1. Republican Alternative Jess Mooney Dan Jones Maddy Smith

2. WHAT IS A REPUBLIC? REPUBLIC: A nation that is governed by elected representatives and a Head Of State know as the President. True republics have characteristics such as free elections and parliamentary supremacy, and the role of the president may be ceremonial or political.

3. Arguments For Australia would be represented by an Australian rather than a foreigner who was given the position due to birth right. By replacing the monarchy it would create an egalitarian society where everyone is equal. The power of the government is derived from the people. Allows for the recognition of changed International Relations There is no evidence to support the claims that are made by the monarchists. (Republican governments are claimed to promote executive dominance) If adopted in Australia there would be a possibility that there would be minimal changes.

4. Arguments Against “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it!” The constitution reinforces political stability The link with Britain with reinforces historical, political and cultural traditions In the past, movements towards a republic have show little community support as they were presented by Labor Governments and Corporatist elites. Create a tension between states as their opinions are divided Australia is already a “crowned republic” and this was seen to be “the best of both worlds” Change would lead to unpredictable effects

5. TYPES OF MODLES There are six types of Republican models 1.Prime Minister appoints the President 2.People nominate, Parliament appoints the President 3.Presidential Assembly appoints the President 4.People elect the President 5.People choose from the Parliament’s list 6.Executive Presidency

6. MODEL 1- PM Appoints the President This form allows for minimal change to the political system. The Prime Minster alone selects the Head Of State This model would appeal to the Australian people as the changes that occurred would be minimal and preserving much of our current system. This is also known as the Minimalist model Involves the removal of the Governor General Who is eligible? Every Australian citizen is eligible to become a member of the Commonwealth Parliament, provided that he or she is not a member of the Commonwealth Parliament or a State or Territory Parliament at the time of nomination. How is the Head of State elected? The PM appoints the President How long does the Head of State serve? A period of 5 years If the powers are abused how will the Head of State be removed? The PM If there is a casual vacancy, how is the position filled? If there is a vacancy in the office, it shall be filled with the most senior State governor who will hold the position until an election. What powers shall the Head of State hold? the Head of State will have similar powers to the Governor General

8. PROS This change would require only minimal change to our existing constitution, which has provided for stable government since federation. CONS The appointment of Head of State is confined to one individual - the Prime Minister. The people have no say in who is appointed The president would enjoy neither the benefit of a popular vote for the presidency, nor the advantages of bipartisan parliamentary appointment. He or she may risk being seen as the Prime Ministerial puppet.

9. MODEL 2- People nominate, Parliament appoints the President President could be removed through a normal dissolution of the house of reps Prime minister obliged to nominate a person from the short list of people Every Australian citizen qualified to be a member of the Commonwealth Parliament is qualified to become the President Proposed tenure of 5 years The President would, like most of the proposed models, would have the same powers as the Governor General

11. PROS Every citizen has the chance to nominate a candidate for president and every nomination is considered and made public. Best chance of obtaining an independent, impartial and non- political person as president because the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition have to agree and neither would accept a candidate allied with the other side. Prime Minister loses the power he has now to sack the Governor-General. No need for spending on a Presidential election Our current stable democracy is preserved, whereas an elected President may claim a mandate over the Prime Minister CONS Although this model is more consultative than the 1999 referendum model, there is no direct election of the President. While it has a few significant alterations, is essentially the same model that was defeated 1999.

12. MODEL 3-Presidential Assembly appoints the President Similar to model 2 with the exception that the Head of State is elected by a Presidential assembly The Presidential Assembly is a separate non-party political body The Assembly would have elections every 3 years and hold a term of 6 years Who is eligible? Every Australian citizen proved that they are not a member of the Commonwealth or State or Territory Parliament at the time of nomination. How is one nominated? Must have 1000 nominators with at least 100 from each State. How is one elected? Appointed from a list of nominees set up by the Presidential Assembly How long do they serve? Five year term of office. Limit of two terms. If the need arises, how would they be removed? Similar to the federal judges currently. The two houses of the Parliament agree to dissolve the Head of State based on misbehavior or incapacity. If there is a vacancy, how will the position be filled? The most senior State governor until a Head of State can be appointed by the Presidential Assembly. Power held by the Head of State? Similar to the Governor

14. PROS Offers public participation through the vote for the Presidential Assembly and through the open nominations process, yet does not require codification of the president's powers. While there is greater public participation than models 1 and 2, the existence of the college curbs the presidential mandate. No president can claim a personal mandate superior to the Prime Minister of the day. As in model 2, a wide range of people would agree to nominate for the presidency who would otherwise be reluctant to enter the fray of a general election campaign. The Presidential Assembly keeps the presidency at least one step removed from an issues based campaign and therefore from needing to take a stance on political issues of the day. The cost of elections for the Presidential Assembly are minimized by holding them at the same time as Senate elections. CONS The model stops short of full direct election with all its attendant democratic appeal. While it is intended to bridge the gap between direct electionists and those who favour parliamentary appointment, it may please neither group. The members of the Presidential Assembly are to be elected by the people, but so are the members of the Federal Parliament. Will the Presidential Assembly have any less politicians than the Members of the House of Representatives? Political involvement of the major parties in and around the Presidential Assembly might transform it into a very political body. If that is so, why not simply use the federal parliament as proposed in Model 2?

