelling the contents of his paper titled An Australian Republic--The Way Forward."

The Presidential Power Charts

A view of how the power will shift under an Australian republic. Part of the The Australian Republic Unplugged Home Page.

A Sensible Outcome for the Convention

Proposed back in the days of the Convention to give Australia an Australian Head of State: viz. the Governor-General.

Kerry Jones

ACM's Perspective on the republic Debate

Paper delivered to The Women's Constitutional Convention on 29 January 1998. Stored at an archived copy of The Women's Constitutional Convention site at the National Library of Australia.

"Why We Should All Vote" No Republic

At the Family World News site. March 1997.

Ron Kenyon

Constitutional Reform: To Be or Not to be? That is the Question (missing)

A brief personal view on the republic issue by a Queensland independent election candidate. ("I believe with my whole heart that if we, as Australians, vote for a Republic, then we are giving ourselves and all future Generations away to Foreign Corporations whose only guidelines are Profits and more Profits.")

Michael Kirby (High Court Justice)

Australia's Monarchy: Meeting the People's Needs (42K)

• An edited version of a speech given to the South Australian Chapter of the Australian Society of Labor Lawyers on 12 March 1993. Biblio.
• "'If it ain't broke, don't fix it.'"
• Note:unfortunately the site where this essay resided has been taken down.

National Party of Australia

Constitutional Monarchy versus a Republic

At the party's Federal Secretariat website. ("We believe the appointment or election of a President will add an extra political dimension to the Head of State that currently does not exist. This position should not become open to conflicts, tensions, instability, divisiveness and political manipulations.")

Justice Jack Lee

Is the Queen a Foreigner?

• Fairly brief and not much concerned with the title subject (except at the beginning). Stored at the Australians for Constitutional Monarchy site.
• "It is claimed by republicans that we are maturing and 'progressing naturally' in becoming a republic, as though becoming a republic is some final stage to which nations aspire. Nothing is further from the truth. There are two main systems of government, constitutional monarchies of which there are about 36 and republics of which there are about 116. Great Britain has had a monarch for a thousand years. The Japanese have had an hereditary emperor for even longer it is claimed. Spain was a republic but just recently turned back to a monarchy and put the King on the throne. The point is that there is certainly nothing special about being a republic. It is simply a form of government that is not a monarchy."

Graham McLennan

An Australian Republic?

• At the Family World News site. February 1998.
• "It is ironic that the American Founding Father and writer of the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, should write: 'Prudence, indeed would dictate governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes.'"

Lucy Sullivan

The Perils of Republics

Looks mostly at the experience of France and the United States. At the website for The Centre for Independent Studies.

Lloyd Waddy QC

Australia's Crowned Republic: Does the Prime Minister get the Crown or Not?

• At the Australians for Constitutional Monarchy site.
• "We already live in a crowned republic. The essence of a republic is that power of government proceeds from the governed. Australians selected constitutional monarchy voluntarily and voted for it overwhelmingly when we became a nation in 1901. Our Constitution was not imposed upon us. No blood was shed when we achieved nationhood. Our forefathers and foremothers 'agreed to unite in one indissoluble federal Commonwealth under the Crown'. 'Commonwealth' means Republic--and was the name Cromwell adopted for his short-lived republic in the 17th century."

Monarchy and Mirth: Is the republic a laughing matter?

Dated 26 July 1995. At the No Republic (Kingston) site. Mainly deals with the Keating plans for a republic. ("If it is to be alleged that because she [the Queen] resides in the UK, what are we to make of the present proposals by the Federal Government to amend the citizenship laws to allow Mr Murdoch, who exercises vastly more power and influence in this country than The Queen, to have dual citizenship? If he and 2 million other Australians can have dual citizenship, surely Australians can understand that residing overseas is no disqualification for fulfilling the traditional role of being The Queen of Australia.")

The Role of the Crown in Our System of Governance

At the Australians for Constitutional Monarchy site. An essay on a wide range of issues related to a republic. Grouped into sections.

