6 April

That tireless republican, Senator Amanda Vanstone, renews her call for an Australian Republic albeit one that entails minimal changes to the Constitution to install an Australian head of state. Senator Vanstone, a senior Minister in the Howard Government, cautioned republicans against bagging the monarchy and monarchists in a speech at the University of Adelaide. Elizabeth Colman writing in The Australian also reported that Senator Vanstone is understood to be considering “a full-scale campaign to back the push [involving other Coalition MPs in a new cross-party support group] including the distribution of T shirts with a picture of the Queen and the slogan: “if you love her, set her free”.