Our Australian Crown - Republican Myths

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Below are some of the weak self justifying republican claims that pose as arguments against our Australian Crown. This page provides arguments which counter the republicans' myths, claims and assertions.

REPUBLICAN MYTH 1:

Australia must sever constitutional links with Britain and become truly independent.

ANSWER:

Australia has no constitutional links with Britain! Merely sharing Elizabeth II as our symbolic figure head makes Australia no more constitutionally linked with Britain than to Barbados. To suggest Australia is not 'truly independent' from Britain because our two nations share the same person as our symbolic figure head is like saying Australia is not 'truly independent' from New Zealand or Papua New Guinea, or that Canada is not 'truly independent' from Australia! It is indisputable legal and constitutional fact that Australia is a sovereign, independent nation.

To put it another way; imagine you are the President of a cricket club and the President of a tennis club. Just because you would have the title of 'President' in both clubs, it would not mean that the clubs were in linked in any way, clearly they are two separate jobs. This is essentially the modern relationship Australia has with Britain; the Queen has two jobs - Queen of Australia and the Queen of the United Kingdom - however just like the cricket and tennis clubs, Australia and Britain are not linked in any way.

In practice Australia has been effectively independent for decades. This was confirmed in 1986 when all residual legal and constitutional ties with the United Kingdom were severed with the passing of the Australia Act by the British, State and Federal parliaments. The Act even describes Australia as a '...sovereign, independent and federal nation'.

Following the Australia Act in 1988 a committee was created by the Hawk Government to inquire into whether there is anything Australia could do to become more independent. The committee, which included former Prime Minister Gough Whitlam, reported to the government that we are as sovereign now as we can ever be. If Republicans cannot even get the most basic fundamentals of our nations constitutional arrangements correct (or worse, they deliberately seek to mislead the Australian people) how can they speak with any authority on any republican model put forward?!

REPUBLICAN MYTH 2:

We must have a 'resident for President'.

ANSWER:

Joe Bloggs is a proud resident of South Australia. Republicans tell Joe that he will get a 'resident for President', so Joe is very exited as the President would live in South Australia ... right? This is just a slick one liner more appropriate for a bumper sticker than serious constitutional debate. Australia is physically so large that the Head of State can live anywhere and still be a long way from most Australians. If the President of France lived as far away from Paris as Perth is from Canberra, he would be sitting in the middle of the Atlantic ocean very, very wet!

The fact is the Australian Monarchy is as Australian as anything else we have inherited from the UK (such as cricket or our national language), regardless of where the Sovereign 'resides'. According to republican logic the Roman Catholic Church, to which some 26% of Australians belong, should be regarded as 'un-Australian' because the Pope lives in Rome instead of 'residing' in Sydney or Melbourne! Remember also that the Ashes always remain in Britain regardless of whether Australia wins the Cricket Test series against England, does that mean the Ashes are 'un-Australian' as well? At any rate, the entire inference that you cannot be a good Australian and live overseas is totally ridiculous not to mention offensive.

REPUBLICAN MYTH 3:

We must become a republic because foreigners believe Australia is still a colony of Britain.

ANSWER:

'Australia' has never been a colony. The birth of the independent nation of the Commonwealth of Australia ended the colonial status of the now Australian States! Quite simply, it is irrelevant what people living overseas do or do not believe. We know Australia is totally independent from the UK and that is all that matters. We should not change anything in Australia to please anyone other than ourselves, nor should we change anything in Australia because of the misconceptions or prejudices of foreigners, if they don't understand our system of government that is their problem, not ours.

Still, is it any wonder that those overseas may not understand our system of government when so many republicans themselves misrepresent our constitutional arrangements? It really is a strange brand of nationalism when people start advocating we need to become a republic so foreigners can understand our system of government better. Surely this is just republican cultural cringe.

REPUBLICAN MYTH 4:

Australia must become a republic because our non-British migrants have no affection for Britain and the Monarchy does not reflect multicultural Australia.

ANSWER:

Retaining our constitutional monarchy is not about Britain, it is about maintaining the best system of government for Australia and thus requires no particular attachment to Britain. One of the main principals of multiculturalism is that we share and celebrate each others cultures. The republican claim completely destroys that principle as republicans seem to be arguing that unless you are of British decent you cannot accept or appreciate, let alone celebrate any part of Australia's British heritage. This of course is nonsense! You don't need to be of British origin to appreciate our national language, cricket, parliamentary democracy or the rule of law, any more than you need to be of Italian origin to love Lasagna!

