20th Anniversary of the Referendum

WfaAR cannot believe it is still campaigning. But we are and we won’t be stopping until the job is done. The anniversary was low-key with opinion editorials and interviews in the media; republicans commiserated on Twitter and restated their commitment to the cause. But following Melbourne Cup day, as it did, there was little wind in its sails and most people wouldn’t have noticed. The referendum seems to be long time ago in another time and another place, so much has happened since that protected space in which we debated our future for nearly two years. More importantly, it is the last referendum held in Australia saying much about the attitude of our federal governments to constitutional change, their (both Coalition and Labor) entrenched conservatism  and fear of failure when it comes to the hard topics. We say unequivocally that “the politicians’ republic” of the last 20 years, the do-nothing and sit on your hands one, has failed the nation completely.