Geoffrey K. White

An Australian Head of State? YES; A Republic? NO (missing)

• Part of a (pro-monarchist) site on the Canadian republic issue. Described in the page's meta-text (you need to view the page's source text to read it) as "A possible solution to the republic-monarchy debate in Australia"
• "Constitutional monarchy is arguably the most successful form of democratic government. Only two of the longest standing democracies are republics (USA and Switzerland - France is on its 5th republic since Europeans settled in Australia), the rest (about 9) are constitutional monarchies, three of them sharing the Crown with Australia. Most of the republics established since the Second World War are simulated constitutional monarchies (SCMs) with parliamentary systems and non-executive heads of state. Examples are Israel, Germany and, fellow Commonwealth member, India."
• Note: The contents of the page linked here keeps changing (albeit the three changes I have noticed over the years thus far are all by Mr White and deal with the Australian republic issue). Consequently, the information and the quote I supply above may not necessarily apply or appear on your own visit.

Philip Benwell

Australia's Constitutional Monarchy: Its benefits and its relevance for the 21st Century and beyond

At the Family World News site. March 1997.

"I honour my God; I serve my Queen; I salute my flag"

At the Family World News site. August 1999. The title refers to the words children used to recite in school throughout Australia. ("Some decades ago someone, somewhere made a decision that it was no longer appropriate for these 'loyalist' sympathies to be narrated. A little later a similar decision was made not to play the Royal Anthem in cinemas and theatres. What began as a little trickle of discontent against the monarchical character of our constitutional arrangements has now turned into a rancorous rage seeking to tear down the very fabric of our Constitution and our Monarchy.")

The Westminster Crown and The Referendum in Australia

An address to the Swinton Circle at Parliament House, Westminster, London, UK, on 3 May 2000. At the No Republic (Kingsford) site. The 1999 referendum, the monarchy, Britain in Europe, and other matters.

Charles A. Coulombe

By the Grace of God

• At the The Monarchist League in Australia's site. An opinion from "an American [& French-Canadian by blood] who is terribly concerned about the state of things in Australia".
• Although classed as a "speech" by the Monarchist League, no date is given. Internal evidence would suggest c.1995 or 1996.
• Note: it's the tone (rather than the content) which gets this one filed here in the Opposing Opinions section (when it might otherwise have been allocated a slot up in the Issues section).

David Flint

The New Establishment--Even More Out of Touch (missing)

• Opening Address to the A.C.M National Conference, All Saints Church Hall, Brisbane, 6 October, 2001. Stored at the Australians for Constitutional Monarchy site. (The speech title is taken from a table of contents page.)
• "Anybody can pen a constitution. Well, almost anybody. We have seen it all over the world. Sadly the greater part of constitutions drafted since the French Revolution have proved to be failures. Abject failures."

Jeff Kennett MLA

The Crown and the States

Paper presented to the Samuel Griffith Society in 1993

Michael Kirby (High Court Justice)

Keeping Calm about the Crown--An Australian Perspective of the Republican "Debate"

• Delivered at the 5th William Merrylees Memorial Lecture at Charles Sturt University, NSW, 9/11/1993. Ranges widely: William Merrylees, oaths of allegiance, and the republic issue. At his website at the Law & Justice Foundation of NSW.
• "Let me, therefore, offer my perspective in support of constitutional monarchy. This is not the perspective of Colonel Blimp draped in the Union Jack. Nor is it the text for those who see the Queen of Australia as our ultimate guardian against the politicians, the media and others with their 'knavish tricks' who would mislead and manipulate us. I do not see the Queen, nor do I want to have her, in that role. ... It is probably true to say that a constitutional committee in 1993, starting afresh, would not invent the constitutional monarchy as it works under the Australian Constitution. However, the fact remains that the system works rather well."
• "Another distressing feature of the so-called republican 'debate' is the highly partisan and biased reporting that we have seen about it in the Australian media. ... How can there be a 'debate' if the other point of view is dismissed with contempt and its proponents always described as 'old' or stereotyped as political conservatives and Colonel Blimp types who wrap themselves each night in the Union Jack and pray for King and country before they lull themselves off to sleep to the strains of 'Land of Hope and Glory'. Most people who like our Constitution the way it is are just ordinary decent fellow Australians, with as much right to hold an opinion as any other citizen. And a right to have it heard and understood."

