Hazel Hawke dies after a long and distinguished career in public life. She was a dedicated republican who believed the UK monarch was not right for Australia. She was elected to attend the 1998 Constitutional Convention as an ARM delegate for NSW. The…
Sera Yilmaz, Chair of the University of Western Sydney Republic Club, writes to the SMH to put her point of view. She emphasises our maturity as a nation, says becoming a republic will not cause a revolution or demolish the Constitution and ends by noting that Britain…
The Australian Government announces a referendum on recognition of local government in the Constitution to be held on the same day as the federal election on 14 September. Before the 2010 election, Labor foreshadowed three referendums: the Republic, recognition of Indigenous peoples and local…
In one of the silliest disagreements between the Federal Government and a State, Queensland stuck to its guns and quickly passed its own royal succession laws (see 26 April news item). State Attorney-General, Jarrod Bleijie, said history warranted such a…
The British bill cleared the House of Lords on 22 April but Queensland still wants to go it alone and pass its own legislation so that daughters cannot be displaced by younger sons in the line of succession, declining to…
In a backhanded swipe at the current Governor-General Quentin Bryce, Tony Abbott announces that “former military personnel and former judges by and large make the best vice regal representatives” (she is neither). This was part of a spat with the Government…
Professor Helen Irving of the Law School at Sydney University has launched a new blog, “A Women’s Constitution” for women’s contributions to constitutional thinking and analysis. In her first post, she quotes Elizabeth Ward of New South Wales in 1897: ” a nation…
The R word is abroad again but it’s not Republic this time. The new campaign for the recognition of our Indigenous peoples in the Constitution, building on the Youmeunity campaign that ran for the last few years, launches today. R is for Recognise – a big red R…
The commemorative edition for 80 years of The Australian Women’s Weekly contains many photos and snippets of the royals, not only the British ones. In this pictorial record of women’s social history in 20th century Australia, hardly a page goes by without a reference to or…
The Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Local Government recommends a referendum at the same time as the next federal election. Another glimmer of hope for a referendum after a very long (too long) drought. The last one was the…
