Australian Monarchist League -

In 1991, the then Prime Minister of Australia, the Australian Labor Party parliamentary Leader Paul Keating, often referred to by the British Press as "The Lizard of OZ" started a programme to turn the Australian political system away from a Constitutional Monarchy and the Westminster system of Government into a Republican system of Government. This drive started during my term as the National President of the Returned Services League of Australia, the largest and oldest veteran organisation in Australia. Indeed during his period of Prime Ministership Paul Keating, after a period of "British Bashing", established a Republican Advisory Committee, and gave it Terms of Reference to come up with a model for an Australian Republic that would remove the Crown from the Australian Constitution. The minimalist approach with a recommendation to amend the constitution with the minimum amount of change was required of the Committee. The members of this Government Advisory Committee were Mr Malcolm Turnbull, a merchantbanker and an avowed republican as chairman, The Honourable Nick Greiner, a former New South Wales Liberal Premier but also an avowed republican, The Honourable Susan Ryan, AO, a former Australian Labor Party Senator, Ms Mary Kostakidis, a migrant and a media personality, Ms Louis O'Donohue, the Chairwoman of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission, Dr John Hirst, Reader in History, La Trobe University and the Convenor of the Australian Republican Movement in Victoria, Professor George Winterton, a professor of Law, University of New South Wales, one representative nominated by the Leader of the Federal Parliamentary Opposition and two representatives from each state and territory who were nominated by each State Premier and each Chief Minister of the Territories. In commenting on this advisory committee, Jeff Kennett, the Premier of Victoria said:

"It is not as the name suggests a committee to advise and assist the Australian People in forming a view on the need for a republic. It is a committee whose members were picked for their republican sentiments."

This committee rendered its report to Paul Keating in May 1993 a basis was set for a political campaign to rid Australia of its 'Westminster System' of government, to excise the Crown from the Australian Constitution and to make a political grab for power by amending or replacing the Australian Constitution and turning Australia into a republic of some sort. The first obstacle was however the statutory requirement for the proposal to be put to the Australian people in a referendum. During the Australian National Election in March 1996, the Leader of the Federal Parliamentary Opposition, The Honourable John Howard, took the matter off the political agenda by promising the electorate a "Constitutional Convention" to consider the matter after the election. History shows that John Howard and his coalition partners won the election with a significant majority, and Paul Keating, although himself re-elected, lost his job as the Labor Party Leader and subsequently left the parliament.

On being elected, John Howard announced that a "Constitutional Convention" was to take place at the end of 1997, and that it would consist of 152 delegates, 76 of whom would be appointed by the Government, and 76 of whom would be elected by the people. Of the 76 appointed delegates, twenty members were from the various political parties of the Commonwealth Parliament, twenty were from various political parties from the Six state and two territory parliaments and thirty six non-parliamentarians from a variety of community organisation which represented a diverse range of attitudes and organisations. Of the forty politicians appointed from the Federal, State and Territory Parliaments 17 came from the Liberal Parties, 13 from the Labor Parties, 6 from the National Parties, 1 was from the Green Parties, 2 from the Democrats and 1 Independent. Of the 76 elected representatives, twenty were elected from New South Wales, sixteen from Victoria, thirteen from Queensland, nine from Western Australia, eight from SouthAustralia, six from Tasmania, and two each from the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory. I was asked to stand for this election at the head of a ticket representing the Australian Monarchist League in New South Wales. The League also ran candidates in South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Queensland. We had five members elected to the convention, two from Queensland and one each from New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. The Monarchist League had the third largest representation among the elected delegates.

The convention was opened on Monday 2nd February 1998, with speeches from the Prime Minister, The Honourable John Howard and the Leader of Her Majesty's Labor Party Federal Opposition, Kim Beasley. The questions to be resolved by the Convention were:

a. Whether Australia should become a republic,

b. Which republican model might be put to the electorate to consider against the status quo, and

c. the time frame or circumstances in which any change might be considered.

A total of only ten working days were to be devoted to resolving these difficult issues. Ten working days is not really enough time to consider seriously the political future of a nation. I was lucky enough to be able to give a 15 minute presentation in support of the contents of the present constitution and the need to retain the Status Quo, on the first day of the convention.

Many of those who had been elected to the Convention had campaigned on issues which were never on the agenda to be discussed by the Convention. As a result some little time was lost debating whether these issues should also be discussed. Whilst issues such as the environment, Aboriginal Land Rights, Law and Order, a Bill of Rights, and gender equity might in themselves be important issues, they were not on the agenda for the convention provided by the Government, and time spent on these extraneous issues reduced the time that was available to discuss the main issues. In the end commonsense prevailed and these issues were not included on the agenda.

