Canadians support their Constitutional Monarchy - and so do Australians!

Predictably the media has ignored Justice Handley's revelation. Since many of the commentators lapped up the first Keating-Turnbull model for a republic, it is understandable that they would not want to remind readers how wrong the experts and the commentators could be, and how right ACM was! That would just not do, would it?

And ACM also decided to try to correct Peter Charlton's comment in The Courier Mail that the ARM did not target the monarchy in the referendum. It did. One way was to say that a No vote was a vote for King Charles and Queen Camilla. This was used on more than one occasion by former NSW Premier Neville Wran. It did not work. Australians are far too sensible for that.

21 November 2002

The Letters Editor
Courier Mail

Sir,
Peter Charlton (19 November 2002) is wrong. The ARM did target the monarchy during the referendum, but this tactic just did not work. And Australians do prefer their constitutional system. In that respect, they are little different from their Canadian cousins. When they were asked whether they supported the constitutional monarchy the result was overwhelmingly 73% support in Quebec to 87% in Atlantic Canada. If Australians were asked that question, rather than about a vague and undefined republic, the result would be similar.

The point is that you can hardly have a debate about grafting a republic on to our splendid Constitution without the participation of one side in the debate. Of course, in any real debate, ACM will be there as it was in 1999.

And ACM will seek to demonstrate, yet again, that Australians are just as supportive of their Constitution as Canadians are.