Hockey leads new republic push

Peter FitzSimons, newly-appointed chair of the Australian Republican Movement (ARM), argued for a national plebiscite on the issue within five years, to be followed by a constitutional referendum, in a rousing speech in Canberra on Wednesday.

Australia’s Treasurer Joe Hockey will lead a renewed push for Australia to become a republic within the next five year, according to an announcement Wednesday.

“I probably think now it’s time for Australia to have an Australian head of state”, Mr Shorten said on Wednesday.

In 1999, Australia held a referendum on having an Australian head of state but it failed because the public wanted to vote directly for a president. The Essential Media Research polling was conducted between 19 and 24 August.

Mr Hockey’s republican push has also annoyed his cabinet colleague Warren Truss, who suggested a republic wasn’t a priority. We’re getting the band back together, and gearing up to ask the Australian people the question again, Mr Fitzsimons said.

But I do think that by 2020, it will be 250 years since Captain Cook came to Australia.

“When properly presented, my minimalist model – this is only my view – is the most likely to succeed as it addresses the foremost concern of the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” crowd”, he said.

“I say everything stays the same, starting with the title of governor general, and including the convention that the prime minister chooses that position, including the reserve powers, and including the writing of the letter seeking position”, he said. “We must call that for what it is – not right, and simply not fair”.

Under his proposal, the Prime Minister would still appoint a Governor-General, but rather than asking the Queen to approve the appointment, it would be signed off by a two-thirds majority of Parliament.

“The central thing is to decide among us, yes we want to be a republic, then we will sort out how we are going to do it and then we will get to the actual technicalities”, he said.

“In the 21st Century it is ludicrous that we still have a system where no Australian child will ever be good enough to become the Australian head of state, because they are not born into the British royal family. Please”.

“It’s time for us to be entirely self-governing”, he said.

The Labor leader, Bill Shorten, has set a goal of achieving an Australian head of state within the next decade.

There was less support within the ruling coalition than within other political parties, he said. “We won’t get this over the line without bipartisan support”, he said.

However, Mr Hockey defended his decision, saying he had long advocated his views on a republic.

The Australian flag would not be part of the debate.

“I suspect public opinion hasn’t changed much, so let’s concentrate on the things that matter most to this country”, the deputy prime minister said.