Senator Minchin has said what many embarrassed republicans are saying: the mate for head of state campaign is a sign of desperation. It is juvenile. As we have been saying, the republican movement will soon be asking who to blame for this fiasco.
Responsible journalists are also asking why on earth republicans are not saying what they actually want. As David Koch said on Channel 7 to the republican leader, the Australian people are not stupid.
One supporter puts it well, they are RWM – Republicans Without a Model.
And The Australian, in an editorial, referred to the campaign as a "stunt".
Senator Minchin , who is the new Leader of the Government in the Senate was speaking at Manly on 22 January 2006 to a national young Liberal convention.
He said the campaign is based on the “utterly false assertion that the Governor-General is not the Head of State”
“If this is the best that the ARM can come up with,”he observed,” I am confident our constitutional arrangements are secure for years to come”