“The Rudd Government is only paying lip service to ending our constitutional monarchy,” writes Kerry-Anne Walsh in the Sun-Herald (26/4). She compares Mr. Kevin Rudd’s recent “weasel-words” response to the Summit recommendations with his enthusiastic words there:
“ ‘I am a republican. The summit brought forward some fresh approaches as to how a republic might be brought into being. The Government will work its way through all of that during the rest of the course of this year. The fact that this summit was saying thumbs up to a republic is a big step forward.’ “
She recalls that when the prominent republican leader Malcolm Turnbull became Leader of the Liberal Party Mr. Rudd extended “the hand of bipartisan friendship – not on the economy, not on the need for an education revolution or on ‘closing the gap’ between black and white Australia – but on the republic.”
"One of those national challenges for the future of Australia will be our move towards a republic," Mr. Rudd said.“Cue wild applause from republicans, fainting in the office of the Australians for Constitutional Monarchy, ” observes Ms Walsh.
She adds “Professor David Flint, warhorse of ACM, immediately and with great prescience, summed up Rudd's call to arms. ‘What a wonderful way to drive a wedge,’ he noted drily.”