Department of the Parliamentary Library INFORMATION AND RESEARCH SERVICES •~J..>t~)~.J&~l<~t~& Research Paper No. 25 1998-99 From Constitutional Convention to Republic Referendum: A Guide to the Processes, the Issues and the Participants ISSN 1328-7478 © Copyright Commonwealth ofAustralia 1999 Except to the exteot of the uses permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means including information storage and retrieval systems, without the prior written consent of the Department ofthe Parliamentary Library, other than by Senators and Members ofthe Australian Parliament in the course oftheir official duties. This paper has been prepared for general distribntion to Senators and Members ofthe Australian Parliament. While great care is taken to ensure that the paper is accurate and balanced,the paper is written using information publicly available at the time of production. The views expressed are those of the author and should not be attributed to the Information and Research Services (IRS). Advice on legislation or legal policy issues contained in this paper is provided for use in parliamentary debate and for related parliamentary purposes. This paper is not professional legal opinion. Readers are reminded that the paper is not an official parliamentary or Australian govermnent document. IRS staff are available to discuss the paper's contents with Senators and Members and their staffbut not with members ofthe public. , ,. Published by the Department ofthe Parliamentary Library, 1999 INFORMATION AND RESEARCH SERVICES , Research Paper No. 25 1998-99 From Constitutional Convention to Republic Referendum: A Guide to the Processes, the Issues and the Participants Professor John Warhurst Consultant, Politics and Public Administration Group , 29 June 1999 Acknowledgments This is to acknowledge the considerable help that I was given in producing this paper. I would particularly like to thank all my colleagues in the Politics and Public Administration Group andthe other Information and Research Services colleagues who attended the workshop on 28 April. And lowe special thanks to Diane Hynes without whose administrative assistance this production would never have seen the light of day. Inquiries Further copies ofthis publication may be purchased from the: Publications Distribution Officer Telephone: (02) 6277 2720 Information and Research Services publications are available on the PariInfo database. On the Internet the Department ofthe Parliamentary Library can be found at: http://www.aph.gov.au/library/ A list ofIRS publications may be obtained from the: IRS Publications Office Telephone: (02) 6277 2760 Contents Major Issues , .i Introduction 1 Processes 1 Issues 2 Participants 4 Debating the Republic ,.. 5 Chronology 5 Purpose ofthe Constitutional Convention 8 Outcomes ofthe Constitutional Convention 9 The Bipartisan Appointment ofthe President ModeL 11 The Referendum Process 12 Public Opinion 13 Major Participants in The Debate 15 Issues for Resolution during 1999 16 The Timing ofthe Referendum 16 The Referendum Questions 16 The Public Education Programme 17 The YES and NO Media Campaigns 18 The Presidential Nominations Committee 18 Implications for the States 18 Conclusion 18 , Endnotes 19 Appendix 1: Delegates to the 1998 Constitutional Convention 23 Appendix 2: Summary ofConstitutional Referendums 29 Appendix 3: Opinion Polls on an Australian Republic 3I Appendix 4: Poll Data 33 Appendix 5: Governments and Political Parties 35 Appendix 6: YES Community Organisations 41 Appendix 7: NO Community Organisations 45 Appendix 8: The YES and NO Campaign Organisations 49 Appendix 9: Educational Organisations 51 Appendix 10: Some Additional Public Figures 53 From Constitutional Convention to Republic Referendum Major Issues This paper provides the background necessary for an understanding of the context of the republic referendum to be held on 6 November 1999. Its purpose is not to critically examine the contending arguments being put by monarchists and republicans, as this has been done already by the participants and others, but rather to provide a guide to the processes, issues and participants. In particular, the paper sketches: • the contemporary evolution ofthe monarchy-republic debate • the pattern ofpublic opinion • the emergence ofthe key community organisations • the Constitutional Convention in February 1998 • the referendum process • the positions adopted by the political parties • the positions adopted by Commonwealth and state government leaders • the way in which political institutions, such as the executive and the parliament, are processing the issue, and • the likely dynamics and shape ofevents over the final six months before the referendum. The aim ofthe paper is to enable those interested in the referendum to follow the debate as it unfolds by identifYing the roles and positions ofthe key actors. Contact addresses ofthe major players and suggestions for further reading are included for this purpose. Cross­ references are given to a wide range of complementary papers and notes produced by Information and Research Services. From Constitutional Convention to Republic Referendum Introduction This paper aims to be a guide to the participants, issues and processes in the debate leading up to the constitutional referendum to decide whether Australia will become a republic. While there is some discussion ofthe debate about the preamble this paper is not meant to be a guide to that issue. It concentrates particularly on the years 1998-1999, especially from the February 1998 Constitutional Convention (CC) to April 1999, in the lead-up to the November 1999 referendum. But to put these years in their proper context and to explain the emergence of the key organisations and individual personalities, the account of the whole decade must be told. The referendum has focused the debate. It will be conducted according to well-worn constitutional provisions, which are spelled out in the Constitution and elaborated in legislation for the conduct of referenda. But it also has its own unusual characteristics. These include the pre-eminent role played by community organisations in a formally non­ partisan referendum. Furthermore, the referendum is being put by a prime minister who is personally opposed to the change, but who has declared that he will play no active part in the campaign. Processes Australian debate about republicanism became serious, if the measure is some prospect of constitutional change, in the 1990s. The decade has seen a transformation of the debate though the emergence oforganised groups in the community, changing attitudes within the political parties and a generalised concern with constitutional reform as the centenary of federation approaches on I January 2001. The key events have been those that have brought closer the likelihood of a govemment putting before the parliament a bill to have the issue considered by the Australian people at a constitutional referendum held under section 128 of the constitution. They have included: • the appointment ofthe Republic Advisory Committee by the Keating Labor Government in May 1993 1 From Constitutional Convention to Republic Referendum • the address by the Prime Minister, Paul Keating, to the Parliament on 7 June 1995 in which he set a timetable ofa republic by 2001 • the campaign promise by the victorious Coalition parties at the March 1996 federal elections to call a people's convention to address the issue • the holding of the Constitutional Convention at Old Parliament House in Canberra in February 1998 • the recommendations by the Constitutional Convention that a republican model be put to the people at a referendum towards the end of1999, and • the mechanisms and processes being put in place during 1999 by the Howard Government. Issues The general debate about the competing virtues ofmonarchy and republic has been shaped by the events of the 1990s. The focus has been the adoption of the so-called 'minimalist' model by Paul Keating's Labor government and the Australian Republican Movement (ARM) and its reincarnation, with amendments, as the Bipartisan Parliamentary Appointment of the President model as the preferred model of the Constitutional Convention. By the time ofthe elections for the Constitutional Convention the organised opponents of change, Australians for Constitutional Monarchy (ACM), were campaigning behind the slogan 'No Republic'. The elements oftheir campaign are: • the existing constitution has served Australia well and is not 'broke' • no substantial arguments have been put forward for radical constitutional change • there are no discernible benefits • the move to a republic might destabilise the political system • the preferred republican model has particular weaknesses, such as the unrestricted ability ofthe Prime Minister to dismiss the President, and • there is no hurry for change even ifthe republic is inevitable in the long term. The elections for the Constitutional Convention brought into the open the different strands in a republican movement dominated until that stage by the 'minimalist' Australian Republican Movement. These other republicans almost always wanted more expansive 2 From Constitutional Convention to Republic Referendum change. They held caucus meetings during the convention to organise opposition to a president elected by Parliament. After the convention a majority ofthese delegates, led by Ted Mack, Phil Cleary and Clem Jones formed the Real Republicans.