Like what you've read?

On Line Opinion is the only Australian site where you get all sides of the story. We don't
charge, but we need your support. Here�s how you can help.

  • Advertise

    We have a monthly audience of 70,000 and advertising packages from $200 a month.

  • Volunteer

    We always need commissioning editors and sub-editors.

  • Contribute

    Got something to say? Submit an essay.


 The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
On Line Opinion logo ON LINE OPINION - Australia's e-journal of social and political debate

Subscribe!
Subscribe





On Line Opinion is a not-for-profit publication and relies on the generosity of its sponsors, editors and contributors. If you would like to help, contact us.
___________

Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

The Nation is best served when our leader must answer to the people

By Greg Barns - posted Friday, 16 May 2003


When the Treasurer, Peter Costello, told Channel Ten's Meet the Press last week that the appointment of a Governor-General is "a personal appointment … the Prime Minister's appointment … not a Cabinet, … not a parliamentary [appointment]", he succinctly articulated just how broken the system is and why any republican model would deliver a better result for our democracy.

The key question that emerges from the sad Peter Hollingworth affair is how we prevent it from occurring again. There is only one way. The process of appointment of the Queen's representative or a president must be transparent and involve the Australian community.

Under the most practical and popular republican models on offer - a parliamentary appointment or a direct election - the skeletons in the cupboard of any contender would be shaken out before he or she was ensconced at Yarralumla.

Advertisement

We would avoid the agonising and unseemly death of a thousand cuts that the nation has to bear over Hollingworth.

John Howard should follow the lead of the Queensland Premier, Peter Beattie, in this regard. In March, Beattie put the appointment of the new Governor of Queensland, Quentin Bryce, to the Queensland Parliament for debate.

Beattie also announced on March 11 that when the time came to appoint Bryce's replacement, he believed that the general public should be asked to nominate people for the Premier to consider, with the Premier's choice then being put to the Parliament for discussion.

While Beattie is a republican, his reforms are of no consequence to that issue. They are about democratising the appointment process of the Queen's representative - something that even a monarchist Prime Minister or Premier should support.

Of course, for republicans the Hollingworth matter is a gift. An Australian republic will involve either a direct election of a president by the people, a parliamentary appointment process, or perhaps the halfway house of an electoral college of commonwealth and state representatives that elects a president.

All of these alternatives are a vast improvement of the current system: they are utterly transparent and would fully flesh out the background and credentials of candidates for the top job.

Advertisement

More importantly, they would ensure that any person who was fortunate enough to become Australia's president would know that it was the people who made the selection, not simply a Prime Minister and a far away monarch.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. All

Article edited by Merrindahl Andrew.
If you'd like to be a volunteer editor too, click here.

This article was published on the Sydney Morning Herald website on 12 May 2003.



Discuss in our Forums

See what other readers are saying about this article!

Click here to read & post comments.

Share this:
reddit this reddit thisbookmark with del.icio.us Del.icio.usdigg thisseed newsvineSeed NewsvineStumbleUpon StumbleUponsubmit to propellerkwoff it

About the Author

Greg Barns is National President of the Australian Lawyers Alliance.

Other articles by this Author

All articles by Greg Barns
Related Links
Australian Republican Movement
Australians for a Constitutional Monarchy
Other articles by Greg Barns
Role of the Governor General
Photo of Greg Barns
Article Tools
Comment Comments
Print Printable version
Subscribe Subscribe
Email Email a friend
Advertisement

About Us Search Discuss Feedback Legals Privacy