Have a Referendum First before Campaign

During the recent election campaign, Mr Albanese purposefully led the people to believe that a republic would not be on its agenda in its first term and yet one of his first acts in government was to arrange for the appointment of an Assistant Minister for the Republic. The first time there has ever been a minister of the Crown to remove the Crown!

Then came the announcement that there would be a ‘consultation process’ funded by the taxpayer whereby the Assistant Minister, Mr Thistlethwaite, would traverse the country ‘consulting’ with migrants and other groups. This came at the same time that Mr Thistlethwaite delivered a speech undermining the Constitution and condemning the Crown.

Having a long-term member of the Australian Republican Movement ‘consulting’ with the people under the guise of a minister, makes one wonder how fair the consultation process will be. One suspects that it will be an exercise to promote a republic using taxpayer monies.

There was a time when, following an election, people thought that a government in power was for all people, but obviously not this government which obviously intends to embark upon a Keating-style campaign of republican attrition commencing with the removal of the monarch’s image from the $5 note.

One wonders how Mr Albanese and his cohorts will be able to face the monarch in the eye when they rush to London to attend his coronation when, at the same time, they are scheming to get rid of him. These acts of deceit are worthy of a Shakespearean tragedy.

How duplicitous could anyone be? Firstly they dump the King from Australia’s $5 note and then pay homage to the King on a taxpayer-funded cavalcade of exclusivity costing the people upwards of a million dollars, better spent on reducing the cost of living for ordinary Australians.

It clearly shows an arrogant denial of the rights of the people to decide their own future.

Under our democratic system, which, I remind republicans like Mr Albanese and Mr Chalmers, still exists, it is only the people who have the right to decide at referendum on whether to retain or remove the Crown and to arrange for the removal of the monarch’s image on the $5 note whilst we are still a constitutional monarchy is a clear indication of the sort of dictatorship they wish to impose on the people under their politicians' republic.

A petition, comprising several thousand signatures, calling on the government to retain the Kings image on the $5 note will be tabled in the Federal Parliament in the near future.

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