Tom Keneally -- the race is on

Booker Prize-winner Tom Keneally, the former chair of the Australian Republican Movement, says New Zealand could beat Australia to a republic. "Some of these monarchists say that the Queen is above politics. You're not kidding. She's twelve thousand miles above politics. How interested is she in New Zealand?"

Jonathan Milne, March 1995

Tom Keneally talks loud, and talks fast. In fact, he has just the abrasive Australian accent to be a racing commentator, and so it's no surprise that people are hanging on his every word. But Tom Keneally is not talking about horse-racing. He's talking about the race to become a Republic. And it may be a two-horse race.

Keneally is an all-Australian hero. It helps that he wrote the novel Schindler's Ark, upon which the movie Schindler's List is based. But he was most often in the Australian public eye as founding chair of the Australian Republican Movement (ARM).

The ARM is the group calling for an elected Australian head of state in place of the British monarchy. It believes that Australians should be able to democratically choose their own head of state from among their own people. English Queens and Kings are no longer effective leaders of Australia, and are certainly not symbols uniting Australian society.

Republicanism? New Zealand? Keneally needs no further prompting. "I think Republicanism is down the road for you blokes. All you have to do as citizens is to mould the debate. The situation in New Zealand is in some ways the same, in some ways different from that in Australia."

He remarks on the way in which the British kept certain powers for themselves. Neither New Zealand nor Australia was allowed its own foreign policy for some time. Keneally believes that the events of World War II showed both countries that they needed their own foreign policies. Britain was unable to protect its Empire on the other side of the world, especially when it had to defend itself. New Zealand and Australia needed to be able to make their own decisions to suit their own distinct circumstances.

"There was a time when I was a kid when almost all of our trade went to Britain -- all our wool, our beef, our butter. We were given a relatively good return, so Australia and New Zealand had relatively high living standards. Britain joined the European Community, which in my opinion was the right thing for them to do. Suddenly we had to make new friends."

Keneally argues that both New Zealand and Australia need to make clean breaks with Britain. This is both for the benefit of our unique national identities, and in order to reassure our neighbours and trading-partners.

"Here in Australia, we now find that the stain of the White Australia policy still attaches to us. We need to go forth showing that we are no longer a small British colony. We used to import our culture, our spirituality, but we don't any more.

"Australia is not just British. It now has large European, Aboriginal, Asian, Islamic communities. It would be good if we could use symbols that celebrated the diversity of our culture."

Tom Keneally admits that there are some important differences between New Zealand and Australia which change their approaches to Republicanism. He suggests, though, that in some ways New Zealand has the inside track.

One obvious point is that the Australian nation is a federation of states, which joined together at the beginning of this century to form the Commonwealth of Australia. Australia is unlikely to become a republic until all the states agree. If Western Australia, for example, votes against republicanism, it will provide a stumbling-block for the rest of the nation. New Zealand, on the other hand, was formed from one British colony into one 'unitary' nation. The people of Southland might wish to retain the monarchy, but they cannot hold the rest of New Zealand to ransom.

Australia also has a history of sectarian division between English Protestant and Irish Catholic immigrants. Keneally says "one of the problems we have is that if anyone with an Irish name -- Fahey, Keneally, Keating -- supports republicanism, then the submerged sectarianism emerges." Monarchists argue that the support for republicanism is rooted in Irish opposition to the English and their monarchy, tied to the historical conflict between the English state and the Roman Catholic Church.

New Zealand also has historic issues which we need to address. Perhaps the most pressing concern is how the standing of the Treaty of Waitangi would be affected by becoming a republic. Because one partner to the Treaty was the British Crown, it has been suggested that the Treaty would become defunct if the Crown was no longer the New Zealand head of state.

Keneally disputes this. "I think that you could say, 'if by the will of the people the head of state is changed to a New Zealand man or woman then that person adopts the responsibilities of the Monarch'. I think that there are sound constitutional grounds for looking at the first President of New Zealand as the successor to Queen Victoria."

Another issue distinct to New Zealand arose with the vote for MMP in 1993. There is an increased likelihood that the head of state will need to exercise his or her discretion, as proportional representation will make it much less likely that any one party will get an absolute majority of seats in Parliament. For example, the head of state will not only have to choose which party leader to ask to form a government, but also may be faced with conflicting advice on whether to call new elections. They may have to decide whether the Government has the confidence of Parliament and the nation, and whether to take the advice of the Government Ministers.

"Some of these monarchists say that the Queen is above politics," Keneally comments. "You're not kidding. She's twelve thousand miles above politics. How interested is she in New Zealand?

"You can have a New Zealander who will be equally above politics, but interested in New Zealand. You still have an obligation to try and devise a system where your head of state, your chief-copper, your Number One New Zealander -- whatever you like to call them -- is not partisan. The New Zealand Constitution under a republic would then define what the head of state would do in the instance of, say, a hung parliament."

The Republican Movement of Aotearoa New Zealand agreesd that the MMP environment makes republicanism more pressing. Its think-tank investigated the issue and concluded that proportional representation will make a New Zealand-elected head of state not only preferable, but crucial. "The new MMP electoral system will risk immediate loss of legitimacy if political decisions are made by a Governor-General who is not elected by New Zealanders, and who is not accountable to New Zealanders."

The founding president of the New Zealand Republican Movement presents a contrast to Tom Keneally. Savage is pragmatic and straight-forward, choosing his words carefully before speaking. "We agree that there are a number of differences between New Zealand and Australia, both cultural and constitutional, which mean that we can't recklessly follow Australia to republicanism. We have to work through most of the aspects of change quite independently. If we are not able to think autonomously, then we're clearly not ready for the full independence of republicanism.

"Issues related to the Treaty are especially important. Our advice makes it quite clear that the Crown's responsibilities as a signatory to the Treaty can and will be simply transferred to the new republic of New Zealand. But these issues need to be discussed and understood before we make any change. The Treaty is one of our founding documents and will remain as such. It can be formally recognised as such when we become a republic. We want to help people realise this opportunity."

In a world where strident nationalism is often proving divisive, the Republican Movement avoids that stance. "We're proud of New Zealand, and to be New Zealanders. But we don't want to get into slogans and jingoism. We just want our constitutional set-up to accurately reflect the New Zealand of the coming twenty-first century. It isn't a New Zealand that is tied to Mother England's apron-strings, and it shouldn't be."

Savage recalls a quip made by a member of the Republican Movement that there were only one real reasons for New Zealand not to become a republic: the Australians are doing it. "I certainly hope that we don't see New Zealanders keeping an irrelevant monarchy, simply because they are scared to be seen to be following in the footsteps of Australia. A more constructive approach would be to race them to a republic!"

Tom Keneally says he is aware of feeling against Australia. "However, I think far stronger than anti-Australianism in New Zealand is historical and geopolitical reality. Our young in both countries can't see why the hell we have this loyalty to Britain. When they go to Heathrow airport, they enter through a gate titled 'Others'.

"The idea of carrying your sovereignty around with you in a sort of container 12,000 miles offshore … is becoming much less acceptable to younger Australians and New Zealanders. New Zealand should be going forth under its own colours, not the colours of the Empire."

Keneally believes that New Zealand will become a Republic. "I think that you're going to do it, not by stealth, but more calmly. I am amazed by the heat, the emotion, that it has unleashed here in Australia."

He has a final thought for New Zealanders who are resigned to a long slow struggle for a Republic. "Australians are concerned, because your conservative Prime Minister Jim Bolger supported republicanism, that New Zealand might beat Australia to become a republic! The best boost for Australian Republicanism would be if you said you were going to become a republic before Australia."

So the race is on. Australia got off to a good start, but New Zealand is gaining, and we know that New Zealand has a good finish … It could be New Zealand by a nose.