First Peris, now Foster: Republic movement leaderless after exits

The Australian Republic Movement is seeking new leadership after Craig Foster confirmed he would follow co-chair Nova Peris out the door.

After Peris’ decision to quit as co-chair over what she described as Foster’s “inaccurate and divisive” public intervention this month against Israel, on Wednesday the ARM told its members Foster would not seek re-election this year.

Nova Peris said Craig Foster’s comments on Israel were “inaccurate and divisive”.Credit: Helen Orr

The double exit brings to a messy end an ill-fated partnership between Foster, a former Socceroos captain and a pro-Palestine human rights activist, and Peris, an Olympic champion and former Labor senator who is pro-Israel and alarmed at the rise of antisemitism since the war in Gaza began.

Foster replaced journalist and author Peter FitzSimons as the public face of the republic movement in November 2022. One of his first moves was to change the ARM constitution to create male and female co-chairs. Peris joined him as the inaugural co-chair in March last year.

Foster’s decision not to seek re-election, which he flagged with ARM colleagues before Peris tendered her resignation on Tuesday, means he will vacate the role in July, about three months before his two-year term was due to expire.

In an email to members, ARM chief executive and national director Isaac Jeffrey said snap board elections would be held in coming weeks, with new co-chairs to be announced by early July.

The email made no mention of the public stoush between Peris and Foster over the war in Gaza.

“Co-chair Nova Peris has recently stepped down from her role and Craig Foster had previously indicated he will not renominate after successful terms promoting the republic,” Jeffrey wrote in his email.

“Their passionate, lifelong advocacy has helped position the ARM for a successful referendum in the very near future. We thank them for their efforts and ongoing support for an Australian head of state and look forward to their future involvement in the campaign.”

Foster later posted a note to his Instagram followers, saying he felt “constrained” by his position as co-chair at a time when he felt unable to remain quiet about the war.

“The only way to break the cycle of silence is for all of us to continue to speak the truth, particularly when we see the complicity of much of our media, and the silencing of voices for human rights and justice,” he wrote.

He added that the Australian Republic Movement was the most important cause for Australia’s future.

Jeffrey said King Charles’ expected visit to Australia later this year would “shine a tremendous light on the role of the monarchy and the question of whether the British royals truly represent a modern Australian democracy”.

Craig Foster, pictured in 2023, won’t seek re-election for the Australian Republican Movement.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

He predicted the royal visit – the first by Australia’s head of state since 2011 – would kickstart a new campaign for Australia to become a republic.

It is unclear whether Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, an avowed republican, shares the Australian Republic Movement’s sense of urgency about another referendum. Assistant Minister for the Republic Matt Thistlethwaite said after the failed referendum to establish an Indigenous Voice to parliament that the republic was not a priority for the federal government.

In 1999, the referendum question of Australia becoming a republic failed to win a majority in all states. In the lead-up to the referendum, there was a split among republican advocates over how an Australian head of state should be chosen.

Peris, the first Aboriginal woman to win an Olympic gold medal, was a delegate to the constitutional convention that preceded the 1999 referendum. This week, she declared her position with the ARM untenable following Foster’s publication of an open letter to FIFA – football’s world governing body – and Football Australia that called for Australia to support Israel’s suspension from international matches.

Foster and Peris as co-chairs of the Australian Republic Movement in March 2023.Credit: Rhett Wyman

Peris said Foster’s letter, which she said included a “flat-out wrong” statement about what the International Court of Justice had found about Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza, risked sowing further social divisions.

“I don’t believe that inaccurate and divisive public statements like the one made to FIFA are appropriate,” Peris said in a statement to this masthead.

“Given our different styles of leadership and our different visions on how to promote dialogue, reconciliation and social cohesion, it is untenable for me to continue alongside Craig as co-chair of the ARM, and I’ll be stepping down.”

Foster is unapologetic for the public stance he had taken against Israel. He said that while Peris was entitled to her views, “human rights are not something that we can pick and choose when to apply”.

“For reasons that are her own, she has decided that Australians should not be talking about the devastating human rights impacts of the conflict in Gaza,” Foster said. “We will all have to bear witness for what we did, or didn’t do, during this important period and I support Nova as a person. Please be kind to her.”

Peris denied she was trying to stifle public discussion about the war. Jeffrey said Foster’s decision had been “on the cards” for a while.

“He has been considering options, just given how much other stuff he has got on his plate,” Jeffrey said. “I think he wanted someone to be able to take it forward and give it the time it needs.”

The ARM is the latest progressive organisation in Australia to be engulfed by ructions following Hamas’ October 7 attacks on southern Israel, Israel’s military response and the resultant humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Hamas killed about 1200 people on October 7 and took more than 250 people hostage. Gazan authorities estimate that 35,000 Palestinians have so far been killed in the war.

In his letter urging Football Australia to suspend Israel’s involvement in the world game, Foster said the International Court of Justice had in January deemed “plausible genocide” in Gaza.

The president of the court at the time, Joan Donoghue, has clarified that the court did not make such a finding. Instead, the court in a preliminary ruling agreed that Palestinians had a “plausible right” to be protected from genocide.

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