Gender Gap for Scottish Independence Widens

With the gender gap in Scotland currently at around 12 percent, it is now labelled “persistent”, having first shown up in May at this level. Where women and men seem to differ is in their level of certainty about what independence would…

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First Direct Election for Turkey’s President

53m people are eligible to vote in Turkey’s first elections for its President, the 12th President of the Turkish republic. Previously, the President was elected by members of Parliament.The election consists of two ballots; no further ballot is required if one candidate…

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Expand Constitutional Reform ASAP

Legal Commentator, Crispin Hull, says that the eight referendums passed since Federation in 1901 were all defective and unnecessary as most could have been achieved by legislation. He goes on to say that we should stop fiddling around the edges of…

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Which Queen?

“We were sort of having a joke today because the Queen [of Australia] was in the dining hall for lunch and everyone’s going ‘The Queen is here! The Queen is here!’ I said ‘Anna’s here every lunchtime guys. She’s the queen…

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Commonwealth Changes Afoot

At the opening of the Glasgow Commonwealth Games – where Australia wins more medals than everyone else because there’s not much competition – Scotland and all things Scottish are on show ahead of the independence referendum on 18 September. Who knows what…

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ARM on Commonwealth (Empire) Games

This is pretty weak response with no mention of the R word. The fact is that we won’t or won’t be required to quit the Commonwealth as 37 of the 54 members are already republics. In response to a media query ahead of this years event, Kathy…

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Mid-year Update

It’s hardly been mentioned to date and there’s still no sign of draft wording for the amendment proposed by the Federal Government to recognise our First Peoples in the Constitution. In Scotland, where only residents can vote, five of six polls are showing that the NO vote on the break-up…

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Latest from the Polls

The tenth annual Lowy Institute poll again found that only 60% of Australian adults (42% of 18-29 year-olds) think democracy is preferable to any other kind of government while 19% say that our international standing would be enhanced by being a republic (55% said it had no bearing). More…

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Marcia Langton leads Republic Debate in Sydney

Marcia Langton and Bob Carr argue for the affirmative that “The Queen will be the last Australian monarch” in a debate hosted by the St James Ethics Centre. Langton posed two commonsense questions that go to the heart of the sometimes murky, over-emotional and over-complicated debate: “Do…

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Women More Pragmatic on Republic?

Does this explain women’s consistently lower support for Republic?  “Australians don’t truck much with symbols.That’s why support for the republic has waned. Our current system of government entrenches the view that the Duke of Cambridge’s baby, by virtue of birth, is…

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