The former PM said the Australian Republic Movement’s plan would be “a massive shift in the current model of power”.
Former prime minister and passionate republican Paul Keating has savaged the latest proposal to elect an Australian head of state, saying the country would be better off remaining a constitutional monarchy than experimenting with a “US-style” presidency.
Mr Keating said under the ARM’s proposal released on Wednesday, power would be “purloined to an individual, who alone would possess the popular mandate and with it, the primary political authority the mandate would bestow”. Mr Keating said he remained in favour an Australian head of state being appointed by a two-thirds majority of both houses of Parliament - the model rejected by voters at the 1999 referendum.Another former prime minister, Tony Abbott, a staunch monarchist and central figure in the 1999 “No” campaign, shared Mr Keating’s concerns about an elected head of state, saying such a person would be a rival to the prime minister while being unaccountable to the Parliament.
Professor Twomey said it was unlikely the type of person most Australians wanted as head of state - an eminent non-politician - would submit themselves to the “pretty brutal” process of an election unless the culture, advertising and financing rules of the campaign were changed.
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