Australians for Constitutional Monarchy (ACM) is a group that aims to preserve Australia's current constitutional monarchy, with Charles III as King of Australia. The group states that it is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organisation whose role is "To preserve, to protect and to defend our heritage: the Australian constitutional system, the role of the Crown in it and our Flag".
On 4 June 1992 Australians for Constitutional Monarchy held their first public meeting at Sydney Town Hall attended by about 450 people. The foundation council included the former Chief Justice of the High Court, Sir Harry Gibbs; the Chancellor of Sydney University, Dame Leonie Kramer; former Sydney Lord Mayor, Mr Doug Sutherland; the President of the NSW Court of Appeal, Justice Michael Kirby; former Liberal Party Federal President, Sir John Atwill; and Mr Barry O'Keefe QC.[1][2]
Australians for Constitutional Monarchy was active in challenging Australia's republican organisations and playing a key role in the "No Republic" campaign during the lead up to Australia's 1999 republic referendum, receiving 73.39% of the constitutional monarchist vote for the 1998 Constitutional Convention.[3]Kerry Jones, ACM's Executive Director was appointed by the Prime Minister as Chairman of the official Vote No Committee, while Malcolm Turnbull became Chairman of the Vote Yes Committee. On the basis of votes won in the Convention election, ACM received eight seats and independent republicans two. Over 50,000 supporters worked in the ACM campaign across the Commonwealth, with full-time directors being appointed in all states and the ACT, reporting to a full-time National Campaign Director. Coordinators were appointed in each of the Federal electorates, 72% of whom subsequently voted No, with the national Yes vote totalling 45%.
Government House protest
The group also organised a public protest against the eviction of New South Wales GovernorGordon Samuels from Government House by PremierBob Carr, in 1996. The march blocked Macquarie Street with over 20,000 people, the largest monarchist or republican demonstration in Australia. The campaign was revived in 2007, with a brochure being distributed and candidates being asked their views in the state election. Active campaigning continued and in 2011, Premier Barry O'Farrell agreed to return Governor Marie Bashir to Government House.
Today, the organisation, which describes itself as a "grassroots community organisation", continues to advocate the retention of constitutional monarchy as the preferred model of governance for Australia.
Primary amongst the group's activities is the publication of news and information about Australia's constitution, government, and Crown. Such information is published largely on their official site in the form of information sheets, or by way of an opinion column from the National Convenor, and in its many publications. These include materials and books discussing a variety of topics related to Australia's Crown. During the referendum campaign, these included the Vote No papers, and Professor David Flint's Cane Toad Republic. After the referendum, Kerry Jones's story of the campaign, The People's Protest, was published.
ACM also holds events across Australia each year. The main event is an annual national conference that typically runs for one to three days, with many invited speakers from the Australian community. Past speakers have included Prime MinisterJohn Howard and former Official Secretary to the Governor-General of AustraliaSir David Smith. The last National Conference was held in Sydney in November 2021. ACM says it is the only organization, monarchist or republican, to have held an annual national conference each year since the referendum. ACM's State Convenors are also responsible for the organisation of events that occur in each of the Australian states and the Australian Capital Territory.
In December 2006, Tony Abbott, the then Minister for Health, launched an ACM monograph Her Majesty at 80: Impeccable Service in an Indispensable Office, with a foreword by Abbott, and written by Flint.[4]
ACM argues against the proposal by some republicans to have a series of plebiscites and referendums to achieve a republic, while also criticising the lack of a specific republican model. ACM also opposes the use of plebiscites, which it claims can be abused, and liken to a "blank cheque".[5] They argue that the Constitution requires a referendum before any constitutional change, where all the details of change are given before and not after the vote. They also argue the republicans are demanding change, without having any idea of the change they want.[6] ACM conducted an "information campaign" to inform voters of the perceived negative aspects of the plan, and during the 2004 federal election, approximately one million pamphlets on this subject were distributed in selected electorates. ACM also advises its supporters of which electoral candidates support the present constitutional monarchy.
ACM currently makes a point of fighting what Michael Kirby called "a republic by stealth," which they define as subtle removal of the Crown from Australian life. These include removals of references to the Crown from oaths and legislation, the replacement of the position of King's Counsel in some states with that of Senior Counsel. More recently, one of their key campaigns has been opposing the removal of the Governor of New South Wales from Government House by the Carr government. It was a campaign they won with Governor Marie Bashir being returned to Government House in 2011.
ACM also objected to the plan by organisers of the 2006 Commonwealth Games, being held in Melbourne, to not include a playing of the Australian Royal Anthem at the opening of the Games, where the Queen would be present, declaring this to be a rebuff to the monarch. Young ACM supporters distributed sheets setting out the words of the National and Royal Anthems to the crowds going into the opening ceremony. In the end, the attendees in the stadium joined Dame Kiri Te Kanawa in singing "Happy Birthday" as well as eight bars of the Royal Anthem. In the same year, ACM led the opposition to the campaign by the Australian Republican Movement, named "A Mate for a Head of State."
Membership
The ACM has members who support the charter as well as members of the company limited by guarantee which undertakes the financial and management responsibility of the organization.
The original Foundation Council included people such as Michael Kirby (a Justice of the High Court), Justice Lloyd Waddy, Dame Leonie Kramer, Barry O'Keefe, Helen Sham-Ho, and others, including the late Neville Bonner, Dr. Margaret Olley, Sir Harry Gibbs, and Sir John Atwill. The first National Executive Director was Tony Abbott, who served between 1992 and 1994, with Justice Waddy serving as the organisations first National Convenor. During Abbott's time, a group for under 30s - Young Australians for Constitutional Monarchy - was founded by Jason Groves. When he moved to the United Kingdom in 1998, he was succeeded by Julian Leeser. Groves has been UK Convenor of ACM since that time.
When Abbott was elected to Parliament in 1994, he was succeeded by Kerry Jones, with Justice Waddy later being succeeded by Professor David Flint, the current National Convener. In 2007, Thomas Flynn succeeded Kerry Jones as executive director.
Republicanism in Australia is a movement to change Australia's system of government from a constitutional parliamentary monarchy to a republic, typically a parliamentary republic that would replace the monarch of Australia with a non-royal Australian head of State, as opposed to monarchism in Australia. Republicanism was first espoused in Australia before Federation in 1901. After a period of decline after Federation, the movement again became prominent at the end of the 20th century after successive legal and socio-cultural changes loosened Australia's ties with the United Kingdom.
Constitutional Conventions in Australia are significant meetings that have debated the Australian Constitution. The first two gatherings debated Federation and what form of Constitution to adopt, while the following conventions debated amendments to the document.
The Australian Republic Movement (ARM) is a non-partisan organisation campaigning for Australia to become a republic. ARM and its supporters have promoted various models of a republic including parliamentary republic and it is, again, reviewing its preferred model.
Kerry Lyn Jones is the current executive director of the Constitution Education Fund Australia (CEFA).
Canadian republicanism is a movement for the replacement of the monarchy of Canada and a monarch as head of state with a parliamentary republic and a democratically-selected Canadian as head of state. Republicans are driven by various factors, such as a perception of inequality in the concept of excluding all but members of the royal family from the position or the argument that Canadian independence will not be achieved until Canadians can choose their own head of state independently and democratically.
The Australian republic referendum held on 6 November 1999 was a two-question referendum to amend the Constitution of Australia. The first question asked whether Australia should become a republic, with a president appointed by Parliament following a bi-partisan appointment model which had been approved by a half-elected, half-appointed Constitutional Convention held in Canberra in February 1998. The second question, generally deemed to be far less important politically, asked whether Australia should alter the Constitution to insert a preamble. Since the early 1990s opinion polls had suggested that a majority of the electorate favoured a republic in principle. Nonetheless, the republic referendum was defeated.
New Zealand Republic Inc. is an organisation formed in 1994 whose object is to support the creation of a New Zealand republic.
Republicanism in New Zealand is the political position that New Zealand's system of government should be changed from a constitutional monarchy to a republic.
David Edward Flint is an Australian legal academic, known for his leadership of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy and for his tenure as head of the Australian Broadcasting Authority.
A referendum on becoming a republic was held in South Africa on 5 October 1960. The Afrikaner-dominated right-wing National Party, which had come to power in 1948, was avowedly republican and regarded the position of Queen Elizabeth II as the South African monarch as a relic of British imperialism. The National Party government subsequently organised the referendum on whether the then Union of South Africa should become a republic. The vote, which was restricted to whites—the first such national election in the union—was narrowly approved by 52.29% of the voters. The Republic of South Africa was constituted on 31 May 1961.
The Australian Monarchist League (AML) is an incorporated nonprofit organisation, that runs throughout Australia, promoting and educating on the Australian Constitution and monarchy. The organisation was part of the successful "no" campaign in the 1999 republic referendum, which asked whether Australia should become a republic and whether Australia should alter the constitution to insert a preamble. Neither of the amendments passed.
A process model is, in the context of the republic debate in Australia, a model for the process by which the questions surrounding whether and how Australia should become a republic may be answered. A number of process models have been processed. Proposed process models are a subject of debate within the Republicanism movement. Such debate usually surrounds whether the people should be asked to choose between the current system and a general republican system of government, one specific republican system of government, or multiple alternative republican systems of government.
The monarchy of Australia is a key component of Australia's form of government, embodied by the Australian sovereign and head of state. The Australian monarchy is a constitutional one, modelled on the Westminster system of parliamentary government, while incorporating features unique to the constitution of Australia.
Alan John Fitzgerald was an Australian author, journalist and satirist. He was known for his unwavering opposition to the Australian republican movement and worked alongside Tony Abbott during Abbott's tenure as president of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy (ACM) during the 1990s.
Australia is a constitutional monarchy whose Sovereign also serves as Monarch of the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Canada and eleven other former dependencies of the United Kingdom including Papua New Guinea, which was formerly a dependency of Australia. These countries operate as independent nations, and are known as Commonwealth realms. The history of the Australian monarchy has involved a shifting relationship with both the monarch and also the British government.
A constitutional referendum was held in Brazil on 21 April 1993 to determine the form of government of the country. After the re-democratization of Brazil, an article in the new Constitution determined the holding of a referendum for voters to decide if the country should remain a republic or become a monarchy again, and if the system of government should be presidential or parliamentary. Voting for "monarchy" and "presidentialism" in tandem would annul one's vote.
The Australian head of state dispute is a debate as to who is considered to be the head of state of Australia—the monarch, the governor-general, or both. "Head of state" is a description used in official sources for the monarch, but the Australian constitution does not mention the term. In discussion it has been used for describing the person who holds the highest rank among the officers of government. A number of writers, most notably Sir David Smith, have argued that the term is better used to describe the governor-general. The difference of opinion has mainly been discussed in the context of Australia becoming a republic, and was prominently debated in the lead-up to the republic referendum in 1999.
The 1998 Australian Constitutional Convention was a Constitutional Convention which gathered at Old Parliament House, Canberra from 2 to 13 February 1998. It was called by the Howard government to discuss whether Australia should become a republic. The convention concluded with "in principle support" for an Australian republic and proposed a model involving appointment of the head of state by Parliament. The model was put to a referendum in November 1999 and rejected by the Australian electorate.
Republicanism in Norway is a movement to replace the constitutional monarchy with a republican form of government. The country has always been ruled by a monarch and has never been a republic. Since 1905 and the dissolution of the union with Sweden several republican movements and thoughts have arisen. Currently, the Norwegian Republican Association is the only non-partisan organisation campaigning to abolish the monarchy and make Norway a republic.
Monarchism in Australia is a movement supporting the continuation of the Australian monarchy, as opposed to republicanism. The largest monarchist organisations in the country are the Australian Monarchist League and the Australians for Constitutional Monarchy.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
