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Bi-partisan appointment republican model

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The Bi-partisan appointment republican model is a proposal for Australian constitutional change. If approved at referendum, the model would establish Australia as a republic with a President appointed by a two thirds majority of the Australian Federal Parliament.

Model details

  • Nomination

Nominations for the Presidency could be made by any Australian citizen or group of citizens. These would be received by a nominations committee established by Parliament. The committee would provide a report which would be advisory only to the Prime Minister on the most suitable candidates for the position. The Prime Minister would select a candidate after securing support from the Leader of the Opposition. This bi-partisan part of the procedure gives the model its name.

  • Appointment

The President would be formally appointed at a joint sitting of Parliament, attended by members of both the Senate and House of Representatives. A special two-thirds majority would be required to ratify the candidate's appointment as President.

  • Powers

The President would be vested with the same powers of executive government, but they would be subject to a prescribed Presidental obligation to act on ministerial advice.

  • Tenure

The term of the President would be five years. The President could be removed with instant effect by an instrument signed by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister would be required to seek the approval within 30 days of the House of Representatives for this action with no sanction should this requirement not be satisfied. The failure of the House of Representatives to approve the removal of the President does not operate to reinstate the President. Any vacancy in the post would be temporarily filled by the longest-serving state governor.

Rationale

If implemented, the proposed amendment would make Australia a Federal republic by removing virtually all references to the monarchical system of government. References to either Queen or Governor-General in the Australian constitution would be replaced by a reference to the President of Australia.

The change would be limited to the federal jurisdiction, with 4 out of the 6 states requiring a further vote to complete the process of formally ending the Australian monarchy.

Critique of the model

The model is criticised for its lack of democratic qualities. The President is not popularly elected and the Prime Minister may legally ignore all nominations made by ordinary citizens.

The proposed amendment would have created the only republic in the world without an impeachment process, with President holding office at the pleasure of the Prime Minister.

Supporters of Constitutional Monarchy argue the power of the parliamentary executive would go unlimited with the Governor-General's current power to ignore ministerial advice being expressly limited.

In addition the model has been criticised for its bi-partisan mechanism. According to some, the deliberate seeking of support by the Prime Minister to the Opposition Leader, who are by definition political adversaries, may influence the outcome of other policy contests. The mandate implicitly conferred by two-thirds of the parliament may encourage the President to make use of reserve powers.

History

The model was originally developed by legal academic George Winterton, and influenced by similar systems used in Europe. The central concept was for a President, appointed by a two-thirds majority of parliament. Subsequent to a judicial process, the President could be dismissed by an absolute majority in both houses of parliament. After consulting with other experts, the proposal with drafted amendments was published in the Independent Monthly, March 1992 and was supported by the Australian Republican Movement (ARM).

In 1993 the model was reviewed as one of four options by the Republic Advisory Committee, chaired by Malcolm Turnbull who shortly after became ARM chair. Prime Minister Paul Keating presented a slightly altered version, providing both appointment and dismissal by a two-thirds majority of parliament. He declared that this version, often called the Keating-Turnbull Model, should be put to the people.

Under Prime Minister John Howard, the model was closely examined and criticised at the 1998 constitutional convention. The model evolved to incorporate a nominations committee and authority to dismiss the Head of State was taken from the parliament and given to the Prime Minister. With these changes, the model was supported by a simple majority of 73 out of 152 delegates, 22 abstaining. An absolute majority of 89 then agreed it should be put to the people.

The amendment agreed to at the convention was subsequently amended before and after it was tabled in parliament.

The proposed amendment was put to electors at the republican referendum on 6 November 1999 and was defeated by 54.4% in the popular vote and 6-0 in the states. The NO case was supported by both monarchists and those republicans who could not support the model. The YES case was supported by opposition parties, progressives and some conservatives who feared a future directly-elected president. The referendum failed, especially in rural and outer suburban electorates.

After the defeat, the Australian Republican Movement downgraded the model's status from preferred to one of six possible options. Its long-term future is likely to depend on the result of a proposed models plebiscite, which would allow electors to directly show their support for this version of republicanism.

References

See also

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