For some reason, this " Australia Day " has induced our politicians to join ranks and call for the Monarchy to be replaced by a Republic. For once, both sides of politics seem to be in agreement and the consensus that the Republican issue would rest in abeyance for the remainder of Queen Elizabeth's reign seems to have been abandoned. The state Premiers insist that the need to become a Republic must be addressed - Now !
It certainly will eventually happen, but it is doubtful if the public realise just what costs are involved - and they are huge. For a start, all those organizations which precede their name with " Royal " will need to undergo a name change - with the signage on buildings and replacement of printed stationery that will involve. There is also the disappointment of the loss of privilege. A hospital with that " Royal " prefix tended to think itself superior to all the other district named hospitals in a city.
The legal profession's mind will boggle at what this will mean in the arcane world of the law. We will need to revise the entire statute of law to ensure that it is scrupulously correct because that is the cornerstone of how our justice system works. Even the acts of parliament that underpin the law will need to be revised to bring this new accountability into law.
No doubt wigs and gowns, and the present court protocol will come under scrutiny because that all harks back to the legal dress code of merry olde England, and then there is the cost of chipping away the Royal coat of Arms that adorn every court building in this country.
Obviously Australia would also need a new flag and that could bring new contention. One of the possibilities would be to replace the union jack on our present flag with the Aboriginal flag so that it represents those here before 1788, while the Southern Cross and Federation star on a blue background represents those that came after 1788. The cost of a new flag for every school in Australia, every government building and all those embassies in far countries would be astronomical.
We will also lose some customs that many people hold dear. The names of our warships are proudly prefaced by " Her Majesty's Australian ship " and somehow just " Australian Ship " will lack resonance in some minds, and once again becoming a Republic will require a change of both stationery and culture in our entire military hierarchy - at a cost !
Then there is the matter of housing our new President. America has it's " White House ". Britain has it's " 10 Downing Street ". Most countries have a presidential palace and we would probably need to build one - in Canberra. But that would not suffice. Most likely the states would insist on some sort of Presidential digs in each capital city and that could develop into a competitive battle of ego's.
Another issue is the need to regularly elect our president. We have seen how that has developed into a race for billionaires in the United States and we would hope that Australian Presidential elections would be less brash and confrontanal. There remains a decision on just what sort of Presidency we choose ? One where our President is a mere figurehead and the country is governed by a prime minister - or where the President replaces the prime minister as the head of government ?
A basic question that many will consider when thinking about such a change in how we are governed is what financial benefits will be delivered by a change of head of state ? It will not matter two hoots to the rest of the world - and it will be treated with indifference.
We will simply pander to our own ego's, but at a huge internal cost to put a new regime in place. Doing this at a time when we are adjusting to a savage downturn in the demand for the minerals that we sell to earn our national living may not be a good time to impose a totally voluntary strain on the national budget.
When state leaders put politics aside and enthusiastically agree on a new and unprecedented course of action we would be wise to do the sums and determine why ? It is a fact of life that political harmony usually masks a hidden agenda !
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