The Australian Republican Movement has demographics and logic on its side

Opponents of federation had no scruples about making silly arguments, either. Here’s one of the songs that the “Anti-Billites” used in their Victorian campaigns:

Up with the people’s flag, boys,
And warn the Billites “Nay”
We’ll never let them drag, boys,
Our hard won rights away,
Ours is our children’s cause, boys,
Ours is freedom’s cause, boys,
Ours is Australia’s cause, boys,
Australia.

There are two things to note about this song. The first is that with its inane repetition and appeal to the lowest common denominator, the Anti-Billites campaign neatly anticipates phrases like “Don’t know? Vote no”, and “Vote no to the politicians’ Republic”. The second is that - a century on - no one remembers the anti-Billites. Their name sounds as strange to us today as the Australian Monarchist League will sound to Australians at the end of the 21st century.

But the extreme enemies of federation have nothing on organisations such as Australians for a Constitutional Monarchy and the Australian Monarchists’ League. Here’s David Flint, writing in 2006 to his fellow members of Australians for a Constitutional Monarchy:

Australia’s second republican movement was for long subsidised and under the instructions of the Soviet Union. Without the Soviet Union it would have been impoverished and directionless. It is unlikely that it would have been able to occupy the positions of significance it did in the trade union movement and in political life. … Had they [the Bolsheviks] not come into power, there would have been no significant Communist Party of Australia, and no second republican movement.

Of course, its easy to see how this has shaped the republican movement today. Who can forget the massive TV campaign run by the Communist Party in 1999, with their image of the hammer and sickle intertwined with the Southern Cross? And republicans all recall turning up to the polling booths to see the Communist Party workers, a sea of red t-shirts handing out their “Vote Yes for the Proletarian Republic” cards. While it was a pity to lose the referendum, the fifth column strategy will at least create some entertaining moments when communist agent Malcolm Turnbull finally announces that his first act as prime minister will be to abolish private property.

Extreme enemies make for light entertainment, but they also impede reform. As the republican movement saw in 1999, opponents who have no regard for the truth can be dangerously successful.

Conclusion

Considering the challenges that stood in the face of federation movement in the late-19th century this may sound like a pessimistic message for the Republican movement today. This is how the supporters of federation felt in the early-1890s. At the time, prospects for federation were not looking good. But they persevered, and federation became a reality.

For republicans, it will require perseverance, and the knowledge that logic is on our side. If Australian was writing the Australian Constitution today, would we really decide that a Briton should be head of state? The Australian Republican movement has demographics on our side too. Recently I took my three-month-old son Sebastian to attend the first birthday party of his friend Phoebe. It offends me that Sebastian and Phoebe cannot aspire to be Australia’s head of state. But to them, it will probably just seem quaint and outmoded, like snuff boxes, fountain pens, and rotary dial phones.

As well as logic and demographics, small things may help us along. In the 1880s and 1890s, Australia enjoyed a number of cricketing victories over England, leading The Bulletin to reflect that “this ruthless rout of English cricket will do - and has done - more to enhance the cause of Australian nationality than ever could be achieved by miles of erudite essays and impassioned appeal”.

Just as the cause of federation was helped by the flick of Fred Spofforth’s wrist, so too the fortunes of modern-day Republicanism may be affected by factors well outside our control. With a change of prime minister, or a change of monarch, republicanism may enjoy a surge of approval. The principle is the same, but to many Australians, voting for one of our own as head of state may look a little more attractive when it is Charles III, rather than Elizabeth II, on the throne.

Above all, republicans must remain optimistic. Manning Clarke once said that Australians could be divided into two groups - the enlargers and the straighteners. Australian Republicans should be proud to carry on the mantle of enlarging the great Australian project.

As Henry Parkes told the 1890 Federation Conference in Melbourne, “We have everything in our favour - the differences between us are small and temporary; the bonds of union are large and lasting”. We may not prevail tomorrow, but we will prevail.