An Australian Republic?
published Feb 6, 1997 ©Copyright Nicholson
At a referendum on November 6, 1999, Australians voted 55% to 45% against a proposed model to make the nation a republic.
The vote was the culmination of a debate that has lingered throughout Australian history, but which gathered momentum following the dismissal of the Whitlam government in 1975, and moves by Prime Minister Paul Keating in the 1990s.
Constitutional Convention - February 1998
The Constitutional Convention held in Canberra over two weeks in February 1998 resulted in the adoption of a model for a republic that was presented to the electorate at a referendum in November 1999.
The Convention was attended by 152 delegates, 76 appointed by the Federal government and 76 elected by the people in a voluntary ballot in late 1997. Click here for a full list of delegates.
The complete transcripts of proceedings of the Convention are available here:
- Day 1 - Monday 2 Feb, or in pdf format
- Day 2 - Tuesday 3 Feb, or in pdf format
- Day 3 - Wednesday 4 Feb, or in pdf format
- Day 4 - Thursday 5 Feb, or in pdf format
- Day 5 - Friday 6 Feb, or in pdf format
- Day 6 - Monday 9 Feb, or in pdf format
- Day 7 - Tuesday 10 Feb, or in pdf format
- Day 8 - Wednesday 11 Feb, or in pdf format
- Day 9 - Thursday 12 Feb, or in pdf format
- Day 10 - Friday 13 Feb, or in pdf format
Republic Referendum 1999
Two referendums were held on Saturday 6 November 1999. One concerned the establishment of an Australian republic with a Head of State appointed by a two-thirds majority of Federal Parliament. The other concerned a Preamble to the Constitution.
Both referendums were defeated.
General Sites About A Republic
Pro-Republic
Anti-Republic
Miscellaneous
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