Furthermore, this argument has never been borne out by any evidence. Consider this; since the end of World War II Australia has accepted millions of migrants from all over the world - and yet support for the Australian Crown had remained virtually constant right up to very recent times (in fact support actually went up slightly in the '80s during a time of increased immigration). This would suggest that 'New Australians' are just as likely to believe in an Australian Monarchy as any other Australian.

REPUBLICAN MYTH 5:

Our Constitution must be changed because it was written nearly one hundred years ago and is therefore out of date!

ANSWER:

Our constitution is young by some standards, the American constitution was written over 200 years ago - try telling Americans their constitution is out of date! Republicans make this glib claim, however they are unable to identify anything wrong with the constitution that a republic would fix. In fact republicans themselves believe our so called 'horse-and-buggy' constitution has worked so well they wish to recreate our present system of government in a republic! Of course this is impossible - you can't create a constitutional monarchy without a monarchy. The endurance of our constitution should be a matter of pride not derision.

REPUBLICAN MYTH 6:

These are exiting times, Australians should embrace change and have the courage to vote for a republic! Monarchists should stop nit picking about silly constitutional technicalities.

ANSWER:

If we need 'courage' to vote for their republican model, perhaps their model is not quite as harmless as republicans claim! Constitutions should not be fiddled around with because its 'exiting' or 'fun', constitutional change is extremely important and should not be undertaken lightly. If we make a mistake it is not our generation, but the generations to come who will reap the consequences of a constitutional change made in haste.

The bottom line is that constitutions are not about giving republicans a warm fuzzy feeling or alleviating their cultural cringe, they are about our system of government - about distributing and limiting power so no one gets to much or to little. In wishing to focus on the style, not the substance, republicans are merely highlighting how insecure they are about their deeply flawed model and is a sign of their increasing desperation as Australians see their model for what it is - constitutionally indefensible and politically unsalable. It's time republicans ended this 'don't mention the war' stuff - their model is flawed, they have nowhere to hide.

REPUBLICAN MYTH 7:

We should have an Australian and not a 'foreigner' as Australia's Head of State.

ANSWER:

The reality is we already have an Australian as 'Head of State' (although the term does not even appear anywhere in the constitution and is merely a diplomatic term). The Governor-general, who under the constitution exercises all formal executive authority, is the effective constitutional Head of State and is described as 'Head of State' in many government publications including 'The Commonwealth Government Directory - The Official Guide' which was issued by the Keating Government in 1995-6. Since the appointment of Lord Casey in 1965 the Governor-General is always a distinguished Australian. At any rate Her Majesty, who is the ceremonial Head of State or figurehead, is an Australian under law by virtue of the fact she is the Queen of Australia - a title which was granted to the Queen in 1953 by the Commonwealth Parliament with the passing of the Royal Style and Titles Act,1953.

Republican attempts to brand the Queen as a 'foreigner', or their assertion that Her Majesty is not 'one of us', has decidedly sinister undertones - who are republicans to decide who is Australian enough? This kind of language should have no place in an inclusive society such as Australia. On exactly what basis is Her Majesty not 'one of us'? Is it because the Queen was born over seas? What then does that say to Australia's millions of migrants? Is it because Her Majesty has roles in other Commonwealth Realms? Where does that leave the estimated five million Australians with duel or multiple citizenship?

Ultimately the basic republican claim that the Queen and Australian Crown are 'foreign' is as ludicrous as it is wrong. We today have an Australian Queen, under an Australian Crown, derived from our Australian Constitution, so how can that possibly be described as 'foreign'?! Of course it is republicanism itself which is truly foreign as at no time has Australia ever been a republic.

REPUBLICAN MYTH 8:

Becoming a republic would enhance our national identity.

ANSWER:

Australia is and has always been a constitutional monarchy and as such the Crown is proudly as much a part of our national identity as anything else. Republicans often claim that becoming a republic is just the next step to 'true nationhood', however, as we have long achieved full nationhood the only possible 'next step' is a backwards one! Others have asserted that for Australians to dare support a system of government which has helped make us the sixth oldest democracy in the world is a vote of no confidence in ourselves. As we have always been a constitutional monarchy it seems a vote for a republic would be more like a vote of no confidence in who we are today!

