Preview

Australia should become a Republic - Persuasive Argument with Pros and Cons

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
809 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Australia should become a Republic - Persuasive Argument with Pros and Cons
Australia should become a Republic not a constitutional Monarchy

But what is a republic? A nation, where the head of state is a citizen of that country and was chosen because of their efforts and achievements, is a republic. If the head of state was chosen because of their birthright, then the system of government would be called a monarchy. Australia is a monarchy and the Queen of England is our head of state. The Governor-General is the representative of the Queen in Australia and he or she is appointed by the Prime Minister.

Australia is a monarchy because it was colonized by the British in 1778. With them, they brought their lifestyles, culture and system of government. This type of government has remained up to this day. The reason why some Australians say that we should become a republic is because they believe that we have become independent as a country and own our own name, instead of being another part of Brittan. They believe that we need a change, considering that Australia has changed greatly since 1778.

There aren 't too many difficulties for Australia becoming a republic. A big change in government as a directly elected president would require the comprehensive re-writing of the Australian constitution, clear explanation of the powers of the president, the prime minister and the parliament though. There is also the problem of the cost of replacing all currency to remove the Queen 's face from coins, but, we would have to replace all the currency when the Queen died anyway to put the new royal face on.

For:

Becoming a republic benefits businesses and the economy. International trade is becoming increasingly competitive and the way Australia positions itself as a nation is important. When the Queen travels overseas she promotes British companies and British trade, not Australian interests.

Using South Africa for an example, becoming a republic does not mean that we won 't be part of the Commonwealth. Countries like India and South Africa have are



Bibliography: http://www.actnow.com.au/Issues/Australian_republic_debate.aspx http://my.integritynet.com.au/purdic/vivalarepublic.htm http://home.alphalink.com.au/~eureka/case2.htm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_republicanism http://www.republic.org.au/homepagehtml.htm http://www.norepublic.com.au/

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    * Constitutional Monarchy: Powers of the monarch reduced by laws. Governor General represents the Monarch. E.G. Australia operates as a democracy.…

    • 1478 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Australia's collective desire of nationalism as well as patriotism lead to its formation as a federation and this willingness to unify the divided colonies was a reflection of an ulterior, racist purpose. Federation is the act of constituting a political unity out of a number of separate colonies or states. Before Australia's eventual federation on January 1 of 1901, there had been years of debate, since the idea was first introduced in Sydney during an inter-colonial conference until its implementation almost twenty years later, on whether or not Australia should federate. Prior to 1901 the country was divided into 6 separate, self-governing colonies, each ultimately under Britain's rule and numerous politicians had been pushing for Australia to federate and after being initially rejected during a conference in Melbourne in 1899 it was later given Royal Assent on 9 July, 1900. There were a number of reasons that opposed the idea to federate. Fears of smaller colonies being overpowered, patriotic feelings towards a particular colony, the cost of running a central parliament would be too high, as well as rising hostilities between colonies. However the grounds in favour of the idea for a federal government took precedence, almost all revolving around a very prejudicial concept. Australia had a very strong sense of nationalist pride, the desire to become a unified nation. They wished to evolve from their origin as second class convicts and uphold the British way of life. This is reflected in their motives to federate: to create a unified immigration legislation to restrict the entry of non-Europeans and creating tariff barriers to protect Australian from foreign contest. Furthermore, supporters of federation reasoned that it was part of ones patriotic duty to keep the nation "snowy" white and that it was vital to maintain the purity of their race. "The Mongolian Octopus - His Grip on Australia," a cartoon published by Bulletin Magazine in 1886 was a mode of…

    • 972 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A monarchy is a governmental system in which the head of state is a single person. The first ruler of Rome and the founder of Rome is Romulus. During this time period Rome’s power was passed down by blood. This is one of the reasons why monarchies fell. Slaves, and other lower class citizens revolted at the fact that they couldn’t…

    • 849 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    One reason being the fact that monarchs are more worried about the benefit of their county. A president for example, may have conflict of interest, whereas a monarch most likely will not. Furthermore, with a democratic republic, issues must go through a process which cannot be quickly achieved. A king or queen however, can make decisions and put them into effect with minor delay, if any. Another benefit of monarchy is they will not become corrupt because they have not made a commitment to any groups that needs to be fulfilled. They are above the influence of any political…

    • 728 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Anzac Day Research Paper

    • 1258 Words
    • 6 Pages

    * When war broke out in 1914, Australia had been a federal commonwealth for only 13 years. The new national government was eager to establish its reputation among the nations of the world.…

    • 1258 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Australia and Britain shared the same king. When the king of England declared war on Germany, Australia also was at war. Australia had no choice in the matter.…

