‘He is going out on a high’: Peter FitzSimons steps down as head of republic movement

Author and former rugby player Peter FitzSimons is stepping down as head of Australia’s republic movement, weeks after the death of the Queen.

Peter FitzSimons is stepping down as head of Australia’s republic movement, weeks after the death of the Queen.

The author and former international rugby player confirmed on Saturday he would not be standing for this month’s election for chair of the Australian Republican movement after seven years in the role.

“Thank you all, it’s been an honour, and a pleasure,” he wrote on Twitter.

The news was first reported by The Sydney Morning Herald, where FitzSimons has been a long-time columnist.

He told the newspaper he had always intended to step down before any republic referendum campaign, which may occur in a second term of the federal Labor government.

“I am thrilled with what has been achieved by the movement on my watch,” FitzSimons said in a written statement.

“Building on the fine work of my predecessors who kept the show on the road in the fallow years after the 1999 referendum, my colleagues and I have been able to make great strides. It is wonderful, right now, to have the republic on the agenda, to have a strong movement with expanding membership and money in the bank – and, most importantly, to have for the first time in history, a ‘Minister for the Crown devoted to removing the Crown.’”

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Author and commentator Peter FitzSimons. Picture: Mark Wilson

According to the SMH, some sections of the movement were dissatisfied with FitzSimons’ leadership, with public support for a republic stalling following the Queen’s death.

FitzSimons and his wife, The Project host Lisa Wilkinson, have been accused by conservatives of being part of an out-of-touch, inner-city elite.

There were also disagreements within the ARM’s leadership over whether the group should throw its weight behind the push for an Indigenous “Voice to Parliament”, a position which FitzSimons has reportedly come to support.

Some republicans were “concerned there would be conservative [republicans] who might be opposed to the Voice, and the ARM has to appeal to a majority of people in the majority of states [including conservatives]”, ARM deputy chair Meredith Doig told the SMH.

But she hit out at FitzSimons’ internal opponents, saying “factionalism is death in an organisation and … people should pursue the mission for this organisation, not stab one another in the back”.

Christians light candles to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at a church in Quetta. Picture: Banaras Khan/AFP

“Peter is not stepping down for any negative reason,” she said. “He is going out on a high.”

The ARM controversially called for the country to cut its ties to the British monarchy and become an independent nation less than an hour after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Following the end of the official mourning period, the group said it was ramping up its campaign as there was “no longer any excuse to delay” the change.

Australians did not choose King Charles III and polls showed Australians did not approve of him as King, according to the movement.

“His support is unlikely to get any better than it is now,” a statement last Friday read.

“Multiple polls also show a majority of Australians aged under 35 want Australia to become a republic. For decades, monarchists and others have claimed that it would be rude to make a move to a republic while the Queen was on the throne. There is no longer any excuse to delay this important step forward for Australia.”

The ARM has also called for the removal of Queen Elizabeth from Australia’s currency.