Is Australian Republicanism Radical?

One of the problems with the Dutton/Horne style of republicanism which has dominated politics since the 1950s is that it develops no doctrine. It says little more than remove the Queen to make Australia complete. On South Sea Republic we have been developing a republican doctrine, that has wider political application beyond removing the the monarchy from our system of government. One that can inform policy in areas such as foreign, economic, defence, constitutional, federalism etc etc.

The original left were the French Republicans who happened to sit on the left side of the Assembly. There was a time, many centuries ago, when republicanism was radical, but only because it replaced monarchy and aristocracy. Looking on the principles of Australian Republican doctrine that have been written about here over the last couple of years, just how radical are they? Are they conservative? Do they defy ideological closeting? Or is Australian Republicanism just catch-up with past global lessons in social and political organisation?

So what are some of the principles in an Australian Republican doctrine?

Rule of law This is hardly radical, it is the basis of liberal democracy. One of the problems is that modern political system has been using the state of exception and arbitrary government to get around this principle . A republican system would close these holes or flaws in the political system at the constitutional level.

Autonomy This is the basis for strong federalism as political organisation, as opposed to confederacy or unitary government (ie one national government and no states). This means that governments have to be entirely autonomous, basically, they cannot tax for other governments. Currently our federal government taxes for the states and then hands it back as GST and Commonwealth Grants to the point that 50% of NSW's budget comes from the federal government. This is an impediment to governments acting independently and innovating in policy. Money always comes with strings attached.
At the moment, federalism remains the best form of nation-state political organisation, until that changes, republicanism is equated with pure federalism. So is it radical? No. Federal systems have existed for many centuries? Is it conservative? In Australia maybe, but only so much as it means enforcing the political system as it was intended to be in 1901.
Where else does autonomy apply? The individual. It is the belief that the individual knows what is best for themselves. This is a natural extension of liberty and liberalism. if the government is interfering in an individuals life and liberty it better have a bloody good reason for it, an even then, that reason in 99.9% of cases is not good enough. The onus is on government, not the individual, to explain why it this infringement is necessary.
Inviolable Rights Australia is one of the few nation-states that has fought off a bill of rights. Rights are exemptions from legislative tyranny and executive oppression. The are an area of executive and legislative action that cannot, under any circumstance, be infringed upon. Simple things such as freedom of association; habeous corpus; discrimination on the basis of colour, religion or sexuality; peaceful protest; etc etc. Is this radical? No. Is this conservative? No. Not in the Australian political tradition anyway. America has had a bill of rights for several centuries now.
Equity Under The Law A simple principle where all are equal under the eyes of the law. Predominantly applied to common law. This is where republicanism and nationalism depart ways. Australian Republicanism is universal in its approach to rights and citizenship, making no distinction between any individual under the jurisdiction of a government. Nationalism, in contrast, makes the citizen privileged, able to vote, and participate in the polis under the presumption of assimilation. Under republicanism, if you are of the age of majority, and under the jurisdiction of the government then you are a citizen of the polis and entitled to vote and run for public office.
Is this conservative? No. Is it radical? Only as much as Immanuel Kant mentioned this several centuries ago.
Decentralisation This ties up partly with autonomy and provincialism, as power, especially political power, has a natural entropy to the centre, or highest political form of government, whether executive or national. Political systems naturally try to centralise. This increases instability and vulnerability of the political system. The Australian experience in on-going collapse of power to the federal government is a result of a poorly written constitution, federal hostility to the states, and political state complicity in avoiding hard political decisions. The first and second components are holes that can be closed constitutionally by an improved constitution over our current 'horse and buggy' constitution.
Is decentralisation radical? No. It is conservative? Only so much as we have a federalist system now that has largely broken its bounds.
Australian solutions to Australian issues are superior This is provincialism, or in other words, local politics works. Provincialism is different to nationalism as it doesn't require assimilation; or shared language or culture. When there is genuine shared interests there is positive network effects that go beyond social cohesion or unitary ethnicity. The individual by having a shared interest, is not nurtured by the current system, but instead, manages to participate and have effects beyond what an individual would be expected to otherwise.
Is this radical? Maybe, it is holistic in its approach as opposed to conservatism which would require the system itself nurturing the individual by giving them a history and a heritage. Is it conservative? Probably, other than federal politics, people act in this manner anyway. It is mainly in the area of foreign and defence policy that Australia falls down in this.
Self-confidence on the global stage The cringe must go. We had the cultural cringe in the past, and now we have the political cringe. This is over-represented by the great and powerful friends doctrine , as well as the anglo-sphere boosters. Australians have out-innovated others in so many areas that we need to view Australia on as a global innovator.
Australia is both an immigrant and diasporan nation. Our diasporans march across the globe in a humble self-confidence, achieving no matter where they go. They are an integrated part of globalisation but do not lose their connection home. Our politicians need to find this same courage in foreign policy.
Is this radical? No, not really. Is this conservative? No, not really.
Efficient Social Organization This is a Harpurian principle. Charles Harpur believed that everyone was republican, and capable of being fully moral and ethical, except that the form of government can ensure that its own negative passions are reflected in the behaviour of its people. A good recent example of this is when I as in a business meeting and when an issue was raised that needed to be taken to a customer, with possibly adverse effects, the question was asked, "How can we spin this?"
Charles Harpur sought the maximum and most efficient form of social organisation that was possible in order for people to find the the faith that is in them . He argues that the form of government can be as oppressive, and behaviourally iinhibiting, as its actions. From this stems the principle that maximum liberty is a necessary pre-cursor to prosperity.
Is this radical? No, Harpur wrote these things in the mid 1800s. Is it conservative? Not really, liberty is a universal value after all.

