On the eve of Australia Day, the move to break from Britain and remake Australia as a republic seems to be gaining more traction than ever.
Over 4,300 people have signed the Australian Republic Movement’s petition for an Australian head of state, and this morning, chairman Peter FitzSimon announced that every single state premier and chief minister, bar one, have lent their support and signed a declaration.
“Never before have the stars of the Southern Cross been so aligned in pointing to the dawn of a new republican age for Australia,” he said on Breakfast News this morning.
Party leaders Malcolm Turnbull, Bill Shorten, Richard di Natale have all signed the declaration, as has every state premier bar WA’s Colin Barnett, who – despite being a Republican himself – is against it for reasons of timing.
Back in a Q&A appearance in November 2010, he warned that “if anyone wants to introduce a republic, dissolve the Australian Federation and the Constitution, then the risk is Western Australia may not rejoin.”
Via ABC / Pedestrian
