30.01.2016 - 00:00
HE has spent years of his life, and millions of dollars of his own money, fighting for Australia to become a republic.
But in a decision that has been likened to turning his back on his beliefs, a “bruised” Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull yesterday shelved his once-passionate crusade to ditch the monarchy, declaring Australia should wait until the Queen is no longer on the throne before becoming a republic.
Even though all state and territory leaders have openly declared their desire for an Australian head of state, Mr Turnbull said he was not the man to lead such a push, given his failed leadership of the republican movement’s referendum bid of 1999.
Even the new Australian of the Year David Morrison is a committed republican, saying yesterday: “With great respect to those who don’t share my views … I will lend my voice to the republican movement.”
When he lost the 1999 referendum, Mr Turnbull said the monarchist PM of the time John Howard had “broken our hearts”.
But yesterday he was the one doing the breaking, saying: “I’ve led a ‘yes’ case for a republic into a heroic defeat once. I’ve got no desire to do so again.
“If you don’t want to have another heroic defeat and you want it to be carried, the best time to do that will be after the end of the Queen’s reign.”
Insisting there were many more urgent issues confronting Australia, the PM said only a grassroots movement would convince a nation of the merits of a republic, not political voices.
“Frankly, there was more momentum in the late ’90s than there is now,’’ he said. “It needs to have grassroots support. It is not something that a government can just do, even if it wanted to.”
That statement, according to Tim Mayfield, the national director of the Australian Republic Movement, was nothing more than an “excuse” that belied Mr Turnbull’s true beliefs.
