our flag - as it will STILL be after we vote 'yes'republic oz

why a republic?

  • The queen is not Australian and will never be a resident of this country.
  • She does not and can not represent us.
  • When visiting another country she is always seen as representing Great Britain, not Australia (she is known as the 'Queen of England' to nearly everyone in the world).
  • The only thing she does for us is rubber-stamp the Prime Minister's nomination for Governor-General. (Can you imagine the outcry if she were to refuse our nomination?).
  • Any assessment of her performance in the job as specified in the Constitution must surely result in a 'fail'.
  • It is simply not possible for her today to act as a focal point for Australians in time of need or celebration.
  • We've developed in the 100 years since federation - becoming a republic is a natural step in our progress.
  • We have our own flag, our own national anthem... Why not our own head-of-state?
  • Many say that we already have an Australian head-of-state in the Governor-General. However, the Governor-General is, by definition, the queen's representative. To be an effective head-of-state that shackle must be removed. Also, the fact that we are able to argue over just who is our head-of-state indicates that our constitution is 'broke' and needs fixing.
  • The queen is in her privileged position because she is a Protestant and was born into a specific family. The rules that specify these criteria also give preference to the males of the family. Females only get the nod if there is no male heir. Do we want someone selected on the basis of breeding, religion and sexism to be our head-of-state? Doesn't sound very Australian does it?