The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > Article Comments > Debating our republic: unity is needed to move forward > Comments

Debating our republic: unity is needed to move forward : Comments

By John Warhurst and Richard Fidler, published 13/8/2004

John Warhurst and Richard Fidler outline the public debate that will follow from any proposed republic model

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. All
In its final report, the Senate Committee discussed a number of models that were either outside the ARM five models or what they described as "hybrid" models. Mr Peter Crayson observed that "republicans are generally divided into two main camps" and argued that Republicans need to move beyond the "minimalist" and the "direct electionists" paradigms and find ways of reconciling the two camps.

A number of separate, but similar, models were put to the Senate Committee which proposed to replace the Queen with a directly elected Australian head of state, but also retain the position of Governor-General.

These models proposed different nomination methods, but retained the essential ingredient of a direct election of potential candidates for the Australian head of state. My contribution to this was the "Honorary President Republican Model", involving a nomination process for the office of "Honorary President" involving public petition, each of six states nominating former Governors or Lieutenant Governors, and the Commonwealth nominating a former Governor-General. This would be followed by a direct election with a maximum of ten candidates. See http://www-personal.usyd.edu.au/~dlatimer/honpres/ for more information.

In terms of the role and powers, while these similar models varied slightly, most suggested that the distribution of powers and functions between the new Australian head of state and the Governor-General would remain essentially the same as the current situation with the Queen and the Governor-General.

Should a models plebecite be held, it is expected that ARM Model Four (People Elect the President) will be the clear winner. The job of codification then becomes the next challenge. By retaining the Governor-General, conservatives like Prof Craven will be able to contribute to the codification debate effectively and help bring a safe republican proposal to the electorate come the next referendum.
Posted by David Latimer, Tuesday, 19 July 2005 6:54:13 PM
Find out more about this user Visit this user's webpage Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
I have a car. It is ideal for my requirements. There is nothing better than what i have. Why would i search for other transport?
Posted by DerekorDirk, Monday, 12 February 2007 12:12:24 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy