“I was a republican but have reverted to being a monarchist largely because of red bandana man!”
Hugh deduced:
“If the problem is not the Queen, who is universally respected, it must be FitzSimons, who isn’t.”
Michael was not amused:
“The ARM is led by a person who insults anyone who doesn’t agree with him and his morally superior views. Australia will never become a republic with people like FitzSimons telling us inferiors how to think.”
Howzat, said Anthony:
“There is a wonderful put-down line by Ian Chappel during a Channel 9 sports segment where FitzSimons was airing his knowledge. Looking straight at him Chappel asked, ‘Where is it, where is it?’ FitzSimons replied, ‘What?’. Chappel_replied: ‘That spotlight you’re always searching for.’”
Peter was pessimistic :
“The biggest problems the Monarchy have today are Prince Andrew and the Prima Donna Meghan. This pair will be their undoing.”
Barry wondered:
“OK so we have a republic! How is it better than what we have got? The constitution will need changing. What changes would be made? Will we have to wear red bandannas?”
Ken concluded:
“They won’t tell you as they haven’t worked it out themselves yet. And it’s only been 46 years of whinging. But you can trust them to come up with the right republic model. Just vote for us and we’ll work out the detail later.”
Matt mentioned:
“It’s so bizarre to me that these people, who find it so easy to find fault in everyone who doesn’t 100pc agree with them on everything, find it impossible to recognise when they themselves are mugged by reality. They soldier on blithely and redouble their efforts. I wonder, do they realise just how foolish they look? Stop talking — quit while your behind.”
Rubberduck quacked:
“Depends on how the president is elected. If the president is elected by popular vote, it will be someone who was on Young Talent Time 40 years ago. Tina Arena? Dannii Minogue? Either one would be handy in a constitutional crisis.
“If it’s a parliamentary vote, then other factors will come into play, like the ability to maintain a diplomatic silence and communicate with subtle gestures. I’m tipping Humphrey B Bear.”
John had reservations:
“But doesn’t he get in all manner of strife?”
Mike said:
“The ARM response to the release of the papers on the dismissal shows again that the community got it right when the referendum on the republic failed. Listening also to Labor Party leaders on their response to the release of the Kerr-Buckingham Palace documents also showed the great myth is still believed by many who refuse to acknowledge they got it wrong.
“The Queen continues to display what integrity should mean to all of us, and she continues to be held in high regard by most in the community. Her actions speak louder than words — and certainly surpass the craven words now coming from those supporting the ARM. That magic word integrity has been shown to be lacking from those promoting the creation of an Australian republic.
“I am one who would support a republic — IF the framework for such a dramatic move was proper and not some extension of political power by elitists. We suspect the motives of those in ARM do not serve our country well, and their petulance against the Queen only reinforces our suspicions. Why change a system that works for us now for something proposed by a bunch of self serving opinion makers who want to mimic the great founders of the American Republic? Their hubris is stunning.”
I want to be royal, said Roger:
“The beauty of our constitutional monarchy form of government with an Australian head of state (aka the Governor-General) is that it is underpinned by elegant long standing conventions of which the monarch and monarchy and the principles of service to the public, are the glue. “And, as we saw in 1975, those arrangements work beautifully in the interests of the people which is their fundamental intent. To meddle with the present arrangements would require legislation — i.e. words. These would be written by politicians and driven in turn by politics. We saw what happened last time when that occurs. Politicians will always act in their interests.
“One thing that is for certain is that the path you advocate (which sounds like an answer hunting for a problem) is that it would quickly demonstrate the law of unintended consequences. Our system worked well in 1975. Leave it alone.”
From Hugh:
“One can appreciate the republicans’ concern about the nationality of the head of state, but, like the professor, they should be careful what (or whom) they wish for. The most prestigious persons in Australia are probably the judges on the High Court. Could we imagine a single one of them as head of state? And who else is there? Australians have grown up since the days when Dick Smith was discussed as a potential head of state. And in those countries where the monarch has been decapitated, murdered in a cellar in Yekaterinburg or deposed at the end of the First World War, the people don’t seem to much like their presidents. Not Angela Merkel, not Macron, not Putin, not Xi Jinping, not Trump enjoy the prestige and respect enjoyed in England by the Queen.”
Bob North remembered:
“In 1974, Gough Whitlam took Labor to the polls and got the majority of seats in the lower house, the House of Reps, yet couldn’t get the upper house, the Senate. Consequently, next year he couldn’t get his Supply bill through both houses to make it law.
