After twelve taxpayer funded votes and enquiries – seven since the 1999 landslide referendum rejecting the politicians’ republic – why should taxpayers be required to waste millions more on this elite folly?” asked ACM’s Professor David Flint.
He was speaking in a Trades Hall debate hosted by the NSW ALP.
He added: “They can’t or won’t say what sort of republic or what new flag they want. It's as if they were marching down the street chanting ‘We want a republic, we want a republic. But we haven't the foggiest idea what sort we want.’”
ACM’s Executive Director Jai Martinkovits – a 25 year old who recently succeeded to the post originally held by Tony Abbott – said “Polling trends indicate that in a referendum any Republican model is likely to receive barely 30% of the vote. That's why the republican politicians have pushed it off until the next reign – when most of them are unlikely to be there”
They were debating the newly appointed National Director of the Australian Republican Movement, David Morris and Senator Matt Thistlethwaite.
The addresses given by Professor Flint and Jai Martinkovits may be seen here: