Republic Goes Woke!

In the run-up to Australia Day, the Republic didn’t even figure this year. All the debate, most of which was fired up by the Opposition, was about one or three national flags (the one flag has a Union Jack on it of course) and Welcomes to Country (too long and too many) picking up anti-Indigenous themes post The Voice vote but those topics still got plenty of airplay and emboldened some local councils to make changes. There wasn’t even a Republic opinion poll this year. Zoe Booth wrote look and see how Australia Day is being openly celebrated again now that ordinary Australians no longer feel guilty about their history and how refreshing that is. University-educated types were responsible of course while she reveals that her father had an Australian flag flying in front of his house. As she winds up on the subject of “guilt”, she gets on to the Republic, “Some Australian republicans think cutting ties with the monarchy will cure us of this guilt but anyone familiar with the far left knows that nothing will ever be enough. Even if we become a republic, created Sorry Day, changed the date of Australia Day, voted yes to The Voice and renamed every town and river with Aboriginal names, it still wouldn’t satisfy the insatiable demands of woke ideologues”. Seems the Republic is now linked with far left thinking, according to some, defying its wide support across all segments of the Australian voting population both in 1999 and now. [“Look out, there’s a new vibe about our national day” by Zoe Booth, The Australian, 15 January 2025. The author is listed as a Content Editor at Quillette, a “libertarian leaning”, some say right wing, journal founded in 2015 by Australian journalist Claire Lehmann dealing with science, technology and culture]