In the 13th year after the referendum, the republican movement are still unable to reveal what form of republic and what new flag they want.
Instead, they spend a lot of time denying some well documented events. For example, that the Irish Republican Army's Gerry Adams came to Australia and campaigned for the Yes case in 1999 or that Malcolm Turnbull tried to have the words “president” and “republic” removed from the referendum question.
Recently they claimed that a leading opinion pollster had been paid by ACM – the clear implication being that we got the result we wanted. They should be taking legal advice before they make such a claim.
They're even claiming we buy our Facebook fans. Well, we didn't buy the over 55,000 supporters who worked in the referendum or the Australian people who delivered a landslide No vote in 1999.
…Australia Day stunt…
Now, as their Australia Day stunt, they are once again trying to drag something out of the fact that nominal, small courtesy gifts or mementos to those who helped in the last Royal Visit are funded from the usual budgetary allocation.
Well, of course they are. They have tried to make something out of this in the past.
When the Governor-General or the Prime Minister presents such gifts they are of course funded similarly. This would apply to the president if we were a republic. When the President of France goes to, say, Dieppe and offers some token gift to the mayor, obviously this is funded similarly.
..not a "foreign" Queen…
The republicans are telling the media these are gifts from a "foreign Queen". This is like the blatant untruths repeated over and over that John Howard rigged the Convention or fixed the referendum question.
The republicans full well know that The Queen is Queen of Australia. According to the High Court this is a position separate and independent from The Queen of Canada, The Queen of New Zealand or indeed The Queen of United Kingdom.
They should be delighted that for this she is not paid and receives no superannuation. Nor does any member of the Royal family when they generously perform services for Australia or the Commonwealth.
The republican movement know this but they are clutching at straws in a desperate attempt to find some reason – some minuscule and silly reason – to justify overthrowing a fundamental pillar of our constitutional system and as they indicated in the nineties support for shredding our flag.
All without telling the Australian people precisely what they want.
Tha's the Australia Day stunt. Be ready for the ANZAC Day stunt, then The Queen's Birthday stunt.