Republic Now! Association Incorporated
6 Tourmaline Avenue, Pearl Beach, 2256
Ph. 02 4341 5170 - Mob. 04078 34518
woldring@zipworld.com.au
NAB 082 936 Acct 16-032-5656
http://www.republicnow.org
Secretary: Astrid van den Akker-Luttmer, Ph. 03 5259 2009
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Media Release
ALP not moving forward on Republic
"The policy statement by Julia Gillard that Australia should wait with moving towards a Republic until the Queen dies is sad confirmation that Australia is not moving forward on this issue at all", Dr. Klaas Woldring, Convenor of Republic Now!, said today. "It just adds to the pathetic lack of progress on the Emission Trading Scheme, Electoral Reform and Constitutional Reform. Over 80% of the citizens do want a Republic but one with a directly elected President. No doubt, it is this preference and prospect that motivates the ALP leadership", he added.
"The ALP has long ceased to be a party of reform but voters may still support it because the alternative is clearly even worse. This dismal situation is the direct result of Australia's appallingly undemocratic electoral system, based on compulsory preferential voting, which basically cajoles voters to favour either tweedledee or tweedledum. One wonders why Australians actually continue to vote for these major parties while they seem totally incapable of leading the nation with bold and visionary policies. Instead they rush around to the marginal seats to outbid each other with pork barreling promises".
"If Australians want to move on to a Republican structure they will need to vote for reformist minor parties and Independents who are prepared to confront the total lack of governance reform that characterises the two-party tyranny in this country. Around 1030 non-major candidates, out of a total of 1198, present themselves for election this Saturday, and one would think that there must be plenty of them who favour governance reform, including a Republic. We suggest that voters should study their candidates' policies very carefully. Unless there is a major influx of reformist and pro-Republican representatives into the Parliament the stagnation may well result in community unrest. The straight jackets of major party tow-the-line tactics could also explode resulting in intra-party strife and splits", the spokesperson concluded.
Convenor:
Klaas Woldring,
02 4341 5170
17th August, 2010
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Media Release
The Australian Republic Now Association Incorporated has requested the Prime Minister to put a three question Plebiscite to the voters at the time of the forthcoming General Election.
The Association believes that the proposal should be worded along the following lines:
Question 1: Do you support Australia becoming a Republic?
a. Yes
b. No
Question 2: Regardless of your answer to Question 1, if a majority of
Australians voted for a Republic would you be in favour of a Head of State
(a) elected directly by the people
OR
(b) elected indirectly by the politicians
Question 3: Regardless of your previous answers would you be in favour of a Head of State
(a) with strong executive powers (as for instance in the US)?
OR
(b) with symbolic powers and functions comparable to those of the Governor-General?
A spokesperson for the Association, Klaas Woldring said "We do not believe that a single proposal, as contained in Question 1 (earlier proposed by Senator Bob Brown in a Senate Bill and Inquiry), provides much opportunity to gather additional relevant information. Also, it does not provide opportunities for learning, education and the generation of media attention. Furthermore, it does not allow voters to express a view on what kind of Head of State they would prefer. They want to express those views. This was not possible in the 1999 Referendum."
"The use of Plebiscites, very rarely deployed in Australia, should be encouraged as part of the wider consultation process, a style of Governance that Ms. Gillard favours. A Plebiscite run jointly with the federal election would reduce the costs. Catching up with the Republic issue would be appreciated by the electorate" Dr. Woldring concluded.
Inquiries: 02 4341 5170.
12th July, 2010
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Republic Now! Association Incorporated
MEDIA RELEASE
Two party system blocks ETS
"It should be very obvious now that it is Australia's archaic two-party system that has blocked progress on climate change policy. Australia's dominant electoral system, which is largely responsible for this situation, stands in the way of important national solutions. Our national legislature lacks the flexibility to achieve workable majorities to fast arrive at essential decisions. It is plainly ridiculous that the ETS has been postponed. A multi-party Parliament would have passed this long ago. Clearly there IS majority support but the rigidity of two party system has, again, produced a dumb outcome", a spokesperson for the newly formed Republic Now Association said.
"Given that the Electoral Reform inquiries last year have deliberately avoided discussion about a different electoral system we are now starting a campaign to get more Independents into the Australian Parliament. Our Association is calling on intending Independent candidates and minor parties who favour governance reform to support an informal alliance to that end. Possible reforms are contained in our limited platform for a Republic. The most important of these is support for proportional representation followed by the replacement of federation by a more effective and decentralised system", the Association's Convenor said.
