‘Riverina overwhelmingly is a monarchist region’
Supporters of the monarchy are alive and well in Wagga.Executive director of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy (ACM) Thomas Flynn was in the city yesterday and believes the Republican movement may have reached its peak.
Mr Flynn was guest speaker at the Wagga Branch of ACM as part of the 10th anniversary celebrations since the unsuccessful 1999 Republican referendum.
The issue has largely been dormant since then with brief mentions when Kevin Rudd won the election in 2007 and recently by Bob Brown.
Mr Flynn also said the younger generations were loath to change what is an adequate system.“Young people are generally pragmatists, they see no reason for change,” he said.“I think the Republican movement has reached its peak, they had media support, financial backing and former Prime Minister Paul Keating pushing hard at the time and that has seemingly dried up.
“For those who think they are waiting for the next generation then they are in a sad predicament if they are to rely on the next generation instead of trying to convince them a republic is better.”Mr Flynn said Wagga registered about 66 per cent in favour of keeping the monarchy in 1999 and felt the city was still loyal to the royal family.
There are a number of events going on around the country to commemorate the referendum including dinners with John Howard in Sydney and Tony Abbott in Melbourne.