With memberships of the ARM shifting sharply upwards after the Prince Phillip knighthood, the PM has single-handedly restarted community interest in the Republic. David Flint from ACM described it as “a storm in a teacup” that would blow over in a couple of days. While the baby boomers are the most committed to getting rid of the monarchy, he says, they have failed to pass on their enthusiasm to new generations of voters since 1999 while the monarchists have successfully harnessed “the celebrity cult of Kate, Wills and Baby George to recruit the under 30s”. Gabrielle Hendry who is 20, speaking for the Monarchist League says, “I think there is a huge surge of support among young people for the monarchy. There is a constitutional element to it – just having a stable Westminster system that provides checks and balance – and the revitalisation of the monarchy itself.” Adam Collins, 30 from the ARM thinks 2015 is a good time to start talking about the Republic again, “It isn’t about the celebrity of royalty, it’s about being sophisticated and mature enough to produce a head of state that is one of our own, it’s unfinished business for our country.” [Quoted in “Republican Hopes Up after Tony Abbott’s Prince Phillip Gaffe” by Lauren Wilson, The Courier-Mail, 31 January 2015]
Woman for an Australian Republic, Adelaide Ironside, republican poet and artist 1831-1867
Self portrait 1855, Newcastle Art Gallery NSW
