Brexit chaos should revive Australia’s republic debate
Twenty years on from Australia’s national republic referendum, it’s time to revisit the debate and consider the country we are, and want to be into the future, writes Sandy Biar.
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In the years since the unsuccessful 1999 Australian Republic Referendum it’s become a trope among politicians and commentators that the ‘Republic is a solution in search of a problem’.
It’s a clever line — too clever by half — and it had a good run for nearly two decades before former prime minister Tony Abbott knighted Prince Philip and provided the perfect illustration of the problem: rich foreign aristocrats living in castles are not Australian, and they shouldn’t receive Australian honours before hardworking and deserving Australians who’ve earned them.
This cringe-worthy ‘captain’s call’ was opposed across the Australian community for the same reasons replacing the British monarch with an Australian as our Head of State continues to resonate with a clear majority: it’s common sense that Australian institutions should serve Australians, reflect the values of Australians, and be run by Australians.
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But instead, the highest office in Australia can only be held by a single family of British aristocrats belonging to one faith on the other side of the world (and until recently, gave priority to men over women for no other reason than their gender).
That’s the problem in a nutshell: our highest office is held by someone who isn’t Australian and doesn’t live here, and no Australian can ever have their job.
It doesn’t make much sense to me, and it doesn’t make much sense to most Australians either. It doesn’t pass the pub-test.
Around half of Australians polled still consistently support a republic and only a quarter of Australians still support the monarchy. The remaining quarter are undecided — something that would quickly change during a new national vote.
But it’s not the only problem with our lingering attachment to the British monarchy.
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To begin with, Britain’s Brexit debacle has put an end to the only good argument Australian monarchists used to have, which is that the monarchy is a stable rock in times of crisis. What we now know is that the Queen has been powerless to effectively intervene to resolve the worst crisis in British politics since WWII. She was also unwilling or powerless to stop herself being used by British politicians for their own ends.
The second problem is that, now in her 90s, Queen Elizabeth II is an elderly woman whose time is nearing its natural end. Her successor will be Charles — a decision Australians will have no say in.
Prince Charles visits us every few years and briefly went to school here, but he offers us even less than his mother. And unless we act soon, he will be Australia’s next Head of State, crowned in faraway London, and without a single vote cast by Australians.
The concept of having a ‘King of Australia’ is as foreign to us as the incoming King himself.
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The final, and most serious problem, is uniquely ours. Australia has changed a lot in the nearly 12 decades since Federation in 1901. We are no longer a former British colony, but a successful, free, democratic, stable, vibrant, multicultural, and nearly independent country. Our people are from every corner of Earth and now share a history and a future with Australians whose ancestors have lived here for more than 65,000 years.
But despite Australia’s success, and our unique achievements, culture and values, we have no recognised champion on the world stage, no proud supporter-in-chief to barrack for our sporting teams, and no consoler-in-chief to guide us through personal and national tragedies.
Instead, our British monarch and their family promote British trade and interests in the world, barrack for England in the Ashes and the Rugby World Cup, and write kind but distant letters when we need someone to be present and hear our stories during bushfires, floods and droughts.
Some might say the prime minister of the day performs the role the Head of State should, or that the Queen’s representative in Australia – the Governor-General – is good enough, but they’re not. The nature of partisan politics from which our Prime Ministers come inherently divides us, and our Governors-General are too little known by most Australians to be effective in representing us when it matters most.
So there is a problem, and the solution is an Australian leader, chosen by all Australians, to be a Head of State above politics, who lives among us, walks among us, laughs when we laugh, hurts when we hurt, and represents the very best of us to the world — and ourselves.
Sandy Biar is the National Director for the Australian Republic Movement.
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