From listening to the republic debate at the moment you would think that there is an elitist plot for the politicians to install one of their mates as president and knobble him, robbing him of any power and being able to sack him at will. The reality is less sinister but leaves you and me with a more difficult choice.

The Prime Minister told the Constitutional Convention held last year that it must come up with one model for how a republic would work that would people would vote 'yes' or 'no' for in the republic referendum in November.

The republicans decided that leaving our system of government exactly the way it is and cutting our symbolic ties with the Queen would be the easiest model to get people to agree on. As a result, they put up a model for the Governor General's role in our government to be done by an Australian that would be called the President, and to leave everything else exactly the same. (The Governor General is the person that does the Queens job on the ground in Australia.)

The problem with this model is that the Governor General's job is symbolic and powerless in day to day government. The Governor - General is appointed by the Prime Minister, can be sacked by the Prime Minister, and plays almost no role in actually governing Australia.

As a result, having a President just taking over the Governor General's job, makes the President a powerless symbolic figure. He is also appointed by the Parliament and can be sacked by the Prime Minister.

The dilemma is heightened because to directly elect the President or make his role more powerful would change how government works.

At the moment our system of government is a three cornered game between the political party in power, the Parliament and the High Courts. The system is set up so these three struggle against each other, place check and balances on each other and make sure nobody gets too much power but everything still operates smoothly.

To have a powerful President would turn it into a four cornered game, and the whole system would have to be redesigned.

The dilemma for you and me is whether we want a purely symbolic head of state, or to completely overhaul our political system.

On November 6 you will only have a choice of voting 'yes' or 'no' to a purely symbolic head of state.

If you would like to overhaul our political system you have two options. One is to vote 'yes' in November, because if the republic gets up, in three years time there will be another Constitutional Convention to look at whether we should make more changes to our constitution.

Or you can vote 'no' in hope that there will be another referendum in the future that will change our system of government. Though it is likely we won't get another chance for up to thirty years.

For me, I would rather have a purely symbolic Australian President, than have the Queen of England as the symbolic leader of our country.

Lindy Edwards
ACT YAR Member,
Young Australians for a Republic

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