13 April

At an investiture in Canberra to receive a Companion of the Order of Australia, prominent Perth businesswoman and arts patron, Janet Holmes a Court, said Australians could be ready for another referendum on the Republic: ” We have our own national anthem, we have got our own High Court, we’ve got our own honours system, we just have an attachment to the Queen and the monarchy – and I am a huge fan of the Queen – and many Australians think it’s time we severed that tie and become totally independent. I think we are approaching a time when we can think about it again. I think there are plenty of people who haven’t stopped thinking about it. We need to work out a model that is acceptable to all Australians.” Mrs Holmes a Court campaigned for the Republic during the 1999 referendum and was an elected ARM delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1998. [“Republic: many say it’s time” by Kate Hannon and Claire Low, The Canberra Times, 14 April 2007]