I have no idea whether I want Australia to become a republic or stay a constitutional monarchy, says Luke Harris on the ABC’s Hungry Beast. “Actually, scratch that, I do want Australia to become a republic, but I don't know if I can be stuffed going through the bother of it all. I'd much rather sit back, have a cup of tea, and endure the Queen's annual message with family at Christmas. – I guess you could call me an occasional republican. A Sunday republican.”
“As the excitement in the media surrounding Prince William's visit to Australia reached a fever pitch,” he continued “ I found feelings for the monarchy welling up, from a place deep inside I never knew I had. I started to think that I might be a monarchist – my head saying no, but my heart saying yes. So what am I really? A closet monarchist? A compromised republican? Speaking words of republican solidarity while hiding secret feelings for an oligarchy?”
“I found myself back where the poll said I'd be – unsure. So I decided to try and establish a spectrum – figure out the two sides of the coin, draw a line between it, and possibly have a slightly better idea of where I stand. I wrote to two public figures in this debate..(and) … asked them their top three reasons for a republic or a monarchy respectively…”
Here’s what Jai Martinkovits, spokesman for Young ACM, said:
“1. The Crown is our oldest institution, central to the constitution, and has served us extremely well.
2. Our crowned republic provides leadership beyond politics, important not so much for the power that it wields, but the power that it denies to others.
3. Australia is already a completely independent nation, with all constitutional ties to Britain already cut. The Queen is indeed the Queen of Australia, and happens to be shared with the other realms – a multicultural crown.”