As we reported in this column on 27 January, 2007 the Leader of HM Australian Opposition, Mr. Kevin Rudd, is on record as supporting a plebiscite on whether Australia should become a republic. He said it was "way down” on his list of priorities. He also said he was "relatively relaxed" about the idea of a directly elected president of an Australian republic.
But the draft platform which Mr Rudd will present to the Labor Party’s National Conference in April 2007 is reported to include a “ pledge to establish support for a republic.” A report about the draft appeared in The Australian on 27 April, 2007, but, frankly, it does give off the familiar stale perfume of yet another managed leak politicians use to test the water.
The pledge is included in a list of eleven of Mr. Rudd’s proposals to rewrite the platform. Does this mean a republic has moved from being a low priority? Is it now a high priority? (The list does not seem to be included in the web based version of the report.)
So what does establishing support for a republic mean? No details are given. Does it mean that even more of the taxpayers’ hard earned money is to be poured into republican propaganda? Does it mean children are to be brainwashed about a republic in our schools? And what sort of republic is to be pushed?
As we said in our earlier column, it may be that Mr. Rudd is trying to calm the ultra republicans in his party. ( In fact the ultras haunt both sides of parliament). Perhaps he actually believes that the adoption here of a French style republic would improve government, notwithstanding the over 20% youth unemployment that prevails there. We can only assume that Mr. Rudd is not aware that the plan for a plebiscite has been proposed by the republicans as a totally deceitful exercise to avoid showing their hand on what they want to do and to lock Australians into their hidden plans to concentrate power even more in the political class. Like the closure of Sydney’s streets to force motorists to use the universally detested cross city tunnel, the plebiscite is designed to lock Australians into whatever republic and flag the republicans secretly plan to foist on the nation, whatever the burden this places on present and future generations of Australians. The worst thing about this deceit is the demand that Australians cast a vote of no confidence in one of the world’s most successful constitutional systems, without even being told what secretive plan the republicans have.
Australians for Constitutional Monarchy warn any future prime minister, of whatever allegiance, that we will fight any attempt to circumvent the Constitution. We will call on our only resource, the more than 50,000 Australians who fought in the referendum, and the majority of Australians who voted with us in the referendum, to oppose this plan at every stage. And that includes
any gross and improper misuse of the peoples’ money to undermine our constitutional system. And the same warning applies to any plan to change our flag, although most republican politicians have moved flag change to their hidden agenda.