Assistant Minister for the Republic Appointed

The first Albanese Ministry contains the announcement of an Assistant Minister for the Republic. This is a big step forward for the campaign. Some have described it as the biggest advance for the Republic since the referendum and it’s hard to argue with that. The appointee is Matt Thistlethwaite, MHR for Kingsford Smith in the southern suburbs of Sydney. He shares this role with other minor appointments in the Defence portfolio (some veterans were miffed). Matt Thistlethwaite has been the shadow Assistant Minister firstly for “an Australian Head of State” and later for “the Republic” since 2017 so WfaAR is confident in his taking up this role and knows that he is well across the politics and the priority that the new Government attaches to proceeding with Indigenous Recognition in the Constitution. In later comments, the new Assistant Minister said it’s definitely The Voice first but indicated that Labor intended to hold a Republic referendum in either its second or third term (six to ten years away).