15. MODEL 4-People elect the President The President or Head of State is directly elected by the people The PM can not remove the President or by the House of Representatives Who is eligible? Every Australian citizen qualified to be a member of the Commonwealth Parliament. How is one nominated and elected? To be nominated, the nominee must have no less that 3000 votes with the minimum of 100 votes per State. Then the people of Australia directly vote for a President through a secret ballot. The voting system used would be preferential. How long does the President serve? A 5 year term How is the President removed from office? Both houses need to agree to the notion. The removal is based upon misbehavior and or incapacity. How is a casual vacancy filled? The senior state governor shall hold the position until an election can be held

17. PROS This is the most openly democratic method of appointing the president, a symbol of the people's sovereignty. CONS Many worthy people would not be prepared to stand against each other in the hurly-burly of a general election. Any popularly elected president would enjoy great prestige and be able to claim a powerful personal mandate. This would necessitate the substantial constitutional reform (and political debate) involved in codifying the President's powers. With such codification, critics might ask: why go to the trouble of electing someone to such a powerless office? Candidates for the office would inevitably be tempted to campaign on the issues of the day, impinging on the president's status as a politically disinterested figure

18. MODEL 5-People Choose from Parliament's List This form allows for the parliament, Presidential Assembly and State or Territory Parliaments to create a list of nominees for the Head of State This list is then presented for scrutiny for a period of one month and is then given to the Federal parliament There is a joint sitting and 7 candidates are to be chosen. There needs to be 2/3 of a majority for the candidates to be chosen and selected for the final 7 nominees. The seven candidates are the put to the people who then vote and elect a President This is done to ensure that only candidates with a strong political party background Who is eligible? Every Australian who is qualified to be a member of Commonwealth Parliament provided that they are not a member of the Commonwealth Parliament or a state or territory parliament at the time of nomination. How is one elected? The people vote by secret ballot Use of Preferential voting The 7 candidates will be made public 3 weeks before the election How long does the term last? The term lasts for 5 years and the President can not serve for more than 2 terms Removal- The same as federal judges. Both of the houses must agree When there is a casual vacancy, who fills it? Senior Governor will hold the position until an election is held

20. PROS Direct popular election of the president. Short listed nominees are more likely to be non party political, due to the necessity of bipartisan parliamentary approval of the short listed nominees - although this is by no means assured. CONS Parliamentary short listing could be seen to be undemocratic- screening out of undesirables from the top job could be seen as contemptuous of the public's commonsense. The model stops short of open direct election yet still empowers a president with a greater personal mandate than the Prime Minister of the day. The political hurdles contained within the codification of the powers must still be faced. Politicians could simply collude to have a candidate from each of the Government and Opposition parties with five also-runs with no prospect of winning. It is naive in the extreme to expect that all of the candidates would be non-political. There are many worthy candidates who would not be prepared to stand against each other in an election.

21. MODEL 6-Executive Presidency The greatest change to the political system if adopted by Australia This would mean that there would be no PM The President would be like the US President and hold executive and some legislative powers therefore he or she would be the Head of State as well as the Head of Government The people elect the President The President would be separate from the legislature therefore the system is more democratic The President would be able to choose the best and brightest as his cabinet instead of being reduced to choosing from parliamentary colleagues

23. PROS Would appear to be more democratic as the Exec. And Leg. Arms of govt would be separate President would be Head of Govt & Head of State and the legislative process could theoretically be quicker Parliament may have power of Appropriation and therefore could monitor and control the Govt through levy of money CONS It’s a radical change to the current system implicated Parliaments ability to function as the main legislative body is impeded The Parliament and the Executive would have to work well and closely together to successfully govern the republic Cabinet would be less accountable to Parliament if at all

24. An Australian Republic If Australia was to become a republic, a committee would be required to remove all references to the monarch in the constitution. An office for the Australian head of state would need to be created and named and how the head of state may be appointed and removed. The new republic should also state how the head of state should be appointed and removed and how the powers of the head of state should be made subject to the same conventions. The terms of reference would require the committee to produce an ‘options paper’ describing the minimum constitutional changes necessary to achieve a viable federal republic of Australia, whilst maintaining the effect of our current conventions and principles of government. With minimalist change to the constitution, Australia would still be able to dominate the Commonwealth Games.

25. 1998 Republic convention & 1999 Referendum the convention was intended to act as ‘a voice of the people’ However half the delegates were elected & the others appointed by Howard Postal voluntary voting limited the outcome 152 – 45 monarchists – 78 republicans = 29 uncommitted delegates the convention seemed to favour a minimalist model if applied The referendum lead up became more of an election campaign with huge amounts of interest The result of the referendum was obviously lost, with 55% voters voting against There was a relatively strong rejection of change but it didn’t end the issue The most productive thing to come out of the convention & referendum was that Australia should adopt a better preamble to the constitution

26. In Conclusion In conclusion we think that Australia could benefit from a republic government as our Head of State would be a better representation of the political and cultural ideologies However there should only be minimal change as the past has proven that Australians do not like political change And if we were to become a republic we could still participate in the Commonwealth Games….and dominate!!

27. RESOURCES Web Sites http://www.republic.org.au/6models/sixmodels_9a.htm www.en.wikipedia.org/republic Books Process and Participation, John Willmott and Julian Dowse, 2004 The Layman’s Guide to Political and Legal studies Year 12, Dr Peter Milnes and Wayne Spindler, 2004 The Layman’s Guide to Politcal and Legal studies TEE study Guide, Dr Peter Milnes and Wayne Spindler, 2004