The Morrison Portfolios

Republic No Answer to the Morrison Portfolios

The Assistant Minister for the Republic, Matt Thistlethwaite, has said (Australian 22/8/22) in talking about Mr Morrison’s extra portfolios that “If we had a head of state that was appointed by the Australian people then it is my view that the prime minister would not have gotten away with this” but then, I thought Mr Albanese had insisted there was no illegality.

However, from Mr Thistlethwaite’s comments we can, I assume, take it that this means the Albanese government will be pushing for a direct-election republic although the FitzSimons model whilst being a direct-election model is the same as appointment by the parliament because only the politicians get to decide who will be standing for president.

(Why is it that republicans never mention that they want to replace the Queen with a president but try to muddy the waters by using the terminology ‘head of state’?)

The fact is a president, however elected, will be a politician ‘one of us’ or beholden to politicians and big business as their ‘mate for head of state’ and will do the whatever the politicians tell him or her to do so as to obtain their support when seeking re-election.

The current method of nominating the Governor-General should, we believe, not be solely in the hands of the prime minister. The position of the Australian Monarchist League has for long been that the leaders of the government and the opposition should arrive at a joint nomination.

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