Big Thoughts, Little Impact

I’m not a monarchist, in the slightest. I don’t believe that any amount or form of sovereign power should be heriditary. That just goes against almost every democratic ideal. However, does the republic debate really matter?

Constitutionally, we don’t actually have a Head of State (the term doesn’t exist within Australian law), and there is some debate as to who exactly fits the role best. Is it the reigning monarch? Or is it the current Governor-General? In practice, the role is almost completely fulfilled by the Governor-General, the monarchy of Australia exists almost completely symbolically.

Scholars, lawyers, historians and much smarter people than I have been debating this issue for decades, and it is a debate that seems to crop up whenever the Republic debate crops up. And it does seem that the debate is cropping up, thanks in part to the current Royal Wedding hoohah.

A recent Newspoll opinion poll reports that only 41% of Australians are in favour of Australia becoming a Republic. This number is historically very low, lower than it has been in the last 17 years, including the 1999 Referrendum. Julia Gillard, over in London, said of the figures:

[They] may well be reflecting that people have engaged with this love story and this exciting event.

Ms Gillard is a staunch republican herself, although she admitted to being excited about the “very special wedding.”

But does it matter? Australia already has an Australian carrying out the role of Head of State. Again, I’m not a monarchist, I would much prefer to break our ties with the archaic system that is the British Royalty, but I find it hard to get passionate about. It is, in all fairness, a non-issue. It’s inevitable that it will eventually happen, it’s just a matter of when. I think I’m just going to sit back and watch.

Travers, over at Travers in his Time writes about Australia becoming a republic. I enjoyed his post, it had some very insightful comments, however I have a few problems with his basic premise. He says (quite rightly) that:

Australia is a proud nation with over a century of nationhood under it’s belt. Over those hundred years we have established our own culture, our own traditions and our own national identity.

I could not agree more, but I could with his closing statement:

A republic is Australia’s opportunity to affirm our independence and nationhood and that Australia should proudly on its own command respect on the global stage [sic].

Australia is an independent state already, with or without a symbolic monarch head of state. I really don’t think that anyone anywhere else in the world (except maybe Canada, who are in a similar situation, and all of the nations who would now stand a chance in the Commonwealth Games) would care that much when we inevitably dispose of the Monarchy of Australia.

So, Australia, it’s not really time to decide whether or not to be a republic, but when it is, it’ll happen.