When you think about it, what republicans are basically arguing - that who we are today is just not good enough and that we will only be a 'real country' or 'mature' or 'grown up' when we accept their prescription for 'true nationhood'- is an insult. If a republic is the next and final step to true nationhood or maturity, what are we now? It seems that in republican eyes all that we have achieved as a nation is somehow second rate merely because we are a constitutional monarchy! This is of course absolute nonsense - remarkably Australia has managed to do quite well for over two hundred years without being a republic!

REPUBLICAN MYTH 9:

A republic is inevitable.

ANSWER:

Benjamin Franklin once said 'nothing is inevitable - except death and taxes'. I think we could safely add republican arrogance to that list! Unless republicans have a crystal ball, none of us can claim to see into the future. It is not really surprising that many ordinary Australians believe that a republic may be inevitable (although believing that something is inevitable is not the same as wishing it to happen - a distinction many republicans don't or can't seem to make). If a well funded group such as the Australian Republican Movement, a major political party and practically the entire media spent the better part of a decade telling us that abolition of the States was inevitable, I suspect many people would begin to believe this also.

Looking at past referendum results the only time we Australians have ever amended our constitution has been when the change would actually make our system of government better. As republicans themselves tell us that change would not improve our system of government (in fact it would weaken it) the inevitable line seems a little less impressive. This propaganda is really only used as a bullying tactic to say 'give up now' or 'it doesn't matter what you want we will win in the end'. If it were truly inevitable why are republicans trying so hard to create a republic that they claim is going to happen anyway? In the end, even if the republican claim was true it is hardly a glowing reason for change.

REPUBLICAN MYTH 10:

Australia must become a republic to stop a government from being able to be dismissed as happened in 1975.

ANSWER:

The controversial events of 1975 had nothing to do with the monarchy whatsoever. Sir John Kerr merely exercised his power as vested in him as Governor-General by the constitution - namely section 64 which gives the power to the Governor-General to '... appoint officers to administer such departments of State of the Commonwealth' and that 'Such officers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor-General' (in other words the right to hire and fire ministers and thus in effect governments). In fact Sir John did not even inform Her Majesty of his actions until after he had dismissed the Whitlam Government.

Regardless of whether you agree with a Head of State having the power to sack governments the fact is a republic in itself would not stop it from happening again. Merely rubbing out 'Governor-General' and replacing it with 'President' would just give all the current powers of the Governor-General to the President. Even if becoming a republic in itself would remove the power to dismiss a government, the Turnbull/Keating 'Bipartisan' republican model, which we are to vote on in the forth coming referendum, expressly states that the powers currently exercised by the Governor-General shall be exercisable by the President! In other words, becoming a republic would only change how the Head of State is appointed not the powers themselves.

The only time the Queen has ever been asked to become involved in Australian politics was when the Speaker of the House of Representatives on behalf of the Labor Party wrote to the Queen asking her to overrule Sir John's decision and restore the Whitlam Government. The Queen, through her Private Secretary, pointed out that under the constitution she did not possess the power to do so.

REPUBLICAN MYTH 11:

Australia's sovereignty is compromised by having a Queen who is also Queen of the United Kingdom.

ANSWER:

How? When you think about it, what republicans are actually suggesting is ridiculous - that some how the Prime Minister of Britain (isn't it interesting how republicans never complain about Her Majesty's roles in other Commonwealth Realms) secretly instructs the Queen to intervene in Australian politics for the benefit of British interests! With up to five million good and loyal Australians either having duel or even multiple citizenship, it seems odd (not to mention unfair) that republicans choose to single out Her Majesty. A greater and more concrete threat to Australia's sovereignty would be more likely to be posed by the more than 2000 treaties which have been signed by the Federal Government.

REPUBLICAN MYTH 12:

The heredity principle has no place in egalitarian Australia, therefore we must become a republic.

ANSWER:

A hereditary monarchy is the best way yet devised to make sure the Head of State is completely above politics (which is essential for the smooth working of our system of government). The Queen doesn't become Queen because of some sordid factional deal, or because of secret back room wheeling-and-dealing or because she was owed some political dept for services rendered - and that is the true strength of our Australian Crown - the Head of State is always a non-politician.

Republicans want us to choose a system of government that on paper appears more democratic because politicians get to choose the Head of State amongst themselves, but in reality actually weakens our democracy because of the increased likelihood of political instability as both the Prime Minister and President grapple for control of government. The fact is their republic just doesn't stack up to our current constitutional arrangements - a system of government which has served our nation remarkably well through peace and war, depression and prosperity. We must not put it all at risk - say no to the republicans' sterile and superficial republic!

Republicans
will be after the
flag next!