Polling shows that women not only were the majority of new enrolments on the electoral roll ahead of the same sex marriage vote but are also strong supporters of the proposition, significantly ahead of men’s support, 64 percent to 52…
WfaAR attends a symposium “Narratives of Nations” held by The Australiana Fund and The White House Historical Association at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra. This fascinating afternoon with guest speaker, Dr Curtis Sandberg, Director of the David M…
A challenging piece appears on the PBS Newshour website (US public broadcasting, privately funded) about the fundamentals of the US Constitution in hindsight and in the hands of artists and interpreters. We also need to get to grips with what “we the people” implies…
Indigenous activist, Evelyn Scott dies. Her distinguished career and profile as an educator and social justice campaigner for equal rights made her a candidate at the top of WfaAR’s list for Head of State in any Australian Republic. Dr Scott was a…
During the Senate debate on the Broadcasting Legislation Amendment (Broadcasting Reform) Bill 2017, we hear Pauline Hanson’s latest views on the Republic, “The ABC receives over $1 billion a year from the Australian taxpayer. We are not all left-wing bleeding…
This thought-provoking exhibition closes at the National Gallery of Australia, alas (see also News Item of 26 May 2017). WfaAR was struck by the intensely political nature of a significant number of the works chosen for this third National Indigenous Art Triennial, all extensively…
Commenting on the High Court’s consideration of the national, non-compulsory survey of attitudes to same-sex marriage, David Marr reminds us – and it’s rare for us to quote male writers on this site – how difficult it is to change of the status quo in…
Clinton Pryor walked nearly 6000km from Western Australia to Canberra. Upon arrival, he requested “sovereign to sovereign” meetings with the Governor-General and Prime Minister. He eventually got to meet with the G-G, PM and Opposition leader but all were held on…
Fairfax journalist Aubrey Perry makes a pertinent point in this article (click on link): Australia cannot be a secular state – as it must be given its origins and status as a modern, progressive, multi-ethnic democracy – as long as its Head of…
Confused by non-binding, voluntary, postal surveys, for example, the one on same-sex marriage? Here’s a useful backgrounder from the RMIT/ABC Factchecker with interesting historical data especially about the voluntary postal vote to elect delegates to the Constitutional Convention on the Republic held in late 1997. Click…
