To aid national unity and identity, the Republican Movement must relentlessly stir politicians into calling for a vote on Australia having an Australian as Head of State, says Joseph Cotta.
We are in 2012 – in the 21st Century – and we are still a nation with a British monarch as our Head of State. To many, this is a humiliating and anomalous situation.
With every respect to the Queen and citizens of Britain, we have to set the wheels in motion again to make our own way as an independent nation with an Australian as Head of State.
We have the maturity, the strength, and courage to achieve this.
More than a resolution, this has to be a priority — to take full responsibility in deciding our destiny as Australians for a unified Australia with our own unqiue identity and national spirit.
It is pure common-sense that we need to have an Australian citizen democratically elected as Head of State in control of our own affairs.
Right now, we have no say but to accept a foreign monarch and her heirs – by divine right – as our Head of State with her representative as an out-dated Governor General.
We should lose no time in making this change where every Australian would be eligible - in simple terms, only Australians can become the head of this country and not any foreign monarch.
This makes complete sense and also unifies AUSTRALIA in a manner never experienced before. An Australian Republic, to make our children and their children feel proud and safe in this inheritance.
To this end, our Republican Movement must relentlessly stir our Prime Minister and politicians on both sides of parliament to, at least, commence a debate and call for an immediate plebiscite — a foreign head or an Australian Head of State.
(This piece has been slightly adapted from a speech given by Joseph Cotta to the ARM’s Gold Coast forum on 31 January 2010.)
