The British Monarchy - and its dirty laundry - have got to go

Note that I have referred to constitutional arrangements rather than simply the question of our Head of State. As National Chair of the ARM from 2000-02, and prior to that as National Campaign Director for the 1999 Referendum, I was concerned to ensure that the republic debate remained solely focused on how we deliver a Head of State who is one of us.

In the light of events in the past 18 months both here and overseas, I now strongly believe that the debate on a republic must encompass human rights and responsive governance.

My views on this have been informed by what has happened to asylum seekers in Australia, by attempts by the current government, aided and abetted by the ALP to some extent, to curtail or eradicate fundamental rights and liberties, and by the fact that, as I traversed the nation talking about the republic, many Australians believe that our governance is out of step with the reality of economic and social life today.

Let me take firstly the issue of human rights. It is of no value to discuss an Australian republic if we are not prepared to enshrine within it republican values of equality, fairness and respect. Australia’s record in regard to these values is now appalling.

Our treatment of asylum seekers has been condemned by every medical organization in the country, the UN, legal groups, prominent and not so prominent Australians. We lock up young children behind razor wire and say that we, post Bali, are defending our democratic values!

As disturbingly, we are providing unprecedented power to the executive to lock up people as young as 14 for up to seven days, without any reasonable suspicion that they may have committed a crime, and we are going to deny them a lawyer for the first two days of their incarceration.

We have abolished the fundamental right for people to appeal to the courts against decisions taken by the executive that impact on their lives.

If a republic debate is to have any lasting value, and if it is to be truly successful, then we must challenge this insidious undermining of republican values. We must look afresh at a Bill of Rights, we must look at developing a strong and enforceable human rights framework to protect the innocent, the oppressed and those who become pawns in the cynical political by plays of governments.

This is what a republic is about.

And a republic is also about ensuring that our governance arrangements re responsive – that it the concept of sovereignty in the people – a key republican value – is grounded in the reality of their lives.

As some of you know, as Chair of the ARM, I spent much of my time in regional Australia. And one of the issues that came up time and time again when I met with people was – why can’t we move towards more autonomy for regions.

Recently, Professor Peter Brain released the 2002 State of the Regions Report for the Australian Local Government Association. Brain identified more empirically what I had picked up in my travels. That state governments, and the federal government, are remote from the people. They are also, of necessity, inflexible in responding to particular regions’ needs and desires, strengths and weaknesses.