    • 312 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    There were many advantages to this allegiance. Firstly, if ever the need be that Australia faced a military threat, Britain would provide defence. Secondly, Britain and Australia could maintain a strong trade relationship, which enabled Australia to make agreements which boosted it’s economy. Australia also had a major income from exporting to Britain from products such as wool and wheat. The allegiance benefited Australians as British lowered export tariffs and saw Australian products as a first choice when it came to importing. Finally, most Australians were of British descent so the Australian Government followed its people and the allegiance allowed the continuation of literature, legal…

    • 570 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Additionally, Australia's parliamentary system is entirely dissimilar to America's. Australia has a proportional voting system, and their voting process is very complex. The voters there rank candidates by preference. Australia also has over two political parties representing themselves in its government. Also, Australia’s voters do not appear to be anymore politically educated than America’s voters. Attempting to compare America's voting system to Australia's voting system like trying to fit a triangle in a circular hole. What would happen to Australia if voting became voluntary again? In the Netherlands, where voting was compulsory between 1917 and 1971 and then became voluntary, the average turnout fell from 94.7 per cent to 81.4 per cent. If Australia was to enact a non-mandatory voting system, it would be expected to amount to about 1.5 million fewer votes during a national election. In the end, this is unlikely to make much a change in electoral results. However, it could shake up the political standards for the country.…

    • 917 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    commonwealth law

    • 1509 Words
    • 7 Pages

    According to Harvey(2009), the Commonwealth of Australia was first formed under the the Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1900 in July 1900 after most of the people in Australia has agreed to the formation of the federation of Australia passed under the British Constitution. In 9 May 1901, the land of Australia was free from the control of the Britain when the all six colonies were united under a nation and the first Commonwealth Parliament of Australia was established at Melbourne, opened by Prince George, as stated in Section 1 of the Constitution of Australia (Australian Electoral Commission 2013). At the same time, Edmund Barton from the Commonwealth Parliament was appointed as the first Prime Minister of Australia. The current Prime Minister of Australia is Julia Gillard.…

    • 1509 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Australia should not detach itself from the British Monarchy and become a republic. In doing so, Australia will abolish its constitutional monarchy system of government that has worked exceptionally well for it and its people. Australia does not need to prove its independence by becoming a republic. On top of this, a republic is a useless change for Australia, and in becoming one, many concerns and issues will arise. Cutting all ties with the British Monarchy and becoming a republic is a disadvantageous move for Australia.…

    • 935 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    For over 100 years now, Australia has operated under its rather prized constitution that is in hindsight evidently lacklustre in respect to individual rights and freedoms. The Australian constitution was thought to be sufficient in regards to rights and freedoms despite the lack of an entrenched bill of rights. However, when one dissects the constitution, it becomes increasingly evident that constitutional implications are not an effective way of protecting individual rights and freedoms, and the only way to achieve this is through a bill of rights.…

    • 2521 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    (Macquarie Dictionary). In a republic a head of state is a citizen of that country elected by fellow citizens. If birthright determines the head of state of a country then that country is a monarchy, which at the moment Australia is. Our head of state is currently the Queen, but the Governor-General, who is appointed by the federal government (does not need to be an Australian) represents her. We are a monarchy because of Britain’s colonisation of Australia in 1778. The British brought their way of life, culture and most importantly their way of government with them. This system of government has remained to this day. Becoming a republic would not mean that we would lose that history we have with Britain and that if we were to become a fully independent nation it would not severe ties. The Queen has also stated that this was an issue that should be left for Australians to decide.…

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Paul Keating

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Prime Minister Paul Keating’s legislations and leadership has led to the development of Australia and it’s society. Keating’s vision was to create a republic of equal citizens. He aimed to achieve this through legislations reconciling our relationship with Indigenous Australians, building economic ties with Asia-Pacific region and improving the workforce. Ultimately, Keating’s vision led to significant changes in the way Australia functions but also continues to influence politics today.…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The current on-going Australian debate is one that I wholeheartedly agree with. Should Australia change their national flag? Yes, yes we should. As an Australian citizen I believe we need to acknowledge the ancestors of our land, the aborigines who were here long before European settlers. We need to also acknowledge the fact that we are an independent nation, the Union Jack in the top corners suggests Australia to be a British colony. The current flag is anachronistic, and doesn’t reflect the change to our multicultural, pluralist society. Australia should definitely change their flag.…

    • 655 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Monarchy In Canada

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Canada continues to need as many historically based structures as possible to distinguish the country from its burgeoning, warmongering and oh-so-greedy neighbor to the south. The monarchy is an essential aspect to the functioning of an independent Canada. Make no mistake about it, a republic of Canada would be riper for absorption into the States, a move that would be led by conservative…

    • 359 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays