Republic and Mateship Don’t Mix

Saying he was there to “do a favour for a mate”, Opposition Leader  Bill Shorten managed to squeeze in four sentences about the desirability of supporting an Australian as head of state – and even for a Republic – in a four page speech while launching a history of mateship. It was not much: no details other than general support for the proposition, “Let us rally behind an Australian Republic” but at least we can now be sure that, with Shorten as leader, the ALP is still in favour. Talking about mateship and the republic in the same breath reeks of 1999. Women did not like it then, they will not like it now so Bill needs to come up with another approach if he wants to get women on board. The next day in a radio interview, Shorten said that a Labor Government would not continue with the Abbott version of knighthoods while beating around the bush a bit. [“Mateship” by Nick Dyrenfurth was published by Penguin in January 2015]