Re:Emperor Akihito of Japan Raises Possibility of Leaving Th...
by simonbyrne on Monday August 08, 2016 @06:57AM
(#12246744)
Actually, only one option was offered at the referendum [1] (president selected by 2/3 majority of parliament). Various options were considered at an earlier constitutional convention, but only 1 was on the ballot.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_republic_referendum...
Re:Emperor Akihito of Japan Raises Possibility of Leaving Th...
by gumby on Tuesday August 09, 2016 @12:32AM
(#12252623)
Thanks, I should be more careful about posting in the middle of the night.
Re:Emperor Akihito of Japan Raises Possibility of Leaving Th...
by twblalock on Monday August 08, 2016 @04:51AM
(#12246319)
The problem is, there are likely to be multiple competing proposals, and even if they aren't on the ballot at the same time, they create a lot of uncertainty. Many voters will choose to avoid that uncertainty by voting to keep the monarchy.
At this point, the monarchy is the default position, and I think it will stay that way until the monarch does something to piss off the majority of the Australian people.
The Australian constitutional referendum was cleverly constructed to keep the monarchy. TWO republican options were offered in order to split the republican side, and both were engineered for short-term aggrandizement of politicians rather than give the country a sound constitution. So a "first, do no harm" strategy ended up with the most votes.
I think a system like the Germans have is pretty reasonable (though more complicated than Australia needs with only a handful of states none with a huge amount of autonomy). Then again, Australia really only needs a head of state to appoint a PM and greet visiting potentates. Apart from that there isn't much need for a GG. Oh and to consume fancy bird feathers.
Like many I chose "The changes on offer are worse than no change at all."