The Republic of Australia

[Big Dog]

not having a foreigner as our head of state is a benefit. it's stupid that australians swear allegiance to the monarch of england

It's better than being forced to swear allegiance to a dictator under pain of death.

[zac]

It's better than being forced to swear allegiance to a dictator under pain of death.

mate, australia cutting its ties with the uk won't mean that we have a dictator as our pm. everything will be the same but we'll have the governor general as our head of state instead of a foreigner.

[bondi.boy]

not having a foreigner as our head of state is a benefit. it's stupid that australians swear allegiance to the monarch of england

That Monarch is nuke-armed.
We basically have a 'pop-gun' military, and not even a hint of a nuclear weapon in sight.
We are basically like Ukraine, unarmed and a sitting duck, no hope of fighting off an invader.
Not even the slightest hope.
We need as many nuke-armed serious friends as we can get.
The RAAF, USAF, RAF...better for us than just the AAF.
The Royal Australian Navy, British Navy, US Navy...better for us than just the A Navy.
4 of the 5 "Five Eyes" Intelligence network countries have the British Monarch as their Head of State.
Australia
Canada
NZ
Britain
The other one, US...is nuke armed.

AUKUS Alliance, 2 of the 3 have the British Monarch as their Head of State.

Now is not the time to wave Britain goodbye.

[Big Dog]

mate, australia cutting its ties with the uk won't mean that we have a dictator as our pm. everything will be the same but we'll have the governor general as our head of state instead of a foreigner.

The governor general is the queen's representative. In a republic, what is to stop the president from becoming a dictator?

[Random Rooster]

The governor general is the queen's representative. In a republic, what is to stop the president from becoming a dictator?

A constitution. It works, ask your mate and wannabe dictator Trump

[zac]

That Monarch is nuke-armed.
We basically have a 'pop-gun' military, and not even a hint of a nuclear weapon in sight.
We are basically like Ukraine, unarmed and a sitting duck, no hope of fighting off an invader.
Not even the slightest hope.
We need as many nuke-armed serious friends as we can get.
The RAAF, USAF, RAF...better for us than just the AAF.
The Royal Australian Navy, British Navy, US Navy...better for us than just the A Navy.
4 of the 5 "Five Eyes" Intelligence network countries have the British Monarch as their Head of State.
Australia
Canada
NZ
Britain
The other one, US...is nuke armed.

AUKUS Alliance, 2 of the 3 have the British Monarch as their Head of State.

Now is not the time to wave Britain goodbye.

the sky is not going to fall on our heads.
the uk monarch doesn't have a say in uk defence policy and us becoming a republic won't affect aukus, the quad alliance or the five eyes council.

[zac]

The governor general is the queen's representative. In a republic, what is to stop the president from becoming a dictator?

in australia it's hard to change the constitution - any referendum has to be passed by a majority of people in a majority of states - so any change will be minimal. basically any reference to the crown will be taken out and the governor-general will become the head of state. whether they want to change the name of the governor-general to president will be up for debate. personally i'd prefer to keep g-g.
the other issue is whether the g-g/president will be appointed in the same way that that current g-g is appointed or whether he will be elected.

[ism22]

not having a foreigner as our head of state is a benefit. it's stupid that australians swear allegiance to the monarch of england

It really is... as noted, we're already ostensibly a republic. We have our own constitution, government, justiciary and visa system (FWIW British royals need a visa to enter the Commonwealth of Australia & they use fake names when travelling... fact).

The Governor General is essentially a President in that they don't really report to the queen and if the queen started interfering with our Parliament's decisions (rather than just getting an Australian citizen to rubber stamp them all as a mere formality) then it'd probably speed-up our desire to become a republic.

IMO to only reason we're not officially a republic is that it'd be a fark load of work/resources to do it (a bit like if the USA was to convert to metric) and there's much bigger fish to fry right now.

