Suddenly, “sovereignty” is in vogue. PM Abbott is talking about Australia’s sovereignty, Indonesia’s sovereignty and we have Operation Sovereign Borders in place to keep out people seeking asylum by boat. So Australia is making it pretty clear that we are our own country, making our own decisions, that we are supreme over our land by force of our own power/s. Music to the ears of republicans – for why then do we admit a foreign power (the UK) to our own government, indeed to head it up? – and to our Indigenous Peoples who have campaigned for recognition of their sovereignty for years. We should talk about this much more often.
Woman for an Australian Republic, Adelaide Ironside, republican poet and artist 1831-1867
Self portrait 1855, Newcastle Art Gallery NSW
