Is the republican commentariat surrendering or are they merely retreating? We have seen celebrities converting back to the constitutional monarchy, but now we have a new phenomenon.
This involves those in the commentariat who insist they are still republican but have come to a conclusion that change is not going to occur for a very long time. Shaun Carney, the staunch and prolific republican associate editor of The Age thinks there's a better than even chance that the change won't come during the lifetime of any Australian alive today ( The Age 27 January). That is in the twenty second century.
David Pemberthy in The Daily Telegraph 27 January said there is “simply no mainstream clamour to revisit an issue we dealt with at a bungled referendum just over 10 years ago – and, more importantly, even under a republican Labor Prime Minister, no political enthusiasm to place the issue back on the agenda.” He added that although “we” are not jumping for joy at the prospect of King Charles, “we’ve seen enough of his son last week to conclude that King Will might be a ripper of an idea.”
They both believe Australians are republican. What we have is properly described as a Federal Commonwealth under the Crown. Fomer High Court Justice Michael Kirby, the 25th Prime Minister of the Commonwealth, John Howard, The Leader of the Opposition, the Hon Tony Abbott, NSW Court of Appeal Justice Ken Handley and other leading constitutional monarchists call it a crowned republic.
And the only feasible alternative to a crowned republic is some form of a politicians’ republic. When asked, Australians will not want to increase the power or incdeed the number of the members of our political class.
Constitutional monarchists must do all they can to ensure that all Australians, especially the young and the new understand that what we have has ensured we are one of the world’s most successful and stable countries.