Sunday October 26 was a beautiful, made-in-heaven day. 150 Shoalhaven residents flocked to the Riverhaven Motel on the shores of the Shoalhaven River to hear world-renowned author Tom Keneally talk about Australia becoming a Republic.
Tom was brought to the Shoalhaven by the local forum of the Australian Republican Movement (ARM). As founding chairperson of the ARM, he is obviously a convinced Republican, but what is astounding is the level of commitment to the cause- last weekend he was in Tamworth; today he's in Nowra.
In a gently humorous, but unswervingly logical fashion Keneally talked of the 3 main issues which need to be dealt with now:
He conceded that some republicans felt that other issues were also important- such as whether there should be a Bill of Rights in the Constitution, recognition of prior Aboriginal ownership of Australia, the continuation of a federal system in Australia and so on. The problem of achieving change on these areas is the practical one of actually getting a majority of voters in a majority of States to support any change to the Constitution.
His argument is, that once the fundamental issue of our nationhood is addressed, then these other important issues can be tackled.
The gathering was addressed by another republican- Member for Gilmore Joanna Gash. She emphasised the importance of this constitutional debate, and told the crowd that despite the Prime Minister being on the record as favouring retention of the Monarchy, there is an increasing number of republicans within the parliamentary Liberal Party.
Anyone interested in helping the republican cause (and taking their place in history) can contact Megan Pikett on (02) 4464 1652.