The debate over whether Australia should become a republic has been occurring almost since the

founding of the country. In fact, the creator of the first Australian newspaper, the Sydney Gazette,
was in favour of republicanism, as was the famed poet Henry Lawson, who wrote about it. In this
persuasive next, I will attempt to convince you, that for a multitude of reasons, Australia should secede
from Britain, and why that would be a good thing, as well as a rebuttal towards the most common
criticisms of the concept of a republic.

Firstly, the issue of correct representation. There is no way to say it other than that the queen is NOT
Australian, and never will be, not by any sense of the word. She was born in England, resides in
England, and will likely do so for the rest of her life. Does this sound like someone who you would
want representing you? I’m not trying to question the Queen’s capability as ruler, I am merely
questioning her capability to be in charge of Australia alone. I know that the monarchy has less of a
say in politics than it did in say, the nineteenth century, but the queen still has influence, as shown by
the amount of fuss, that we as a nation, make around the coming of a new royal baby, or a royal
wedding.

Secondly, the monarchy, at its core, is an outdated and inherently corrupt structure. In fact, most
monarchies/royal families/dynasties throughout history have been corrupt, with precious few
exceptions. In fact, one of the ruling families of Italy, the Borgias who in one way or another, were in
power for a hundred years. They were some of the most politically, morally, and financially corrupt
people of all time, being surrounded in scandal, from money laundering, to murder, to mostly factual
rumours of inbreeding. Now, why did I make this parallel? To show that this could happen to us, and
that Queen Elizabeth II could have gone that way, but chose not to…

The Third and final reason is that British prejudices could possibly shape Australia, and shoehorn us
into acting into British interests. The governor-general, the Queen’s representative (who is NOT
elected democratically) has the right to veto any bill that would otherwise be passed, on behalf of the
crown. Is anyone seeing anything wrong with this? ONE PERSON has the right to stop ANY bill, for no
real reason! What if the current Governor-General was politically biased, and vetoed something like
the right for people to marry whoever they want, for no good reason! And to top it off, they aren’t
even elected fairly, which leaves room for bribery, and nepotism. This process is blatantly unfair to us,
and, as many other things are, weighted in favour of the crown.

Now for a rebuttal

In conclusion, the Monarchy is an inherently corrupt, debased, and unfair concept that is a near
antithesis to the Australian dream, and the concept of a “Fair Go”, one of the foremost Australian
ideals. I would like to thank you for the time spent reading this, and that your way of thinking was
been changed, and for the better.