The republican movement of today takes the report from the Republic Advisory Committee, 1993, as its main source of information about the available options for an Australian republic. This report has blinkered the republican movement and limited the options that they have considered. There are assumptions in the terms of reference that are incorrect and that have not been examined.

The assumptions in the terms of reference that the republican movement has been working with for the last 20 years need to be re-examined. The reference term number 4, for example, assumes that the  monarch can exercise the reserve powers of the Governor-General. That assumption is plainly wrong. The Queen and Governor-General are two distinct roles and these roles are not equivalent, nor can the two roles be reduced into one role given the existing structure of Executive Government. The assumption was made in the terms of reference that the Queen and Governor-General are one and the same amorphous entity. The reality is that the Queen is completely removed from any political power, while the Governor-General is not. Many of the political problems for the republican movement stem from the attempt to roll the two roles of Queen and Governor-General into the one role of Head of State in their models. This report is the root of that error.

One consequence of the incorrect assumptions about the Queen and the Governor-General acting as if they were one in Australia’s Executive Government, is that the stated aim to “describe the minimum constitutional changes necessary to achieve a viable Federal Republic of Australia” cannot be realised with these terms of reference. The proposed changes to the Constitution for the 1999 referendum included a complete re-write of the sections defining Executive Government. Rather than being minimalist, the proposed changes to the Constitution in the 1999 referendum entailed the maximum number of proposed changes since Federation. Test this empirically with a word count of proposed changes for every referendum since 1901. The terms of reference of this report were contradictory because of the incorrect assumptions that were made in the terms.

Here are the terms of reference for the Republic Advisory Committee from their report An Australian Republic: The Options, Volume 1 The Report, 1993, page iv:

TERMS OF REFERENCE

The current purpose is to obtain an options paper which describes the minimum constitutional changes necessary to achieve a viable Federal Republic of Australia, maintaining the effect of our current conventions and principles of government. There is no intention that the Committee should examine any options which would otherwise change our structure of government, including the relationship between the Commonwealth and the States. Even with this limited purpose, however, it will be necessary to examine a variety of practical possibilities and consult widely with the community.

The Committee should describe and analyse the possibilities and the main arguments for and against them, but should not make recommendations as such. The Committee’s final report should be available to the Prime Minister by 1 September 1993.

In light of the above, the report should address the following matters:

1. The removal of all references to the monarch in the Constitution.

2. In light of this, the need for the creation of a new office of Head of State and consideration of what the office might be called.

3. The provisions for the appointment and termination of appointment of the Head of State including the method of selection and appointment, eg

- selection and appointment by the government of the day

- selection by the government and endorsement by both Houses of Parliament

- appointment by an ‘electoral college’ comprising representatives of various parliaments

- appointment following election by the Federal Parliament

- popular election

4. How the powers of the new Head of State and their exercise can be made subject to the same conventions and principles which apply to the powers of the Governor-General.

5. The nature of the amendments to the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act required to implement the options.

6. The implications for the States.

7. Other aspects which arise in the Committee’s deliberations and consultations providing they are relevant to the overall objective in the opening paragraph above.