Former Governor-General, Sir Zelman Cowen says that he would reluctantly support direct election if it helped Australia to break its outdated ties with the British monarchy which he describes as “incompatible with our independent status”. This is a change from…
WfaAR representatives attend the second Republic Gathering in Canberra. We made the point that republicans should not be taken in by pronouncements from politicians saying that the Republic is out of the question until the Queen dies. WfaAR also spoke…
Phyllida Ives of Torrens ACT joins in the renewed attention to the republic during the Games. She writes to The Canberra Times commenting on the Prime Minister’s observation in an interview with the BBC that Australia would become a republic…
The republican debate lit up with the Queen of Australia’s visit, in her role as head of the Commonwealth, for the Commonwealth Games in Melbourne. Which country was she was barracking for? Controversy erupted over the playing of the Australian…
Two Australian women speak practically about the campaign for the republic. Anne Henderson, Deputy Chair of the Australian Republican Movement writes under the headline “Royals welcome as guests, not masters” in The Australian while Senator Natasha Stott-Despoja, who is also…
An unexpected observation by a woman about the desirability of an Australian Republic? The Queen makes a short speech at a formal dinner in the Great Hall of Parliament House in Canberra in which she describes Australia as “a great…
The New South Wales Parliament passes legislation amending the NSW Constitution requiring new members to take a pledge of loyalty to the State and to Australia rather than to the Queen.
Barbara McGarity of NSW suggests that for the Queen’s 80th birthday, the Prime Minister should ask her to relinquish her role as Queen of Australia. Read her unpublished letter to The Australian here
Elaine Thompson writes a feature article in The Sydney Morning Herald saying of course, it’s time to become a republic because of its symbolic significance. She correctly pinpoints an overhaul of the whole constitution as essential to the development of…
The Prime Minister calls for better teaching of Australian history in schools. WfaAR agrees. It should include our proud – and extensive – republican history since 1788.
