Seems the dying duck & Turnbull are again on the republic warpath. Wonder if this attempt will be yet another blatant power-grab like 1999 or or whenever it was or if the clowns have come to the conclusion that the majority 'apparently' want a popularly elected 'el president'.

I notice that many if not most proposed republican models retain a prime minister & some even find places for our completely pointless oxygen-bandit governors. Why would we want to retain a tribe of grossly expensive / high maintenance albeit totally useless no-hopers ??

On that last point, my understanding of the function of governors / governor-general is keeping an eye on the running of governments. Given the present situation in Queensland whereby there is a steadily growing dissatisfaction with the Newman / Seeney / Nicholls dictatorship, to the point where a vote of no confidence is becoming more likely with each passing day. To date only the absence of an opposition is standing in its way, although there are moves to rectify that.

None of the several parties of my acquaintance who have attempted to open discourse with governors / governor-general or even Queen Lizzie have received any response. All indications are that none of these people take their positions seriously, apart that is from gladly accepting whatever funds & perks we throw at them. Enough I say !!

Dear Prax,

Bring it on.

Let the public decide and vote online.
Public Libraries could easily provide
access to computers for those who don't
have one at home.

Let the voters decide.

Yes Lexi, I'm with you.

Prax, what do you propose we do here in QLD to repay the HUGE DEBT that is the legacy of the Beaty/Bligh government?

Other than the cuts brought about by the current government, how else do you propose we pay down this HUGE DEBT?

Surely it's not fair to simply criticize without at least having some solution!,

rehctub

My intention with this discussion was to get a halfway independent overview what 'ordinary' folk think. I don't expect much opposition to my premise that anything from the mainstream media is rigged

I have no doubt Queensland is in financial poo, although the actual extent thereof is unknown. Whilst the Blighters will be remembered in history as easily the most inept state gubmunt in history, its also clear that the Newman / Seeney / Nicholls dictatorship has somewhat less than a fleeting acquaintance with the truth.

All that aside, I don't believe it would be particularly difficult to rectify the situation, we all know there is an unbelievable amount of our money being squandered, just the cost of supporting the growing army of has-been parasites alone would be horrific if we knew the details. I was amazed to see many of the republic models propose retaining governors & governor-general. Why FFS would anyone in their right mind want to keep a mob of utterly useless parasites whose existence is taken up swanning around opening stuff ?? Its all very well to say 'let the sheeple decide', but when the options presented to the sheeple are all hopelessly rigged in favour of the parasites, what does that prove ??

Prax,
I think you should put a sock in it.

Firstly anyone, including the media, can see that Swanny was grasping at straws in raising the matter and stupid Turnbull went along with it.

I remind you that we have already voted on the matter and further that the One Nation party, that you seem to greatly support, was opposed to change. In fact it was the effort of One Nation that was responsible for keeping the status Quo.

The main focus at this point is to be rid of the present incompetents and leave the side issues alone.

Labor is desperate to try anything to gain a few votes so best not to give them any oxygen. Issue best ignored.

Banjo

My beef about RAbbott & One Nation concerns the blatant destruction of sheeples right to freedom of expression. Whether or not you or I or anyone else agrees with Paulines arguments is irrelevant, she had every right to her say, and RAbbott didn't like that.

The reason the 1999 episode failed was because the sheeple saw through the power grab

There is little doubt the red-headed witch is done like a dinner, however a gubmunt without opposition is a scarey situation, consequently I sincerely hope even such a disastrous mob don't suffer a wipeout to the extent we saw in Queensland.

Gee, and here I was under the impression that
the Referendum failed so miserably last time
was because of the way Mr Howard constructed
the ballot papers. After all the man is still
waiting for his Knighthood isn't he? The special
distinction he's received thus far pales in
comparison to the Knighthood. He may just get it
if he's made Governor General should Abbott win
the next election.

Lexi

If that grub gets a knighthood or gets appointed GG or el presidente', I wouldn't be in the least surprised if it triggers a revolution. Surely not even the sheeple would stand for any of those eventualities.
I thought there was some poll that asked which would be preferred for GG, Little Johnnie or Peter Cosgrove. As I recall the result was around 98% in favour of Cosgrove.

