With advocates for a republic divided over how to choose the head of state,the ARM put forward a proposal earlier this month to give voters the final choice from a shortlist of candidates put forward by federal,state and territory legislatures.
Federal Parliament would put forward three nominees while every state and territory would nominate one each in the new approach.
ARM national director Sandy Biar said the hybrid model was the “best chance of winning a referendum” after republicans split two decades ago between those who wanted direct election and those who wanted the head of state to be chosen by Parliament.
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull,who led the ARM at the referendum that rejected a republic in 1999,said he would vote for the new model if presented with the choice even though he believed it was flawed.
“If we are to have a directly elected president then any Australian citizen should be able to nominate. They shouldn’t need the permission of a bunch of politicians to run,” Mr Turnbull wrote in a column for theHerald andThe Age this month.
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Former prime minister Paul Keating blasted the new approach.
“With the power of a popular mandate,a new president would render subordinate all other officers of state,including the current office of prime minister and that of the cabinet,” the former Labor leadersaid this month.
The survey was conducted from January 11 to 15 and asked 1607 voters their views online. The results were based on a representative sample of the wider population with a maximum margin of error of 2.5 per cent for the national figures.
The majority favouring a republic included respondents outside the three largest states,with 53 per cent support in all other jurisdictions,but the survey samples in smaller states such as Tasmania come with higher margins of error.
The first question on the republic in this survey asked:“Are you personally in favour or against Australia becoming a republic independent of the United Kingdom?” It found 36 per cent in favour,38 per cent neutral and 27 per cent against. (This totalled 101 due to rounding).
The survey then put the proposal from the ARM that federal and state parliaments each nominate a shortlist of candidates to be head of state and the options be put to Australians to decide.
This model gained support from 38 per cent of voters but was rejected by 30 per cent,while another 32 per cent were unsure.
Only when voters were forced to say “yes” or “no” in the next question did the republic gain majority support.
Support for a republic was higher among Labor voters at each stage,with 60 per cent in favour compared to 43 per cent support among Coalition voters on the final question.
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