Rev. Fred Nile

Why all Christians should support our Christian Constitutional Monarchy

At the Family World News site. March 1997. Speech given the NSW Legislative Council.

Dr Glenister Sheil

The Constitutional Convention and Growing Up

• Note that the 1998 Convention is barely mentioned. Possibly 18/3/1998. At the The Monarchist League in Australia's site.
• "Our Constitution, Crown and Government have done a lot of growing up since Federation on 1st January, 1901. Admittedly, it took England and Australia 30 years to realise that our Constitution had created a sovereign, independent nation, and that we had stripped the English Monarch of all her powers in Australia and given them to our Governor-General. Our Constitution was written with a view to having an absent Sovereign and the Sovereign did not even visit Australia for our first 54 years!"

Development of the Crown

• At the The Monarchist League in Australia's site. Brief.
• "The Crown has changed its role from representing total power of the Monarch to govern, to today, when Constitutional Monarchy means the Crown represents the denial of total power to govern, and returns the power to the subjects."

Sir David Smith

The Unique Nature of Australia's Constitutional Monarchy

• Address to the ACM National Conference 2000, Pittwater House School, Sydney, 4 November, 2000. Stored at the Australians for Constitutional Monarchy site. (The speech title is taken from a table of contents page.)
• "The Australian Crown is indeed unique. It is embodied in the Monarch, who lives elsewhere, and in the Governor-General, who lives amongst us as our Head of State."

Alasdair Webster

Republic versus Monarchy Debate

At the Family World News site. October 1999. Monarchy and the Christian perspective.

The ACM and our Constitution

By Barry O'Keefe QC. "Jottings from an address" to the "No Republic (Kingston)", 24 November 1995. At the No Republic (Kingston) site. The "essence of federation", "crisis of identity", and other "jottings" in relation to the republic issue.

Address to Young Australians Against This Republic

• By Tony Abbott. Melbourne, 24/7/1999. At his website.
• "A sense that things are not what they seem haunts Australia's constitutional debate. There are the 'don't mention the republic' republicans, 'don't mention the Queen' monarchists, monarchists supporting the 'least bad republic' and republicans opposing the 'sham republic'. Most remarkably, there are so-called 'conservatives for an Australian Head of State' who aren't really conservative and don't really want to create an Australian head of state. One might as well set up a group called 'Liberals to elect a Labor Prime Minister'."

Approaching the Centenary: Does Australia Need a New Constitutional Structure?

• By Sir Zelman Cowen. Williamson Community Leadership Program Lecture, 6 November 1991. At the Leadership Victoria website.
• "I am not concerned, one way or another, to argue the case for a republican form of government for Australia. ... My own view is that the central weakness is that under the monarchical system as it has evolved, there is an absentee Head of State and that might be seen to be a curious anomaly in a democratic sovereign society."

Elspeth Cameron--Viewpoint

• By Elspeth Cameron. Part of a collection of viewpoints by various "prominent Australians" at the ABC's 1998 Convention website. They were asked "to write...on the theme of the [1998] Convention--that is, about the Republican debate, the Constitution, or the questions of national identity that the debate raises." A resident of rural Queensland gives her perspective.
• "Appointment and dismissal of a head of state seem less vital to the population in a stable system but the stability is more ensured where the protocols are clear and beyond changes of interpretation at the whim of individuals or interest groups."
• Also includes a link to "Education Notes" (also at the ABC site), prepared by Bryan Moloney, on her viewpoint.

An Encounter with the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia

• By Garry De Vries, Pastor. Appeared in the March 1998 issue of Trowel & Sword, the "Periodical for the Edification and Defence of the Reformed Presbyterian Faith and Life in Australia and New Zealand". Constitutionalism, God, and the republic.
• "The late Francis Schaeffer, suggests that 'a constitution is a system of checks and balances, especially on people in power.' Constitutionalism then, is a system of government established to prevent excessive government. It is designed to be a guard for the people against arbitrary and despotic government."

Handy Hints for Movements which support an Australian Republic

• By Nick Hobson. Part of Hobson's The Australian Republic Unplugged page. The content is not particularly pro-either side per se; and some of the hints it gives would be useful to both sides.
• "When espousing the fact that the Queen of Australia lives in the United Kingdom, remember that many notable Australians live overseas on a permanent basis including prominent republican Robert Hughes."
• Another copy can be found at the YorkWA site, though (strangely) retitled: Australian Republican Movement: Hints for Movements which Support an Australian Republic.

