G’day.
This week, two things happened that resulted in this experiment. First, the story I was planning to run was unavoidably postponed. Second, the Australian Republic Movement met on the King’s Birthday holiday to assess its situation.
Many of you are familiar with my opinion regarding a republic, so I asked for opinions from my family.
We have called the discussion ‘Generations’, and the topic is, of course, the Australian republic.
Marnie
When I was young, I assumed my preference for a monarchy was due to my upbringing.
However, as I matured, I observed myself, my actions and my beliefs and began to discard some of them. I also observed my country and saw a strong, successful democracy — a constitutional monarchy. Why would we change it?
Then, one day in November 1975, I did the ‘school run’ to see my 11-year-old son tumble excitedly into the car to tell me the governor-general had sacked the prime minister. I carefully explained why this was impossible. He knew I was wrong, but he was a polite boy.
Many of you will remember this; to me, it felt as if Australia was in shock. How could this happen? The caretaker prime minister was instructed to call an immediate election. What would Australia do? Re-elect the Labor government and clearly indicate that it wanted nothing more to do with the Queen? Or vote the Liberal Party into power to sort out the economic mess?
The conservative parties were elected with a massive majority. Australia had spoken.
It had caused me to think again. But, to a large degree, the country settled down, seeming content with its decision. Just as it would later seem equally content under Bob Hawke’s leadership.
The strong, successful democracy continued and continues today. I have looked but have found no examples of Australia losing respect because of this. We are active on the world stage, and, as our current PM has said, we punch above our weight.
It is interesting to note that a recent YouGov Australia survey found that King Charles, William, Catherine, Princess Anne and Prince Edward were all more popular than any of our politicians. Believe it or not! If you use the following link, you will need to scroll down to see the relevant scores.
Go to https://au.yougov.com/politics/articles/46044-one-year-king-charles-reign-where-do-australian-at
Son
I don’t spend a whole lot of time thinking about national issues. I mean, no-one listens to me anyway, so what’s the point? Parenthetically speaking, it wouldn’t hurt to try listening to me — we couldn’t possibly be any worse off! I certainly don’t normally spend time writing down my opinions for others to read, debate and criticise, but here we are.
I feel as if I understand why our fledgling nation didn’t want to cut all ties with the monarchy. We were like a child, suddenly alone and far from home in the real world — it was comforting to know that our metaphorical family was there to help if we stumbled. But we’re all grown up now. We no longer need another nation holding our hand. Quite why we’re still willing to have our most significant political issues (such as a hung parliament) adjudicated by an unelected representative of an unelected royal family halfway around the world is puzzling, to say the least.
Having said all of that, I confess I did share some of my mother’s love for Queen Elizabeth. I doubt I would ever have taken the expression of that love so far as to berate drunk footy fans (I’ll let her tell you that story — if she hasn’t already), but I am happy that we didn’t have to cause Her Majesty any additional grief or sense of loss — there was too much of that in her life as it was.
It seems inevitable to me that Australia will become a republic. I believe that the time is now. I believe we should, with gratitude and affection, let go of our mother’s hand.
Marnie
The story he was teasing me about was this. We were at the MCG to watch the Tigers and to welcome the Queen. We were in the second row of seats, and directly in front of us were three teenage boys. I don’t think they were drunk — but they failed to stand up as the Queen entered the ground. I didn’t want the Queen to see, in the front row, three young men too lazy or disinterested to stand up. So, I thumped one of them on the shoulder and said, “On your feet. Your Queen is here,” and they stood up.
Obviously, this particular son remembers the occasion.
Another son
Becoming a republic means changing our constitution, and that is totally unacceptable. I am not a royalist — far from it. I wouldn’t trust Charlie to run a chook raffle, but the monarch is merely a figurehead and irrelevant to the smooth operation of our governmental system.
I would suggest that the biggest hurdle we have with people who say we need a republic is that they must have little understanding of our current system. Every person who advocates for a republic should be made to read our constitution, and no, I do not mean the 50-page pocket version; I mean the 1000+ page John Quick and Robert Garran annotated version.
Before anyone says they know which direction this country should be going, they certainly must have some understanding of where we have been. Our constitution is a rule book for the government and not for the people. Did you know that? As it says on page 13 of the annotated version, “for the truth is, the supreme absolute and uncontrollable authority remains with the people”. What are the chances that a phrase like that would remain in our new rule book?
I am not suggesting everything is fine in Australia, far from it, but I know a lot of those problems stem from a lack of knowledge, an ignorance that can be restored with some effort. Our constitution should be taught in our primary schools; have you ever wondered why it isn’t? The major problems we face in this country today are caused by international treaties under Section 51 (xxix). The words “and treaties” were removed from this section for a reason, but that is a story for another day.
The craziest thing about suggesting Australia should become a republic is that most Australians would not trust their politicians to write a shopping list, let alone a new book of rules on how to run our country.
Generations — nature or nurture? Marnie
This idea didn’t quite work out the way it was planned. My daughter-in-law suggested the idea, thinking that her husband and son would want to contribute. But no! Both are too busy. So, I contacted another son and his daughter. The son said, “I can’t wait to get started,” and his daughter said she had nothing to contribute — this despite her intelligence, her writing skills and her support for a republic. With the deadline rapidly approaching, there wasn’t time to contact distant, overworked grandchildren — it had to be another son. He said, “Only 300 words! I’ll need a book!”
Today’s comments make it clear that, for our sons, ‘nature’ wins by a country mile. I thank them for their participation.
To those interested in my ‘weird’ books
I’ve just reread a couple of my responses to your queries, and honest to goodness, I sound like I’m trying to be everyone’s mother. I’m attempting to avoid disappointment — these books won’t necessarily convert all atheists — and I’m trying to avoid you spending around $50 on books you really don’t want to read.
I have started the second book, and without a doubt, some of this work is profound, to the extent that I have read some small sections four or five times. There are also several enthralling conversations/debates. Philosophically, it presents the reader with challenging questions. The rest of it is about a world that doesn’t exist, has never existed and will never exist. Pure fantasy!
However, for your information, the books are entitled The Way of Kings, Book One, Part 1 and Book One, Part 2. It is all one story — 1130 pages. Author: Brandon Sanderson.
It’s a First World problem
I didn’t really understand how much this household relies on the internet — until there wasn’t any.
After spending most of the morning on the phone with our providers, I finally discovered that there was a problem with our NBN. A technician would come in five days. Oh, goody — thanks very much!
When our provider arranged for data to be sent to us — via our mobiles — a “tower nearby” went down. So we couldn’t transfer the data to our computers, televisions or my husband’s device to listen to books — and, of course, there was no landline.
There were a couple of minutes between receiving the data and the tower going down when I sent my Town Talk copy to my daughter-in-law — just in case. Attempting to watch TV that night was pointless — no free-to-air, no streaming services. Only some Foxtel was available. I chose to read the ‘weird’ books. My husband went to bed even earlier than usual.
By the second day, the tower was fixed. On the fifth day, I received a text message at 7am to tell me the technician was on his way and to lock up dangerous animals. He arrived around 10.15am. I told him that I’d locked up the lion and the tiger at 7am, and they were getting angry. His response was a grunt. I didn’t offer him coffee.
That’s it for now. The equinox is on Friday, June 21, which means the days will soon, ever so slowly, be getting longer.
May it be easy, my friends.
Marnie
Email: towntalk@sheppnews.com.au
Letter: Town Talk. Shepparton News. P.O. Box 204. Shepparton 3631.
Phone: Send a text to 0418 962 507. (Note: text only. I will call you back if you wish.)