Republic Not an Issue
Thursday, August 02, 2001
Since Australia voted against becoming a republic, over-eager republicans have been calling us monarchists. But this is silly. We are mostly not monarchists at all. It’s just that we didn’t trust the shonky new arrangements you were trying to slip in under the guise of republicanisation.
The last thing we need is dreamy new theories about how Australia should be governed. We got to the moon relying on theories of physics. But would you stake your life on theories of government? Politics is surely the most inexact field that dares call itself a science.
The massive efforts and lives of millions have been spent, usually in vain, trying to apply attractive theories to the way a country is run. The truth is that successful nations mostly just evolve, and you are lucky if you are born into one.
Australia is envied for its stability and openness. By small steps we may polish it or tarnish it. But to install a totally new seat of power, in the form of a popularly elected president, in competition with our parliamentary government, is sheer folly. It’s like shooting blindfolded into a machine, hoping it will work better.
If we must sack the queen, just appoint an equally polite, equally unaligned, equally dignified figurehead — selected quietly by societal leaders. The republic is not a genuine issue. It is only a footnote to the established historical fact that monarchy is obsolete in the first world.
Don’t let what should be a ho-hum legal correction actually threaten the substance of our way of life.
Philip O'Carroll