Prax,
Disagree, the more current government politicians get kicked out the better, as there is not one of them fit to hold office. The lot are incompetent bozos.

Then and only then can Labor start to rebuild and hopefully with some decent candidates.

I do not see what you are trying to achieve by attacking and childish name calling of all politicians. Surely you do not think you are benefitting Aus, or maybe you think PUP will get up.

Realisticly, if PUP gets enough votes in some seats to qualify for electoral funding that will surprize. I, for one, do not think much of his airy fairy border control policy. This is a major issue and the LNP have shown that the boats can be stopped with strong enough action. Oh, and PUP is hardly democratic as Palmer seems to run a one man band.

I have no issue with kicking out ANY parasite, what I do have an issue with is the country landing in the same predicament as Queensland with effectively no opposition. Personally I believe the ALP will always have major issues due to its insane caucus. Remember the line about too many cooks ??

How well the Palmer mob do is yet to be seen, however just the fact of a third house & senate option for the very first time since federation promises to make the 2013 election a different ball game. Both 2007 & 2010 federal elections involved a choice between two 'on the nose' options and the 2013 one actually offers a choice. I understand that died-in-the-wool major party faithful find it difficult to accept its no longer a two horse race, but then the two major airlines couldn't believe their cosy duopoly had ended until after the fact.

Just a thought in conclusion, respect is something earned, not conferred simply because some mug has misappropriated the 'honorable' title. If truth be told, the words honorable & politician are for the most part mutually exclusive. Both the major parties have ably demonstrated their utter contempt for their employers (thats us folks), consequently I'll regard them with the disgust they so rightly deserve.

Constitutional Monarchy or Republic ??
praxidice,
How do you envisage the mentality changing if we were to become a republic ? On the other hand I think it won't be long & we'll have a bigger problem than Monarchy & Republic, that's judging by the taxpayer funded invasion underway now. Start focussing on rectifying the blunders of Labor & the problems they are hellbent on importing.

individual

Actually I think its highly likely a republic would be even worse than the present debacle although how much worse would depend on what model was chosen. Most of the models apparently retain governors, governor-general & prime minister, adding a president to that mess. The mind doth boggle !! As if we don't have enough useless parasites as it is !!
Part of my motivation with this thread was a vain hope that some bright spark might provide a clue on how to light a rocket under a governor. I've yet to see any reason why we pay those clowns a kings ransom to do stuff-all, they don't even respond to letters let alone keep wayward governments in line.

I think it so idiotically hypocritical of those against the monarchy to speak of them (quite rightly I might add) as being "over the top" re romp'n pomp.
Yet when you watch these lefties at their ceremonies & award nights, sorting events etc etc, they don't mind over the top romp'n pomp themselves.
The only difference between Monarchists & Republicans is that the Monarchists want to protect what the republicans want to take away from them for themselves.
As I said, pretty hypocritical & for what purpose, for what outcome & for whom?
I think Monarchies could do with some reigning in on taxpayer funded opulence but give me a Monarchy any day over a Hollywood Star or Pop music Mutt or one of those extreme egoists from the sporting world & all led around by ex lawyers.

Vote for a President and you get a politician !

For more than 2500 years, a sovereign country in which its citizens effectively controlled the government was called a republic.  History records many:  Rome from 510 to 55 BC,  Venice from the 7th century to 1797,  Novgorod from 1136 to 1478, among others. In the traditional meaning of the word,  Australia is already a de facto republic, called the Commonwealth of Australia. It fits the traditional definition.

 Since 1922, when Lenin and Co. called the Soviet provinces they ruled, ‘republics’, it seems that anybody can call their country a republic, for instance, North Korea and Syria. The word ‘republic’ has lost its traditional meaning to become a title instead.