“The end of the financial year arrived, after which the govt had no money to run Australia. It dragged on and on, week after week, with eventually Whitlam talking about using people’s savings in the Commonwealth Bank to pay the public servants and welfare recipients.
“It was becoming more absurd each passing week in Whitlam trying desperately to keep in power. Something had to give. Australia was becoming ungovernable.
“Eventually, a governor-general installed by Whitlam himself sacked the government of the day and threw the impasse open for the people of Australia to decide. Whether Australia were a Constitutional monarchy or a republic really is beside the point. The fact is Australia’s current constitution made a way through for a crisis of this kind. I wonder if a republican constitution would have been as good?”
Charles countered:
“Whitlam couldn’t get the upper house, the Senate to pass his money bills because two state premiers had appointed people to the previous Labor casual vacancy positions who were not Labor. So much for democracy, trashed by Tom Lewis & Bjelke-Petersen.”
Finally, Fred:
“I have read Paul Kelly’s work for 45 years. His efficiency of language makes for great reading. He is also rarely wrong. His books on the dismissal show a true and detailed knowledge on the subject. As if the Queen was going to embroil herself in the crisis. To what material end? I am a republican, but attempting to embroil the Queen in this is farcical and counter-productive.”
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John Lee wrote on the increasing psychosis gripping China’s lonely and bitter communists, as the lone wolf transforms into the wolf warrior, picking fights all over the globe. Freedom seeker had no fear:
“The CCP’s biggest problem is that of its rapidly ageing population which will inhibit their wealth creating capacity coupled with an inexperienced military that’s more about bluster and fancy parades where the leader pops into view via his car’s sunroof.
“When the CCP overstep the mark on Taiwan the West must step in militarily and deal with them once and for all.”
Propaganda, said P:
“What a strange country. You talk of it returning to its former dominance. When was that?
It was a country full of warlords. Different cultures, languages and interests. It is not Marxist-Leninist. There has never been such a country. It is merely a corrupt totalitarian regime.
“The regime is scared of its own people. Most of the propaganda is for domestic consumption.
The dual citizens living abroad are a two-edged sword. Many of them spy on behalf of the regime. Many of them also tell their family members how much freer life is in the West.
“It cannot use the military against anyone. They will be crushed very quickly and they know it. Their navy is weak and the air force is useless. Their army is big but where is it going to walk to? To use a nuke is to invite immediate destruction.
“They are not that dumb. The nine dash line is a bluff. How do they even think it is historic. The biggest boat was a junk maybe 2km off the coast. They have emerged because the West chose to build factories there for the cheap labour. Without the West they are nothing. They should remember that. Bullies never win.”
Les reckoned:
“Xi himself is now under threat as the great goal of the last 40 years has been to look benign. Now all the funds spent on Belts and Roads and creating a positive image of China has gone. The claws our out and the world sees the true face of Xi’s China. Question for the CCP is are they happy that all this money and good will have gone and China will not be trusted for decades to come?”
Glass half full for Joe the First:
‘The rise of China in its current aggressive, expansionist, autocratic form is good for Australia and the ASEAN countries because it will sharpen their wits and drive their development … or else.”
Ross reasoned:
“China may have a huge population, be extremely wealthy and have a powerful military, but it lacks any sort of wisdom and maturity to deal efficiently and respectfully in the international market place. This immaturity is so evident by its antagonising so many nations now with threats, bullying and aggressive spying. Australia has witnessed all these activities first hand, however, as a result of this China virus we have become acutely aware of China’s ever increasing influence and interference into Australia’s first world democratic society. A much overdue wake up call for us all. But China needs customers to buy its products to maintain its wealth. We must stop buying Chinese products. This is indeed a rallying call to buy what we can of Australian made products and to ensure we can restore our lost manufacturing industries. MADE IN AUSTRALIA sounds pretty good to me.”
Grantley’s history:
“For those many of us who have studied deep into the history and characteristics of ancient and modern China, and are anchored in China by family connections, what is written here is more wishful thinking than fact. The [Han] Chinese rump of the nation have cruised through 5,000 yrs of history, warring [civil and abroad], philosophising, trading and inventing with commendable adequacy up to the present moment.
“The government at the moment was born out of the corruption and cowardice of the recent warlords periods; culminating in the narrow escape of the Nationalists to Taiwan and other places and their usurpation of a large slice of the US wartime treasury; and PLA victory.
“One of the principal exports of Father China has been it’s citizens. Australia, for example has close to a million citizens whose ethnic origin was China in some form or other. My wife is one and our Eurasian Son loves his Chinese family & European family with equal dedication. In addition, there is probably not many nations in which there is not a Chinatown [or Chinese/ Asian] quarter.
“An examination of political China reveals that there may have been a Marx/Engels China once at the time of the long marchers, combating the treachery of the Nationalists. But Chinese ‘Communism’ has over the years taken on a peculiarly Cathayist feature, more and more approaching the characteristics of Imperial houses with the Mandarins and 12 excellencies [as the politburo], than Lenin or Trotsky’s utopian variation.
“And will we stop the PRC re-achieving the glories, as a world power, of Historic China in a different world? I think not and I wonder why we would waste resources and possibly lives trying to do so.”
Andrew asked:
“Lone wolf or unloved stray?”
George advised:
“China will do what it does best — focus on its own interests, as does Australia. I suggest that those commentators here read the book Will China Win by Kishore Saububhani, former Foreign Minister of Singapore.”
Terry was tense:
“The panic of Chinese leadership is likely to get worse and instead of resolving to become a better world citizen China will become even more belligerent. Fear of losing grip within China may prompt worse actions on Hong Kong or even a take sudden over of Taiwan.”
Peter’s prescription:
“Surely with greater automation and robots we can start to increase our manufacturing needs in Australia without the major cost of labour making it uncompetitive. The stuff still needs to be transported and distributed so jobs created in those areas. The US under Trump is looking to increase its manufacturing base which is designed to reduce reliance on China. Eventually when the reduction in demand from China occurs the Chinese middle class’s standard of living will continue to decline and we all know that money is the carrot that drives the people’s work ethic. That is when the proverbial will hit the fan.”
Public Works proclaimed:
“The fact remains that no behaviour by China, including economic and other threats, has not been carried out for a long time by the US. There is a hidden layer of condescension and racism here whereby it is OK for a big bully white western nation to act this way but completely unacceptable for anyone else. China full well knows this and will not be told what it can or can’t do by countries who have been invading and exploiting the rest of the world for centuries and now want to say it was fine for them to do so but not for any new and rising power to do so. “
Damian declared:
“If a war goes hot, China gets blockaded and they begin to starve within a week. China needs the world more than the world really needs China. China has no military force projection. They are stuck to within their borders whilst a starving population’s hand is forced. Good luck dealing with external threats when 1.3 billion non CCP citizens hit the streets for real. They will not engage in total war.”
Peter predicted:
“Because the Chinese Communist Party have nuclear weapons does not mean they will use them. An attempt to destroy one US aircraft carrier using a nuclear weapon would see 30 megaton missiles held in two US Submarines eliminate all bases on the Chinese Coast within an hour. The Chinese are not fools, just opportunists, and the same with Kim Jong Un.”
Last word to John:
“The scales have at long last fallen from the eyes of those Sinophile Western commentators, almost all luminaries of the Left, who saw in China an alternative to the hated Yanks, as a star to which we could hitch our wagon, as a socialist success we could work with, as a potential military ally that’d be so much more enlightened than the US.
“In the wake of the demise of European communism, China was lauded as the Hope of the Left. When Rudd became PM pretending to be Howard Lite, he massively boosted Chinese influence here, while mawkishly invoking sayings of Mao like ‘let a thousand flowers bloom’ with zero irony.
“He greatly diminished our ties with India, particularly on uranium exports, no doubt to curry favour with the CCP. It was a shameful exhibition. The last Labor foreign minister quickly became a shameless, energetic booster and hawker of CCP policy on leaving parliament. Journalists and academics wore their admiration of ‘Marxist’ China on their sleeves, never twigging to the fact that its regime style has much more in common with 1930s Italy than 1920s Russia. Perhaps now, lefties will no longer be so enthusiastic for the CCP dictatorship.”
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Despite the much-vaunted Palace letters blowing up in its face, the Australian Republican Movement and its bandana-wrapped frontman Peter FitzSimons kept swinging, blaming the Queen for “dishonesty and complicity” in Gough Whitlam’s dismissal, in stark contrast to what the letters revealed. Paul Kelly pointed out that the argument would alienate many Republican sympathisers appalled that populist misrepresentation was now a standard method for the republican cause. Among them Lauren: