Copernican Republic

02.10.06

Question 30

Posted in Process at 3:22 am by copernican

What is the preferred way for a process to move towards an Australian republic?

Question 29

Posted in Process, Republic Models at 3:21 am by copernican

What is the best way to formulate the details of an appropriate model for a republic? A convention? A parliamentary inquiry? A Constitutional Council of experts?

Question 28

Posted in Process at 3:18 am by copernican

Should voting for a plebiscite be voluntary or compulsory?

Question 27

Posted in Process, Republic Models at 3:17 am by copernican

Should there be more than one plebiscite to seek views on broad models? If so, should the plebiscites be concurrent or separated?

Question 26

Posted in Process, Republic Models at 3:14 am by copernican

Should there be an initial plebiscite to decide whether Australia should become a republic, without deciding on a model for that republic?

Question 25

Posted in Position of the states, Republic Models at 3:12 am by copernican

What is the best way to deal with the position of the states in a federal Australian republic?

Question 24

Posted in Head of state, Judiciary, Separation of powers at 3:10 am by copernican

Should the head of state be free to seek constitutional advice from the judiciary and if so, under what circumstances?

Question 23

Posted in Head of state, Judiciary, Separation of powers at 3:09 am by copernican

Should the head of state have the prerogative of mercy?

Question 22

Posted in Head of state, Judiciary, Separation of powers at 3:07 am by copernican

Should the head of state have power to appoint and remove federal judges?

Question 21

Posted in Eligibility/disqualification, Head of state at 3:05 am by copernican

Discussion paper p12

On what grounds should a person be disqualified from becoming head of state?

Question 20

Posted in Eligibility/disqualification, Head of state at 3:03 am by copernican

Discussion paper p12

What should the eligibility requirements be for the head of state?

Question 19

Posted in Casual vacancy, Head of state at 3:01 am by copernican

Discussion paper p11

How should a casual vacancy be filled?

Question 18

Posted in Head of state, Removal at 3:00 am by copernican

Discussion paper p11

On what grounds should the removal from office of the head of state be justified? Should the grounds be spelt out?

Question 17

Posted in Head of state, Removal at 2:58 am by copernican

Discussion paper p11

Who or what body should have the authority to remove the head of state from office?

Question 16

Posted in Head of state, Term of office at 2:57 am by copernican

Should there be a limit on the number of terms an individual may serve as head of state?

Question 15

Posted in Head of state, Term of office at 2:55 am by copernican

Should a head of state be eligible for re-appointment/ re-election?

Question 14

Posted in Head of state, Term of office at 2:54 am by copernican

What should be the length of a term of office for head of state?

Question 13

Posted in Head of state, Title of head of state at 2:53 am by copernican

Discussion paper p10
What should the head of state be called, Governor-General, President of the Commonwealth of Australia, or some otehr title?

Question 12

Posted in Head of state, Nomination at 2:44 am by copernican

Should there be a minimum number of nominators required for a nominee to become a candidate?

Question 11

Posted in Head of state, Nomination at 2:41 am by copernican

Should there be a maximum number and/or minimum number of candidates?

Question 10

Posted in Head of state, Nomination at 2:40 am by copernican

Should there be any barriers to nomination, such as nominations from political parties, or candidates being current or former members of parliament?

Question 9

Posted in Head of state, Nomination at 2:33 am by copernican

Who should be eligible to put forward nominations for an appointed head of state? For an elected head of state?

Question 8

Posted in Head of state, Selection of head of state at 2:31 am by copernican

If direct election is the preferred method for election of a non-executive president, will this lead to a situation where the president becomes a rival centre of power to the Government? If so, is this acceptable or not? If not, can the office of head of state be designed so that this situation does not arise?

Question 7

Posted in Head of state, Selection of head of state at 2:28 am by copernican

If the Australian head of state is to be directly elected, what method of voting should be used?

Question 6

Posted in Head of state, Selection of head of state at 2:27 am by copernican

If assistance is to be given, should this be administered by the Australian Electoral Commission or some other public body?

Question 5

Posted in Head of state, Selection of head of state at 2:25 am by copernican

Should/Can political parties be prevented from assisting or campaigning on behalf of nominees? If so, how?

Question 4

Posted in Head of state, Selection of head of state at 2:24 am by copernican

Should some form of campaign assistance be available to nominees, and if so, what assistance would be reasonable?

Question 3

Posted in Head of state, Powers of head of state at 2:22 am by copernican

Discussion paper p8

What powers (if any) should be codified beyond those currently specified in the constitution?

Question 2

Posted in Head of state, Powers of head of state at 2:20 am by copernican

Discussion paper p8

What powers should be conferred on the head of state?

Question 1

Posted in Executive, Head of state, Separation of powers at 2:19 am by copernican

Discussion paper p7

Should Australia consider moving towards having a head of state who is also the head of government?

02.09.06

Hello world!

Posted in Process, Republic Models at 3:43 am by pharoz

The idea with this blog is to provide a public forum to discuss models for an Australian republic.

This blog was started by Robert Vose, a Copernican Republican, in the hope that this will in time become a group blog, if there is enough public interest in the topic. Failing that, I will be posting here on issues relevant mainly to the Australian republic. My personal blog is at http://www.7gs.com/pharoz and it includes a category for republican posts.

A good starting point for this blog is the Inquiry into an Australian Republic by the Senate Legal and Constitutional References and Legislation Committee.

A discussion paper was released in December 2003.

Public submissions to the Inquiry were due by the 31st of March 2004. Over 730 were received.

A series of seven public hearings followed in most capital cities, from 13 April to 29 July, 2004.

And the report The Road to a Republic was tabled in the Senate on 31 August, 2004.

…

One of the most substantial submissions to the Inquiry was made by David Latimer with the Honorary President Model. He was also asked to participate in the public hearing at Parramatta on the 13th of April.

David read through the other submissions to the Inquiry and identified five other models that shared a similar model structure to his Honorary President Model.

These six Copernican submissions to the Inquiry are (by submission number order):

Submissions 28 ,28A by Professor John Power, Model X

Submissions 105 ,105A by Peter Carden, The Three Tier Model

Submission 126 by David O’Brien, The Sovereignty Model

Submission 322 Part I, Part II by Peter Crayson, The Constitutional Council Model

Submission 480 by Robert Vogler (now Vose), The Egalitarian Republic Model

Submission 519 by David Latimer, The Honorary President Model

…

David Latimer also had the article The Copernican Constitution about these new models published in the June 2005 edition of Quadrant. This is where the copernican analogy was first used to denote these new models.

…

Currently there is a page in the Wikipedia on Copernican federalism about these new models, and a number of other articles on Australian republicanism.

…

That’s where this blog begins…

I will be basing many of the initial categories and topics for a republican model off the Inquiry discussion paper.