New republican model could be the project that brings us back together

Columnist and author

With apologies to Abraham Lincoln ... six score years ago,our fore fathers and mothers brought forth on this continent a new nation,conceived in fealty to Great Britain,and dedicated to the proposition that while England and Australia could never be equal,Australia could have a rough kind of independence,so long as it was chiselled into constitutional stone that the highest reaches of the English aristocracy would always have the power of oversight and veto,to make sure the young colony didn’t get too uppity or lose its way.

It was fine for the time. But the whole notion of being a South Seas British outpost became ever more outmoded,outdated and outrageous as the decades rolled by. We became ever more independent,proud of a history that is 65,000 years in the making,not a mere century or two. We became aware that we are so much more – spiritually,politically and numerically – than just transplanted Britons. We yearned to be rid of our last colonial vestiges and stand proud and independent beneath the Southern Cross.

The Australian Republican Movement launches its new model for a new generation at Centennial Park on Wednesday.

The Australian Republican Movement launches its new model for a new generation at Centennial Park on Wednesday.Kate Geraghty

As you all know,in 1999,a referendum was held on a republican model to allow us to at last throw off our colonial garb. That model was rejected. Republicanism itself was not rejected – all the polls show,then and now,that the bulk of Australians are not monarchists. It was the model that was rejected.

We needed a new model for a new century and a new generation and this is it – one to put before the 5 million voting Australians who were too young,and in some cases not even born,to vote in the last referendum. We call it the “Australian Choice Model” and propose that every five years all of Australia’s state and territory parliaments nominate their preferred candidate for our head of state,while the Federal Parliament puts forward three candidates – giving us 11 eminent Australians to choose from in a national ballot.

This model ensures that Australia’s most distinguished,respected and trusted citizens will be in the starting line-up for head of state. At last,all Australian voters will be able to make a choice for their preferred candidate,so that we as a nation finally have a complete governmentofAustralians,by Australians andforAustralians – one that is directly accountableto Australians.

The head of state will have no role in setting government policy or in the passing of laws. The position is substantially ceremonial in nature,with the key task being to represent and embody the dignity of the Australian people;with powers limited to safeguarding and maintaining constitutional order and resolving political deadlock. The head of state would be responsible for appointing as prime minister the person who has majority support in the House of Representatives,or calling an election if no one can obtain that support.

Facing the grim news ... Bob Hawke and Malcolm Turnbull digest the result of the referendum at the republicans'party at the Marriot Hotel in Sydney in 1999.

Facing the grim news ... Bob Hawke and Malcolm Turnbull digest the result of the referendum at the republicans' party at the Marriot Hotel in Sydney in 1999.Steve Lunam

Since the 1990s,the key ailing,and even failing,of the republican movement has been the enduring schism between the direct-election-istas who wanted a full-on vote for all-comers,and the minimalistas such as myself,who only wanted one change:for the blessing of the prime minister’s choice of governor-general to come from the Australian Parliament rather than the English sovereign.

In 1999,the minimalist model was rejected by the Australian people. It became the Australian Republican Movement’s considered view that no matter how we dressed it up,that model would be rejected again. The same goes for getting up a referendum for a full-on direct election model. It would fall over like a one-legged emu.

A way forward had to be found that would unite these two sides. And this is it. This model has already passed two tests. It achieved unanimous support from our entire national committee,and our constitutional advisory body,composed of the finest constitutional legal minds in the country,was also unanimous in affirming that this is a legally sound model to bring us together as a nation,retain stability,and guide us into the future under our own steam.

We no longer need English oversight. We are Australians:robust,proud,strong,smart and independent. We can pick one of our own,there on merit,not because of their high English bloodline. At a time when on so many fronts we are a nation divided,this could be the national project to bring us back together.

This is an extract of a speech delivered on Wednesday by Peter FitzSimons as chairman of the Australian Republican Movement.

Peter FitzSimons is a journalist and columnist with The Sydney Morning Herald.

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