The Australian Republic Movement (ARM) is a non-party-partisan organisation campaigning for Australia to become a republic. ARM and its supporters have promoted various models of a republic including parliamentary republic and it is, again, reviewing its preferred model. As of 2017, ARM operated staffed campaign offices in Sydney and Canberra, and has branches active in all states and territories.

Australia’s current head of state

Australia has a common head of state with all the other

Commonwealth realm A Commonwealth realm is a sovereign state in the Commonwealth of Nations whose monarch and head of state is shared among the other realms. Each realm functions as an independent state, equal with the other realms and nations of the Commonwealt ...

nations. Australia’s constitution provided that, in 1901, the then monarch of the United Kingdom also became the monarch of Australia. The nations and their governments are independent with only a

personal union A personal union is the combination of two or more states that have the same monarch while their boundaries, laws, and interests remain distinct. A real union, by contrast, would involve the constituent states being to some extent interli ...

in the person of the monarch. The Australian monarch is generally understood to be the

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and ...

, although regal functions are ordinarily performed by an appointed

governor-general Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

and state governors.

Chairs

History

Foundation

The ARM was founded on 7 July 1991 and was originally known as the Australian Republican Movement. Its first chairman was novelist

Thomas Keneally Thomas Michael Keneally, AO (born 7 October 1935) is an Australian novelist, playwright, essayist, and actor. He is best known for his non-fiction novel '' Schindler's Ark'', the story of Oskar Schindler's rescue of Jews during the Holocaust, ...

, with other founding members including lawyer

Malcolm Turnbull Malcolm Bligh Turnbull (born 24 October 1954) is an Australian former politician and businessman who served as the 29th prime minister of Australia from 2015 to 2018. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party of Australia. Turnbull grad ...

, later Prime Minister, former

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

n cricket captain Ian Chappell, film director

Fred Schepisi Frederic Alan Schepisi ( ; Kael, Pauline (1984). '' Taking It All In''. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston. p. 55. born 26 December 1939) is an Australian film director, producer and screenwriter. His credits include '' The Chant of Jimmie ...

, and author, journalist, and radio and television presenter

Peter FitzSimons Peter John Allen FitzSimons (born 29 June 1961) is an Australian author, journalist, and radio and television presenter. He is a former national representative rugby union player and has been the chair of the Australian Republic Movement s ...

. It is currently headed by Australian retired soccer player, human rights activist

Craig Foster use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , nationality = , other_names = , siglum = , citizenship = , education = , ...

1999 referendum

The Australian republic referendum, held on 6 November 1999, was a two-question referendum to amend the Constitution of Australia. For some years opinion polls had suggested that a majority of the electorate favoured a republic. Nonetheless, the republic referendum was narrowly defeated due to a range of factors, including a lack of bi-partisanship and division among republicans on the method proposed for selection of the president.

Policy

The ARM is undertaking a national consultation to seek the views of Australians about the substance of the constitutional reforms needed for Australia to have its constitutional independence from the British Monarchy. Once completed, the consultation will inform the ARM's decision about which model it should advocate to be taken forward to a referendum. A referendum would give voters the choice between retaining the British Monarchy as the head of Australia, and Australia having its constitutional independence.

Australian Choice Model

The ARM announced their proposed model for a republic on 13 January 2022, the Australian Choice Model. The model would entail a process where the State and Territory Parliaments each nominate one candidate to be the Head of State, and the Federal Parliament nominates up to three candidates. The list of these candidates would then be put to a vote where the public would elect their preferred candidate and would serve for a five-year term. A majority of ARM members voted to support the policy, however the policy announcement raised concerns and criticisms from the

Australian Monarchist League The Australian Monarchist League (AML) is an incorporated nonprofit organisation, headquartered in Sydney, Australia, promoting and educating on the Australian Constitution and monarchy. The organisation was part of the "no" campaign in the 19 ...

, as well as other republicans, including former Prime Minister

Paul Keating Paul John Keating (born 18 January 1944) is an Australian former politician and unionist who served as the 24th prime minister of Australia from 1991 to 1996, holding office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He previously serv ...

and former New South Wales Premier

Bob Carr Robert John Carr (born 28 September 1947) is an Australian retired politician and journalist who served as the 39th Premier of New South Wales from 1995 to 2005, as the leader of the NSW Branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP). He later en ...

. Critics such as Carr claim that a head of state who is elected by the public could cause conflict with a

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is ...

and

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

. Past ARM Chair

dismissed these criticisms, claiming that a head of state's powers would be limited and would be unable to dismiss a Prime Minister.

Arguments

The ARM argues that Australia should replace the monarchy with an Australian as president and head of state. It contends that “the benefits of this system are a head of state that can exclusively represent Australian interests, a system that better aligns with democratic institutions, a fully independent constitution and a head of state that can represent Australian values.”

Notable supporters

Joe Hockey Joseph Benedict Hockey (born 2 August 1965) is a former Australian politician and diplomat. He was the Member of Parliament for North Sydney from 1996 until 2015. He was the Treasurer of Australia in the Abbott Government from 18 September ...

Alan Joyce Alan Joyce (born 21 October 1942) is a former Australian rules footballer who after playing 49 games for Hawthorn became a premiership winning coach for the club. Originally from Glen Iris, Joyce played in the ruck for Hawthorn, and ultimate ...

Ted Smout Sergeant Edward David "Ted" Smout OAM (5 January 1898 – 22 June 2004) was an Australian soldier in the First World War. He was Australia's 6th last surviving World War I veteran. Smout served in the army as a stretcher bearer. He was notably o ...

References

External links

Australian Republic Movement website
{{Authority control Organizations established in 1991 Republicanism in Australia Republican organizations 1991 establishments in Australia