Australian Republican Movement

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Australian Republican Movement


Founded	July 1991
Headquarters	Canberra, Australia

Ideology	Australian republicanism
International affiliation	Common Cause

Website www.republic.org.au

The Australian Republican Movement (ARM) is a non-partisan lobby group advocating constitutional change in Australia to a republican form of government, from a constitutional monarchy.

1 History
2 Affiliations
3 See also
4 External links
5 References

[edit] History

[edit] Foundation

The ARM was founded in July 1991, following the Australian Labor Party's adoption of republicanism as a policy at its conference in June of that year.

The ARM's first chairman was the novelist Thomas Keneally, with other founding members including the investment banker (now Liberal party politician) Malcolm Turnbull, the former Australian cricket captain, Ian Chappell, and the film director Fred Schepisi. It is currently headed by retired Major-General Michael Keating^[1].

[edit] Arguments

The ARM argues that Australia should become a Republic with the Australian Head of state, currently Queen Elizabeth II Queen of Australia (and Great Britain), an Australia citizen and resident. The ARM seeks to do this through a series of plebiscites providing the population direct input to any decision.

[edit] 1999 referendum

Although opinion polls showed that many Australians favoured becoming a republic^[2], divisions emerged in the Movement between those who favoured indirect election of the President by Parliament, and those who favoured direct election by the people. This led to Australian voters rejecting at a referendum in 1999 a constitutional amendment to a specific form of republic described by some as the "minimalist" model because it involved the least change to the constitution of the various republican models proposed.

[edit] Affiliations

The ARM is a member of Common Cause, an alliance of Commonwealth republican movements, each seeking to change their country's status as a Commonwealth Realms to Commonwealth republics. The ARM is not associated with any political party.