This is the debate we have to have.

In the 21st Century, Australia needs to throw aside republican hogwash and prepare itself for inevitable armed conflict with China in SE Asia. China is sworn to attacking Japan, the U.S.A, and is setting up agressively in the Spratly Islands. As members of ANZUS, we will certainly be involved. The Chinese might be coming further south to protect their Australian holdings, sold off to them by our treacherous politicians. Defence is the most important thing for Australia, and the equipment we have to defend 24 million people is pathetic along side the preparation Singapore has made to protect their 6 million people. Once again, this is down to our treacherous politicians, who will not have given any though even to the costs and planinng for internment of Chinese living in Australia.

Well, given the partisan nature of some of our speakers, choosing a president by that method is out, as is a parliamentary majority?

And for similar reasons!

Staying with the present model also involves conflict of interest. I've often heard the assertion that America is not a democracy, but a republic? Or the finest democracy money can buy.

As for Australia, the only thing that makes us a pseudo democracy is universal suffrage and general elections.

In a real democracy,justice is blind! In a pretend one it seems to be those with the deepest pockets, who can buy justice?

Our head of state will go to bat for England and against us in any conflict of interest trade deal!

To go and visit her you need a lot more than just an invitation, but passport and visa, and then line up with all the other aliens at the entry points.

Former enemies Germany and Italy, seem to have more right than we, supposed british citizens, in the homeland of our present Head of State.

It's time we had a referendum, to not only change the constitution and become a republic, but install a bill of irrevocable rights as well, and in so doing become a real democracy, with an elected head of state, if only to rein in the apparent abuse of power by some pollies?

Pollies who seem to think their role is to usurp the self evident and declared will of the people, need to pull their collective heads in?

A citizen's initiated referendum would give the people the right to sack an incompetent and or gridlocked admin, rather than leave it to a new Australian head of state.

Give the patently purloined power back to the people!
Rhrosty.

Some pollies are attracted to parliament for all the wrong reasons? They talk of power and ruling rather than onerous duty and serving. And basically the real difference between a monarchy and a republic? A democracy and a benign dictatorship?

They make and force the enforcement of new laws.

In a genuine democracy a new law should always see the absolution/repeal of an old and replaced law?

We need checks and balances rather than too clever by half, pollies who want to navigate around them, and only because they can? And an amended constitution should be so worded as to prevent that, and the apparent abuse of power it allows by so called servants of the people?

Bring on a referendum!
Rhrosty.

I’m Australian, a retread Pom who stepped out of a 707 in Melbourne all those years ago to be faced by the realisation that Australia is essentially, that is, in your face, working class. Didn’t worry me, for so am I.

The cities, towns, housing estates, shopping, sport and entertainment centres of almost every sort are solidly working class. The friendliness and the sense back then of equality - not of entitlement, as now - reinforced my first impressions. I think I first heard the term 'mateship' within hours of starting work in the city of churches we had chosen as our home. OK, successful business people and farmers send their offspring to the posh grammar schools in the big city but that's not class, that's just money, big business profits and salaries that (cliché alert) ordinary Australians can only dream about, or for farmers a good arrangement with whatever flavour of government is in power.

But how can a vibrant and industrious people, who migrated from all over the world fail to recognise that the big end of town, and that includes the numbers men in the unions, will always look after themselves first? I despair when Labor governments - ‘left wing Liberals’ - cosset, to an extent only slightly less than those from the right, TU heavies (lit. & fig.), big business, big miners, big gambling, property developers and the those successful punters from the working class who sold their vote and now enjoy huge untaxed superannuation incomes.*

Socialism is a failed system and capitalism appears to be entering a rather ugly and perhaps final phase of laissez faire. But surely something better than the current political philosophies espoused by both Liberal and Labor could be introduced to give (second cliché alert) working class Australians a bigger share in what even now is still the non-ironic lucky country.

* Perhaps I'll be proven wrong if the current government has the balls to carry out its threats.

 

I would much prefer a republic to a constitutional monarchy. In the latter we are subjects of the monarch and his or her representative.

If we were to be considered as citizens in a democracy we would gain the right to public trust law which is based on the citizens being the source of sovereignty. That is derived from Justinian (Roman) Law.

The Australian Constitution states that;
"The Parliament shall, subject to this Constitution, have the power to make laws for the peace, order, and good government of the Commonwealth with respect to:--" and then proceeds to name 38 specific areas.

Under a public trust system any agreement or act cannot make any resident Australian citizen subservient to the any imposition by a foreign individual or corporation. That may mean that the TPP proposal with its ISDS clauses is illegal in a true democracy.

Well that is my bush lawyer's view.

Foyle you make some good points however the very people who agreed to the TPP were the very same people who advocated a change to a Republic.
A Republic is not a democracy and a true democracy in a Country where the citizens are so welfare dependent would be a disaster.

Hear, hear and well said Foyle.
Rhrosty.