The media has its eyes keenly trained on the Queen who turns 91 this year. There was extensive coverage of the her failure to attend a New Year church service due to a heavy cold with very regular reports about our head of state’s health and prospects. This…
Suddenly ABC TV has gone all British royal. Christmas Day programs have a distinctly regal feel about them. Evening ABC 1 started with the Queen’s Christmas Message at 7.20pm, followed by the Royal Variety Performance presided over by Charles and Camilla, then…
There was a wide-ranging and extended response to the ARM dinner speech. Following one such article in The Canberra Times that called for an immediate referendum without any preliminary plebiscites, National Convenor Sarah Brasch, wrote to the paper to set out the…
Guest speaker, PM Malcolm Turnbull at the ARM 25th Anniversary Dinner held in the Great Hall of the University of Sydney, looks hot as well as exhausted. Wearing a blue tie, he distances himself from todays republic(an) movement as fast as he can…
Direct election resulted in four women gaining membership of National Council for the next two years. They are Michelle Wood (NSW); Alice Crawford (Vic), Allison Henry (NSW) and Jessica Liddell (Vic) who will fill four of the 10 spots (the State and Territory convenors are automatically…
Italy’s referendum on parliamentary and financial reform was overturned with an unexpectedly large majority – turnout 65.47 percent (non-compulsory voting) with 59.11 percent against and 40.89 in favour (overseas voters were 64.7 percent in favour). The result led to the immediate resignation of Prime Minister, Matteo…
Nothing to report on Barbados Prime Minister’s proposal from earlier in the year. But here is an interesting article from the CaribFlame where a people’s parliament puts the proposition plainly and simply with a clear understanding of both the symbolism and unfinished business – click…
As it always is. Front page cartoon of The Australian to illustrate the lead article on the recent pattern of predictable (and some say, unsuitable) choices for Australian of the Year. Over the barbeque, one punter says to another: “We have to change…
The unruly, convention-breaking 2016 US presidential election – all 546 days of it – between two highly unpopular candidates selected as a result of people voting has led some to call for the US to become a hereditary monarchy. WfaAR comments: one swallow doesn’t make…
The Scottish Government isn’t taking no for an answer and has published a draft bill for a second independence vote in response to the Brexit result (majority of Scots voters voted to Remain in the EU). First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, announced that she intends…
