Quentin Bryce concludes her final Boyer lecture: “Advance Australia Fair”, by saying she hopes Australia might become a nation where “people are free to love and marry whom they choose. And where perhaps, my friends, one day, one young girl or boy may even grow up to be our nation’s first head of state”. The Governor-General is clear that she isn’t head of state. Although this statement is seen as contentious in conservative circles, particularly with its muted republic reference, it is refreshing to hear commentary about the future of our country from a non-political source. The Prime Minister did not object to the statements claiming that the G-G is free to express her views close to the end of her term.
Woman for an Australian Republic, Adelaide Ironside, republican poet and artist 1831-1867
Self portrait 1855, Newcastle Art Gallery NSW