In the course of the debate, four republican models were identified. The first was for a republic where the head of state was appointed by a two thirds majority of the Federal Parliament. This model was proposed by the Australian Republican Movement led by Malcolm Turnbull and was called the 'Bi-partisan Appointment of the President Model', The second was a republic where the head of state was to be elected by direct election by the people. A coalition of people elected on the 'Clem Jones' ticket, 'A Just Republic' under the leadership of Pat O'Shane, 'Queenslanders for a Republic' led by Paul Tully, and 'Elect the President' under the leadership of Professor Patrick O'Brien from Western Australia supported this proposal. The third model was that proposed by the Honourable Richard McGarvie in which the head of state was to be appointed by a Constitutional Committee on the advice of the Prime Minister.

The Constitutional Committee was to consist of three eminent persons who had previously been either Governor-General, State Governors or Chief Justices. The fourth model was proposed by the Honourable Bill Hayden, and was to have a head of state elected by a two thirds majority of the Federal Parliament with candidates being selected from a list of people who had been nominated by at least 1% of the voting population.

During the course of the convention, the preamble to the Constitution, the powers of the head of state, the name of the republic of Australia, the methods of dismissal of the head of state, oaths of allegiance, consequential and transitory provisions such as crown land, coinage etc, the relationship of the states with the crown and other similar issues were canvassed. At the same time a move was made to enshrine the Australian Flag in the present or any future constitution. This move was rejected by the Australian Republican Movement delegates and some of the others who wish Australia to become a republic. One might ask the question why? That of course is easily answered because quite a number of the ARM members are also Directors and supporters of the AUSFLAG organisation which is dedicated to replacing the current Australian Flag. Their main reason seems to be because the Union Flag appears in the Upper Hoist of the Australian Flag.

During the voting stage which took place during the second week of the Convention, votes were taken on the various models to determine which model would be put to the electorate in a referendum. The Hayden model where the head of state was to be elected by politicians from a list of candidates nominated by not less than 1% of the population, was the first to be eliminated. The direct election of the head of state was the second to be eliminated. At this stage, the intractable attitude of the Australian Republican Movement delegates to any other model and their refusal to compromise with those others who were pressing for an Australian Republic, became very noticeable at this point, and a schism developed in the 'republican camp'. The third model to be eliminated was the McGarvie model in which the head of state was to be appointed by a 'Constitutional Committee' after the nomination by the Prime Minister. This left the ARM, 'Bi-partisan Appointment of the President model' as the model most preferred by themajority of the republican delegates. When pitted against the status quo the ARM model received 73 votes out of the 152 members present and voting in the chamber. The Deputy Chairman who was presiding at the time, declared this model 'carried'. The status quo received 57 votes and 22 members abstained. Thus only 43% of those voting voted in favour of the so called 'Bi-partisan Appoint the President model' sponsored by the Australian Republican Movement. This model was declared to have been carried by the convention. It had neither an absolute nor a simple majority of the voting members. Of those that voted in support of this model 34 were elected to the convention, and 39 were appointed delegates of which 25 were politicians and only 14 were non-parliamentary appointed delegates.

The motion to forward this proposal to the Prime Minister stated:

"That this convention recommends to the Prime Minister and Parliament that the republican model, and other related changes to the Constitution, supported by this Convention, be put to the people in a constitutional referendum".

The members of the Monarchist League Team voted against this motion on the basis that we believed that the Convention had not supported this model - indeed it received only 43% of the votes. However this last motion was passed and the proposal was passed to the Prime Minister for action. In receiving the final Communiqué from the Convention the Prime Minister stated that a referendum on the matter of Australian becoming a republic using the ARM sponsored 'Bi-partisan Appoint the President Model' would be put to the Australian People at the end of 1999, with a view to implementing the proposal by the 1st January 2001 if it proved to be successful at the referendum. He was supported by the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition, Kim Beasley.

The Monarchist League delegates went to the Convention feeling that because of the weight of numbers which were likely to support a republic proposal that we would be overwhelmed by the republican votes from both elected and appointed delegates. At the end of the Convention I could proudly say that while we did not convince the convention to reject the republican moves, nor did we win the final vote, we did not lose the battle. This augers well for the future of our present constitution and the retention of the place of the crown in the Australian system, however there will need to be a lot of work done to protect our present 'Westminster System' of Government and our present Constitution, and to retain the 'Status Quo' and to sink and destroy once and for all the proposals to turn Australia into a republic.

Brigadier Alf Garland AM

Delegate representing the Australian Monarchist League at the Constitutional Convention

23rd February 1998