"We have started this campaign because reforms of this kind will not be initiated by the major parties but they are vital to the restoration of democracy, diversity and flexibility in the Parliament. Even in the UK the public is fed up with the major parties and is looking toward the Liberal Democratic party to blow new life into the Parliament. The British first-past-the post electoral system allows the emergence of a minor party in Parliament which is not even possible in Australia. The Australian preferential voting system heavily favours the major parties. The best we can do here now is to form an informal alliance of Independent candidates and minor parties who all want electoral change. We call on the voters to support this campaign and to support such candidates", the Convenor concluded.
Contact: woldring@zipworld.com.au
Date 27th April, 2010
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Republic Now! Association Incorporated
MEDIA RELEASE
Reform No 1: Change the electoral system
The newly formed maximalist Republic Now! movement favours the formation of a group of Independent candidates for the next federal election who focus on a limited common platform. Republic Now! has an educational background and objective. It grew out of adult education classes on modern Republics and now offers free classes on its website about 16 such Republics.
Convenor Dr. Klaas Woldring, a retired political science academic, says "great improvements could and should be made to Australia's political system. In order of priority Australia first needs to change its electoral methods to get rid of the deadening adversarial two-party tyranny, which has become dysfunctional, hypocritical and unsuited to the achievement of major and urgent national goals. These problems are actually quite widely recognised but few seem to realise how voters can create change. As nothing can be expected from the major parties in terms of governance reform the election of several Independents who favour proportional representation could show the way to electoral and through that, quite possibly, other structural change as well."
Woldring says "Australia should adopt the PR system that is used in many European countries which is known as the Open Party List system. It is superior to the Hare Clark method of PR in that it is voter friendly, cost effective, and provides choice for the voter who WITH ONE MARK ONLY can indicate a preference for a party as well as a particular candidate. Hundreds of Independent candidates as well as small registered parties present themselves for election every three years, federally, only to find that basically hardly any will be elected. It is a disgraceful charade and a mockery of democracy. The adoption of PR will change that completely."
"The challenges that are ahead of Australia require us to dump the old electoral method and peg back the old parties who benefit from it. The catalyst towards that is the election of a large group of pro PR Independents who can be a force to ensure major reforms in governance."
Inquiries:
Dr. Klaas Woldring,
woldring@zipworld.com.au
Date: mid-March, 2010.
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Republic Now! Association Incorporated
MEDIA RELEASE
What kind of Republic is the real issue.
"Our major political parties don't want to know about governance change. Even the Republic has been placed on the backburner in spite of obvious support for a Republic with a popularly elected President. Australia's federal system is struggling. The fiscal imbalance between federal and state governments makes a mockery of federal government. Local government everywhere is suffering as the grossly under-funded Cinderella level. Regional development and decentralisation are not happening", so claims a spokesperson for the recently formed movement Republic Now! "Yes, we need that Republic but we also need a strategic plan for system change to come with it and extensive people involvement in the process" , Klaas Woldring said. The Republic Now Association Inc. was formed in September 2009 in Gosford to stimulate debate about what kind of Republic Australians want. "After 10 years of ignoring governance reform we say: let's get on with it. Below are the views of the Republic Now! Association. We need a media campaign to educate the public about options for change", he added.
Republic Now! is committed to:
- The creation of an independent Australian Republic with a directly President with symbolic functions and powers, without any further delay.
- Governance changes resulting in the replacement of federation by a two level structure of governance: national and local, with regional administrations indirectly elected forming a third mezzanine level.
- Governance change aimed at decentralising Australia, decongesting the metropolitan cities and providing excellent regional opportunities.
- Replacing the dominant single-member electoral district system with proportional representation - open party list system, a simple, inexpensive democratic system. That means reversing the concentration of executive power in two major parties.
- Introducing the "Separation of Powers" principle in Governance. This means that the executive, legislature and judiciary shall be strictly separate as is the case in most parliamentary systems of Governance
- Developing a new Constitution for Australia within five years with extensive involvement by the people.
Convenor Klaas Woldring welcomes the Greens proposal to hold an early plebiscite on the republic issue but says that there should not be single question. "To simply ask if voters want a Republic invites a possible new rejection. There should be two additional questions: Should the President be directly or indirectly elected? and Do you want a symbolic or executive type President?
More information: Contact Convenor 02 4341 5170 - woldring@zipworld.com.au
11th November, 2009
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