There are many more, but that covers the main ones. Is Australian Republicanism radical, conservative, or neither? Most of the principles have been put into practice by other nation-states many centuries before, so they are nothing new. If anything they are playing catch-up, which is what the Australian political system needs to do anyway, we missed too many of the innovations of the enlightenment when federalised in 1901.

Republicanism still has a stigma for radicalism in Australia, that belies, and buries, its pragmatic nature. Really though, it is just common-sense.

cam

cam: I left out: ... the absence of political privilege through accidents of birth. But that is self-explanatory. It also disqualifies the monarchy as a political entity, it also has an effect on what defines a citizen.

cam

dlatimer: Republican Objective: Adding my 2 cents, I agree with the republican doctrine as explained in the post. It\'s very easy to agree to these points.

A monarchist will argue that we have all these in our current constitutional system. They\'d say its only republicans who lack self-confidence OR that it\'s through the Queen that Australians obtain their inviolable rights. Canada has a charter of rights, so I\'d say that there is nothing preventing Australia from having a bill of rights under our current system.

A conservative republican position would be different again, that we have these in our constitutional system, except in the institution of Head of State. Hence the reason for a republican system is far clearer. It is obvious that the monarchy is a exception to the basic rules of equality, rule of law and autonomy.

I think this is the right approach.

I cannot see Australia wanting a top to bottom reformulation of our constitutional arrangements. We have a system that does deliver fairness, democracy, freedom and efficency in approximately the right balance. I say approximate, because there are of course many things I\'d change or modify. And others would have a very different list -- that\'s democracy. But the common ground is vast.

The political process fights for reform in an evolutionary way. For example, homosexuality was first made legal, then various rights given equal to defacto relationships and now the fight for \'civil unions\'. Indigenous peope were given the right to vote, then labour equality, then land rights and there is a range of issues still to be worked through.

Republicanism (in the broader definition) touches on many aspects of government and democracy. These are constantly being worked upon, eg Freedom of Information, Anti-Discrimination. So Australian Republicanism should focus on a clear objective as a part of the overall project for a better Australia.

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