Shot in the arm or false dawn?: Albanese’s each-way bet on a republic
Clearly, the issue got no traction in the recent federal election, but it is fascinating to see an echo of 1999 voting patterns in 2022. The Liberal heartland seatsThe Melbourne seat of Kooyong, which federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg lost to teal independent Monique Ryan, voted 64.24 per cent for the republic in 1999, while the seat of Goldstein, which Liberal assistant minister Tim Wilson lost to teal independent Zoe Daniel, voted 58.01 per cent in favour.
In Melbourne, Ryan agrees. “It is heartening to see the Albanese government takes the issue of forming a republic seriously enough to appoint Mr Thistlethwaite as an assistant minister with responsibility for it, a portfolio he also held as a shadow minister. But I also note that Mr Albanese has pointed out his first priority for constitutional change is Indigenous recognition, and I fully support that as a priority.
She proposes advancing the debate with a “practice run” of using proposed methods of electing a republic’s head of state as the means of choosing the next governor-general. This would allow the public to have “a good hard think” about selecting a head of state, Twomey says. Summit co-chair Professor Glyn Davis said the Rudd government would take “a high political risk if it chose to ignore new ideas” that emerged from the summit.The ARM’s new model has similarities to the much-admired Irish presidential system. There, candidates must be nominated by 20 members of parliament and four councils. Voting is preferential and terms last seven years.