Not so long ago, the official line was that we could consider republicanism when the queen died. Tony Smith argues that politicians calling for Independent Senator Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe to be sanctioned for dishonesty invite ridicule.
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Do we need to debate whether Australia should become a republic? After all, it is not just parties that say Australian society should be transformed (Socialist Alliance) or reformed (the Greens) that want a republic. The national leaders of the major capitalist political parties and all the state premiers agree on ending the situation where a British monarch is Australia's head of state. I suspect this is in line with what most Australians think: who gave birth to you should not make you the head of state, even nominally. So why is there an argument about this?