/ 13 January 2022

Gearing up for a republic

Image source: Getty
Image source: Getty

As Queen Elizabeth gets psyched to mark 70 years on the throne and the Duchess of Cambridge pops up every week to oohs and ahhs, the Australian Republican Movement has outlined its preferred model for appointing an Aussie head of state. Each state and territory will nominate someone, and the Federal Government will also chuck in 3 names. That list will then be put to the people, with the winner scoring a 5-year term and the current Governor-General’s workload. Chair Peter FitzSimons said the ‘Australian Choice’ model took 2 years to develop, but the chair of the Australian Monarchist League Philip Benwell dusted off some old lines saying the model “is just putting more power into the hands of politicians”. Other republic backers like former ABC TV Insiders host Barrie Cassidy highlighted what they saw as flaws in the plan. It was 1999 when Australia last got a say – 45% voted yes, 55% said no.

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