Thoughts on a republic

DECEMBER 16, 2016: I have declared my support for an Australian republic, but only if the move was truly egalitarian, with a head of state who was elected by the people.My other proviso is that there would need to be a clear separation of powers between the executive (or head of government and ministry) and the legislative (or parliamentary) arm of government.A renewed push for an Australian republic gives hope not only of having someone who is Australian (and not subject to any foreign power) as our head of state, but also the hope that we can reform government to make it more representative and responsive to the needs and desires of the Australian people.I am not interested in change for change’s sake.But I am interested in improving our system of government to give more power to the people we serve.I would not support an ‘elitist’ or ‘politician’s’ republic.I support a republic controlled by the people with a distinct separation of powers between the Head of State and the legislative arm to provide the right checks and balances.That clear separation of powers might be achieved by doing away with the notion of a Prime Minister.Instead the head of government power currently held by the Prime Minister would go to the Head of State, which we could either call President or retain the title Governor General.The Head of State must be directly elected, or elected through a system akin to the US electoral college.These would be essential requirements for my support of an Australian republic.And if we are going to do constitutional change we should do more to get a new system right.We should also look at four-year fixed terms to align with the State governments.And as a safeguard against bad governments, we should give the people the right of recall (where enough signatories to a petition can trigger a fresh election for either the Head of State or of the Parliament).We could also consider voter's veto (where enough valid signatories to a petition can trigger a referendum on a whether a law should be repealed or not).