Britain's Support O Becoming A Republic example essay topic

What is a Republic According to the Macquarie Dictionary, a republic is a state in which the supreme power resides in the body of citizens entitled to vote and is exercised by a council chosen directly or indirectly by them. In particular this refers to a nation which has no hereditary monarch that is a person who holds political or constitutional office purely as an inheritance. In a monarchy, the Head of State is a hereditary monarch who is the symbolic representation of the nation and the source of all constitutional and democratic authority. History of Australia's interests in becoming a republic In the 18th century people who fought for freedom from Britain were trialed for treason and either executed or sent to Australia as convicts. Ideas for Australia to become a republic did not stem from such people instead it came from Australians such as John Dunmore Lang and Daniel Dennehy. Such people felt Australia should be more than a ground for Britain's scum.

In the 1880's the republicanism was taken more seriously and people such as the poet and writer Henry Lawson jumped on the bandwagon this combined with articles by the bulletin forced the Australian Republican Union to be formed. However at this stage "the majority of Australians regarded those who called for a republic as disloyal". Their were many reasons why republicanism did not become a more powerful force in the 19th century some of these include o There was never a cohesive movement with a apparent plan for achieving a republic o Australia's isolation was looked upon as a military weakness and this being a time of uncertainty Australia felt it would not be able to cope on its own. Republicanism took a backseat and remained virtually untouched in the first half of the 20th century due to the distractions of 2 world wars in which Australia fought on behalf of Britain in both.

In the 1960's however the republic became another key talking point as Australia turned to the United States for military support and both the USA and Japan overtook Britain as Australia's number one trading partners. Certain ties with Britain appeared to be dissolving although loyal emotion remained. In 1984 God Save the Queen was replaced with Advanced Australia fair as our national anthem and in 1986 the Australia act was passed which made the Australian High court the final court of appeal despite these many changes the thought of a republic was hardly mentioned during these times. In 1991 a Constitutional Convention was held in the nation's capital and the majority of people expressed support for Australia to become a republic. Republicanism fast became a movement of the labor party and in 1995 many conservative leaders joined in their support for Australia to become a republic. In the 1997 Constitutional Convention it was decided that a republic model would be put forward to the people to decide in a nation referendum in 1999, however when the time to vote came around the majority of Australian's made the decision for not to become a republic the failure for this is attributed to one major reason and that being that most people did not support the model which had been proposed by prime minister John Howard.

Reasons For An Australian Republic There are many reasons why Australian's feel a republic is a way of the future o A move to a republic would confirm the power of the people in our successful system of parliamentary democracy while retaining the other fundamental principles of our current system of government. o People feel that every person in our country should have the right to aim to be our head of state. o People often ask themselves how the Queen of England and Australia got such power. Did she work for it? Did she place herself before the people and ask if they wanted her to rule over them? Did she have any qualifications whatsoever that would have entitled her to assume such a powerful position? The answer is a resonant NO. She was merely fortunate enough to have been born into a particular family and for that, she can literally topple elected governments.

Is this democratic? o People feel they need someone more local to tackle issues as the Queen is too far away and is more a figure head for the country than a point of action o People feel as if we have our own flag, our own national anthem... Why not our own head-of-state? o People believe it is time for Australia to let go of the 'mother nation' and stand on our own two feet as we no longer need Britain's support o Becoming a republic will not destroy our British ties instead it will strengthen them and make us closer political partners. Due to the fact that we will feel on a more equal footing and not as a younger sibling. Reasons against An Australian Republic o We are already independent emotionally. o We do not need spend the millions of dollars to change the constitution where money could be better spent in other areas. o The proposed model for Australia is seriously blemished it is untested, unworkable, undemocratic and discriminatory. The politicians will assign the president and not the people. Thus removing the equilibrium from the current system o The system in place at the present time is working perfectly fine and we really have to question if it is honestly necessary to seek change. o Even if the people were to decide who the president was it could fast become popularity battle rather than based on the actual persons merits. o The queen still plays a very important part in our everyday life and society many people look up to her as a role model why deny people the right for this.