What Role for Republicanism? A Reply to Andrew Fraser
| Published date | 01 June 1995 |
| Date | 01 June 1995 |
| Author | George Williams |
| DOI | 10.22145/flr.23.2.9 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
WHAT
ROLE FOR REPUBLICANISM? AREPLY
TO
ANDREW
FRASER
George Williams'·
Andrew
Fraser
has
made
avaluable contribution to the
debate
over
the
role of
republicanism
in
Australia.
He
has
raised
an
important,
and
generally
ignored,
question:
would
Keating's
model
for
an
Australian
republiclachieve a
republican
republic? Acorollary of this is a
further
question: is it
in
any
event
desirable
that
an
Australian
republic
be
based
upon
the
strong
republicanism
favoured
by
Fraser?
On
the
former
question, I
would
agree
with
Fraser
that
Keating's
model
would
not
imbue
the
Australian
nation
with
Fraser's version of republicanism
and
that, if Fraser's
version
of
republicanism
were
to
be
accepted, Australia
would
remain
an
unrepublican
republic.
However,
as to the latter question,
we
would
disagree.
Fundamentally,
I
do
not
see Fraser's
version
of
strong
republicanism as
being
viable.
Fraser
has
significantly
broadened
the discussion of
republicanism
and
has
widened
perceptions
of
what
the
ideology, for
want
of a
better
word,
might
encompass.
However,
while
much
of his criticism of
my
article, "A Republicanism
Tradition
for Australia?",2 is explicable
on
the
basis
that
he
and
Iobviously
share
very
different starting-points
and
approaches, Ifeel
that
he
has
misconstrued
my
argument
in
some
respects.
My
point
is
not
that
republicanism
does
not
have
anything
to offer
Australia
now
or
in
the
future. Instead, I
argue
that
republicanism,
at
least
in
the
strong
sense
put
forward
by
Fraser,
does
not
currently
have
aplace
within
the
Australian
constitutional framework.
As
such, it
could
not
be
considered a
tradition
capable
of
influencing
the
interpretation
of
the
Australian
Constitution
by
the
High
Court. I
further
suggest
that
it
is
now,
while
we
are
enmeshed
in
the
push
for
an
Australian
"republic",
that
such
a
tradition
might
emerge. This
might
occur
through
constitutional
change
in
2001
or
perhaps
through
rediscovery of Australia's
republican
past.3
However,
even
if
Australia
were
to
embrace
republicanism, I
would
not
see this as
being
the
strong
republicanism
favoured
by
Fraser,
but
aversion
more
in
keeping
with
Australia's existing constitutional structures.
Lecturer, Faculty ofLaw, The Australian National University. Barrister, Supreme Court of the
Australian Capital Territory
and
of the
High
Court ofAustralia
1See Republic Advisory Committee, An Australian
Republic:
The
Options (The Report of
the
Republic Advisory Committee, 1993), 2vols; Prime Minster Paul Keating,
An
Australian
Republic:
The
Way
Forward
(7
June 1995).
2(1995) 23 FL Rev 133.
3See J M Williams, "'With Eyes Open':
Andrew
Inglis Clark
and
Our
Republican Tradition"
(1995) 23 FL Rev 149.
To continue reading
Request your trial