Hobart rally backs republic
By Nikki Ulasowski
and Tony Iltis
HOBART — Later this year a referendum will be held on whether Australia should become a republic. On January 26, a pro-republic rally held at the state Parliament House Lawns attracted around 70 people.
Speakers included author and film-maker Richard Flanagan, community development consultant Suzie Sereda and youth representatives Sophie Baxter and Ingrid Brown.
Some on the left view a republic as an important step towards fixing Australia's problems. Even those who see the republic as a largely symbolic issue still consider it a small step in the right direction.
However, because crucial issues — including jobs, democracy, education and Aboriginal rights — are being consciously omitted from the debate, supporters of the republic inevitably fall back on nationalism and patriotism. This was clearly demonstrated at the rally.
Sereda correctly noted that a republic in name only would mean nothing. Recognition of the violent treatment of the Aboriginal people was a theme that ran through many of the speeches. While recognising the treatment of Aboriginal people is an important step, it would be nothing but tokenism if the living conditions and discrimination that Aboriginal people face today are not addressed.
Flanagan described Australia as still being in a subservient, colonial relationship with Britain. He recognised that Britain no longer controls Australia with a "foreign army of occupation", but "we have become our own jailers and oppressors".
This flowery patriotic rhetoric hides the fact that not only is Australia an independent nation, but it is also an imperialist power that opposes independence for East Timor and Bougainville and, with other imperialist states, keeps Asian and Pacific countries in economic dependence.
Flanagan commented that throughout history, the replacement of monarchies with republics involved revolutions and social upheaval. In Australia, he claimed, it would be an intellectual revolution "provided that Australian people have the courage to take up the challenge".
The scale of the "intellectual revolution" can be gauged by the fact that it amounts to the Australian population getting their minds around replacing the word "governor-general" with "president".
The real reason that the change can happen without a revolution is that no real change is going to take place.
The Democratic Socialist Party distributed a statement at the rally. It said: "Republican politicians have tried to gag debate on meaningful reforms in the transition to a republic, with calls for no discussion on Aboriginal rights or the election of President. But while social problems like unemployment, racism, sexism and environmental destruction are not addressed, the 'Republican debate' will remain a nationalist diversion for maintaining the unjust status quo: a fake debate between a fake republic and a fake monarchy."