The Queen is currently in Australia on her sixteenth visit since her ascention to the throne in 1952. It has been a proud record of maintaining royal ties with this country, especially when you consider that before she visited for the first time in 1954, no British monarch had ever visited this country.
Looking at the political and social landscape in this country, you would have to say that support for the monarchy is probably at an all-time high. Princess Diana, Prince Harry as well as Prince William and Katherine have provided a huge boost, especially among young people. Republicanism in Australia is dead.
There was a time in the 1980s and early '90s under the Hawke and Keating Labor governments when support for a republic in Australia was quite high. Indeed, polls at the time showed that a majority of Australians actually wanted Australia to be a republic. The debate back then was about which model should be adopted. Momentum was so strong that John Howard in 1996 and 1998 promised a constitutional convention and a referendum on becoming a republic. The referendum was held in November 1999 and was soundly defeated despite every newspaper in the country advocating a Yes vote.
The republican movement did not take defeat very well at all. Malcolm Turnbull appeared on TV saying that John Howard was the man who "broke Australia's heart". When Turnbull smelt the opportunity to gain a high paying job with Goldman Sachs buying and selling carbon credits he joined the Liberal party, became Minister for the Environment under "the man who broke Australia's heart" and almost succeeded in having Howard introduce an Emissions Trading Scheme and gaining his lucrative job for life after politics.
This might surprise people outside Canberra, but there is actually a group called the Australian Republican Movement. Granted, they would be able to hold their meetings in a phone booth but they get a great deal of publicity in the media, especially in Canberra. The head of the ARM, ANU academic John Warhurst actually has a weekly column in The Canberra Times. This just shows how irrelevant and out of touch that newspaper really is.
The present system of constitutional monarchy in Australia is so popular because it works, and it works well. Every political or constitutional crisis we have had in this country has been resolved under the present system, and the country has been able to continue along its merry way. Contrast this with the United States, the model so often held up by republicans as the one we should follow.
In 1995, after the Republicans gained control of congress Newt Gingrich decided to shut down the Clinton administration. The government's money was cut off, civil servants and defense personnel were not paid, welfare benefits were cut off and the whole country ground to a halt. When Gingrich was asked why he did it, he replied "because I can". This dragged on for months, there was no way of resolving it. No governor-general to intervene, no way of having the president sacked and no way of calling an election to let the people decide. It was only resolved when opinion polls showed such a backlash against Gingrich and the Republicans that they were forced to back down. When an election was finally held the following year, Clinton won in a landslide.
The fact that republicanism in Australia is now passe has not stopped much of the media mentioning the subject in news reports leading up to the Queen's visit. It's been quite pathetic hearing this crap from the leftist, wannabe luvvies but it is entirely predictable. They have this cockeyed notion that they are somehow injecting "balance" into their reports by mentioning republicanism, but like the relentless cheerleading for Gillard and Green causes it is not going down at all well out in the 'burbs and over the Sunday barbecue.
There has been speculation that this might be the last visit by the Queen, this time around her age is being invoked. This marks a change from previous visits when the media has said that it would be the last visit "before Australia becomes a republic". Of course, neither scenario has very much to do with reality. The Queen is likely to be around for several more years.
So we should all welcome Her Majesty to this country for the symbolism she provides as to our stabilty and way of life. It hasn't come about by accident, it has happened because of our system of government and the role the monarchy plays in keeping the country ticking over at an even keel. We know the monarchy, we know it works, we know the role it has played in this country's development. And we all know there is no credible alternative.