Jane Connors--Viewpoint

• By Jane Connors. Part of a collection of viewpoints by various "prominent Australians" at the ABC's 1998 Convention website. They were asked "to write...on the theme of the [1998] Convention--that is, about the Republican debate, the Constitution, or the questions of national identity that the debate raises." An historian & ABC producer gives her perspective.
• "Popular monarchism has exasperated generations of Australian republicans, but it also annoys the constitutional monarchists, who prefer to concentrate on the place of the monarchy in our system of government and ignore what they regard as a trivial and embarrassing interest in the Royal's Family's private lives. ......the first time that one million Australians gathered together in the one place was for the arrival of the Duke and Duchess of York (she's now the Queen Mother) in Sydney Harbour in 1927. ... The republican movement needs to understand that they are asking such people to rewrite a major part of their personal as well as our national history when they contemplate a move to a republic."
• Also includes a link to "Education Notes" (also at the ABC site), prepared by Bryan Moloney, on her viewpoint.

Millennium Dilemma: Constitutional Change in Australia (at the University of Wollongong)
(interviews with legal experts, academics, and other notables on a broad range of constitutional matters, among them the republic issue)

Quentin Bryce

Michael Coper

"[I]f we do directly elect our head of state separately from our political leader, the prime minister, it's inevitable that person will have a sense of popular legitimacy as a result of that election. This would not be the case if it were an appointment rather than an election. ... If we were to have a system in which the real political leader, the prime minister had substantial political power, but the head of state also both perceived himself or herself to have that power (and had substantial residual discretionary power as well), that would be a recipe for a very difficult political conflict, and difficult political situations. We really would be moving to a situation much more like the American system, with a separation of power between the elected legislature and the leader of that body on the one hand, and an elected executive head of state, such as the president, on the other. Now that's radically different from the situation we have at the moment. That's not to say we shouldn't move in that direction, but if we did it would have to be the result of a much more serious and substantial debate than simply over whether we elect or appoint a Governor-General."

Justice Elizabeth Evatt

Justice Michael Kirby

Richard McGarvie

Kim Rubenstein

Cheryl Saunders

Sir Ninian Stephen

Note: the dates given in the interview page for Sir Ninian's Governor-Generalcy ("1972-1982") are incorrect. His term in fact ran from 1982 to 1989.

Sue Tongue

"The Parliament should select the head of state. The people elect the Parliament so they could indirectly elect the head of state by electing the Parliament. To open up the process of popular election could produce the wrong kinds of results. ... People might elect sporting heroes, or people who don't necessarily have the skills and the experience necessary for the position of head of state. A person with money could buy media exposure and get elected. Parliament may be more likely to choose a suitable person ? especially if voting was not along party lines."

Millennium Dilemma: Subject Overview--An Australian Republic?

• A collection of brief views from various legal experts, academics, an ex-High Court judge, an ex-Governor-General, and other notables. One of a number of such overviews at a website run by the Faculty of Law of the University of Wollongong.
• Tony Blackshield: "I was persuaded by the argument that the degree of democratic legitimacy would give the head of state too much real political power. But it is overwhelmingly clear that the Australian people want the head of state directly elected, and if that's what they want, they should have it."
• Hugh Mackay: "There is of course this great irony that when people say they want to elect their own head of state, they say in the next breath, of course we don't want this to be a politician, we don't want this to be an American style, and we don't want it to be a contest between political nominees. Nor do we want it to be a particularly outstanding sports person, or pop entertainer who happens to have captured the public imagination at any time."

The Republic debate will begin anew

By Helen Irving. Original published in The Australian 9/8/2001. Direct election, a title of the head of state, mixed in with a little history. Fairly brief. At Online Opinion's Australian Constitutional Reform site.

Republic or Monarchy?

By Bruce Hannaford. Taken from "a booklet which in turn came from lecture notes used by the author Bruce Hannaford". December 1999 edition. Supplies a long list of reasons against a republic, but also what he considers to be "The Requirements for a Satisfactory Republic".