--- WARNING - Epic rant below ---

Obviously we had a referendum that was spoiled by Howard intentionally campaigning against it and selling a line that we'd be getting an unelected President, which would be a complete shambles. IMO he was the king of intentionally misrepresenting shyte, then bragging to his opponents that people supported him all the way (when in truth he'd gotten them on-side through a gross misrepresentation of the alternative rather than a fair, balanced comparison... that or he'd just blatantly lie about things like WMDs and "children overboard"... for those that don't know, the name "honest John" wasn't ever a compliment).

To me, a major part of the challenge of converting our quasi-republic into an actual republic is that nobody fully understands how our system works (unless they have an Australian law degree or are a major civics nerd).

Pushing for a republic is a cultural war (a bit like Brexit, Tony Abbott's Knights & Dames or Boris Johnson's push to move the UK back to Imperial measurements). It's symbolic more than anything and I don't think Labor have a mandate to start waging a cultural war against the monarch. Our most recent election (plus the US election & likely result of the next UK election... add NZ & Canada to the mix too) shows that the global pendulum has swung away from outspoken conservatives in the developed world. Maybe because the likes of Trump, Johnson and Abbott got their way 100% and it didn't work... so now people wanna explore more progressive/innovative approaches.

BUT... but... I don't think we're quite at the stage where people would support things like Australia converting to 100% renewables by 2025, becoming a republic by 2025, having free NDIS & Medicare for absolutely everything by 2025, moving back to 100% unionised industries by 2025 with no concept of contractors and removing all tax cuts + discriminatory practices for religious organisations by 2025. There's appetite for gradual change and I look forward to it. However, we don't need another decade of rough, cultural warfare like we've just copped. IMO we just need gradual progression to help heal what is broken.

[Big Dog]

A constitution. It works, ask your mate and wannabe dictator Trump

Nyet comrade, I'll ask your mates Xi Jinping or Putin.

[zac]

ism -
the republic won't be voted on this term so there will be time to build a consensus on what will work for us.
can't see it costing that much and we'll save on not having to finance royal tours. no need to change names etc overnight, if at all.
australia will have its own head of state at some time. if the proposal fails at a referendum then the issue will come back every ten years or so until a yes vote is achieved. better to get it passed and put the issue to bed.

[ism22]

ism -
the republic won't be voted on this term so there will be time to build a consensus on what will work for us.
can't see it costing that much and we'll save on not having to finance royal tours. no need to change names etc overnight, if at all.
australia will have its own head of state at some time. if the proposal fails at a referendum then the issue will come back every ten years or so until a yes vote is achieved. better to get it passed and put the issue to bed.

Agreed. The time will eventually come. Unfortunately this sorta thing moves like molasses. Wish I had a crystal ball so that I could know what the final trigger is gonna be. Probably something completely random/unexpected.

[King Salvo]

One thing not mentioned in this republic debate is they will also change the flag if it get's up.

Red Cuban Bandana's idea is absurd banging on how we don't select the head of state or as he wants it called :"Elder" - his idea is that pollies pick the candidates so how then are we picking the head of state.when we have no say on who the candidates are nor can we even nominate to be a candidate.

I noticed Rabbo Albo picked Thistlethwaite as this Assistant Minister for the Republic another of those chardonnay socialists.



If it ain't broke it din't need fixing

.

[Random Rooster]

Watching the platinum jubilee concert tonight i found it interesting the passion that Charles and William have in addressing what they see as man made climate change. That poses a conundrum for all the pro-monarchy fans in here!!

[zac]

monarchists complaining about not being able to pick the head of state in an australian republic is throwing a stone from your glass house without opening the window. so long as australia has the english monarch as our head of state we will have zero influence on who that person is.

the flag? doesn't make sense having someone else's flag on our flag and i'd be in favour of getting a new one if someone comes up with a good design that has popular support but it's a separate issue from whether or not the english monarch should be our head of state. if there's no popular will to change the flag i could live with that

[Paddo Colt 61]

If anyone is confused re the term "Sheeple", take a look at the vacuous crowds celebrating the Queen's 70th. Most with nfi about what a Constitutional Monarchy is or anything else much. The Liberal Revolutions of the 19th Century, had they even heard of them, way beyond them. I understand what Keats meant when he said that he was "half in love with easeful death" (Ode to a Nightingale). What a world? (cue Munsch's "The Scream")