Today, any attempt by the Crown to impose its will on Australia would be emphatically rejected, as it was in 1931, when King George V unsuccessfully opposed the appointment of Sir Isaac Isaacs as Governor-General. The extent to which some Australians see themselves as compromised by having a ‘foreign head of state’ seems to be a personal psychological problem rather than one of governance.
Our problems with governance stem from the fact that we suffer under an archaic constitution, written before the dawn of a new age, that produces dysfunctional government. Defining a ‘head-of-state’ or choosing a new title for our nation does nothing to relieve that problem; it is ineffectual window-dressing.
The ANZUS treaty is a far greater threat to our independence than the flimsy threads linking us to the Commonwealth of Nations. Compared with following the Americans into disastrous wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq, the idea of having a foreign ‘head-of-state’ is utterly trivial.

third try

I don't know that ' a sovereign country in which its citizens effectively controlled the government' necessarily applies to Australia

If we do away with governors, who keeps those uneducated politicians adhering to the Australian constitution?

We need to teach the Constitution in Schools so the people know the rules by which we are governed. Giving politicians free range to do as they please will undermine our democratic rights. We already have the best system of government we do not need to change. We just need better representatives in Government.

Josephus - If we do away with governors, who keeps those uneducated politicians adhering to the Australian constitution?

and your examples of occasions when any governor has done ANYTHING other than squander prodigious sums of taxpayer money are ??

I'm quite ambivalent re monarchy vs republic. There are significant issues with our present rabble & no shortage of unanswered questions re any of the republican models I've read about. Surely what needs to be done in either case is to rid the country of all the totally non-productive bloodsucking parasites for a start, beginning with governors & the zillions of has-beens. Once upon a time, Australia was known for its inventiveness, surely we can unearth a bit of that and devise something better than the tired old schemes that have failed dismally elsewhere.

praxidice,
Give us an example of a form of government that is better than we have.

Perhaps you prefer a socialist dictator rather than representative Government. It costs less. Tell us!

Josephus

Switzerland, at least they have Citizen Initiated Referenda

Switzerland, at least they have Citizen Initiated Referenda
praxidice,
the swiss think !

praxidice,
How much would it cost if installed in Australia? Who would admininister it in Australia? Would all citizens have to vote on the proposals?

Josephus,
Why should id cost any more than what we have now ? I think it would actually cost us less from the start. The seemingly insurmountable problem is australian mentality.
I would have thought the problems of the rest of the world would be sufficient for Australians to have their eyes & minds opened, Alas!

individual

Sadly you are 100% correct, anything that relies on the stupid sheeple is a hard road. Look for example at the elegantly simple boat-people solution belong Big Clive. Its been tried & proven for yonks elsewhere, unlike the moronic RAbbott nonsense but still the local sheeple pick holes in it. The Citizen Initiated Referenda idea is more of the same, its been working fine in Switzerland since forever & even the half-cut septic tanks have implemented in in a few states, but when Senator Madigan puts a bill on the table, all the sheeple can think of is chucking rocks at him.

Not to worry, I'm not about to lose any sleep over the fate of the sheeple as I have other fish to fry. My group is well on the way to getting the upper hand on local authorities & we plan to start sinking the boot into state gubmunts once we have the locals taking notice. Dunno why Australian sheeple are so slack, maybe we've adopted the pommy whinge, probably also their lunatic class system whereby the hoi-polloi believe in 'respecting their betters'. As if f**kwits like the red-headed witch & the RAbbott are 'better' than anything except maybe a slime mould. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

Was it you who made the point about 'divide & conquer' originally ?? Interestingly just the mention of that draws a very interesting reaction from most bloodsucking parasites, its like 'how on earth did you figure out what we are doing ??'

How much does it cost to old a referendum in Australia? How frequent are they to be held? How much does it cost to diseminate information? How does it work in a multicultural society? Who administers security? I remember years ago citizens referendums were discussed in a political Party I was a member of and it was considered unworkable in Australia.

Josephus - considered unworkable in Australia.

Of course, the powers that be would never contemplate allowing the sheeple any power unless totally unavoidable. Given that lying is endemic to the political animal, they will tell whatever porkie they deem necessary to pull the wool over the sheeples eyes. Note that any radio or TV station can arrange an opinion poll within minutes at stuff-all cost. Virtually every household in Australia has internet access & arranging IP based filtering to ensure legitimate voting would be a half hour job for a geek.

How does it work in a multicultural society? Who administers security?
Josephus,
You struck on two subjects which aren't working here. praxidice has the solution but the academic background hangers-on are vehemently against common sense or in fact against anything that revolves around decency & responsibility.