Page 830 - Week 03 - Thursday, 25 March 1993
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I will admit that Mr Stokes said that he did not believe that making Australia a republic would do a lot for the national capital. I, in fact, take issue with that, for I believe that making Australia a republic will do those things which Mr Stokes asked and implored us to do in his address. The interesting thing was that in his address he said that there needed to be a greater recognition in Australia of Canberra as the national political centre and that it should increasingly become the focus of national attention. I believe that in Australia we have the widely held view about Canberra that we have because of the way the Commonwealth parliamentary system has grown up over the last 100 years. The approaching centenary of Federation, I believe, is an appropriate opportunity for Australia, and Canberra in particular, to take advantage of the obvious benefits that that drawing together and the dispelling of the differences in this country can achieve.
Madam Speaker, I do not need to speak at length about the way in which this country has grown up. First of all, I suggest that it was because of the political and economic well-being of individuals and particular families in this country that we ended up with a conglomeration of States. It was the wish to preserve the positions of power and wealth that saw the States created in this country. That led us, almost 100 years ago, to a decision to make a Commonwealth of Australia, to make a federated country.
We need to move now to the next step and to say, once and for all, that we are one country; that we are a single identity in the world. To retain the shackles of the last century, I believe, is inappropriate. Canberra as the capital of a republic, properly determined on the centenary of Federation, will achieve those things which Mr Stokes outlined in his address - a greater appreciation of the role of the national capital and a greater acknowledgment of the right of Canberra to exist as a city in its own right and as the centre of our national institutions.
The Chief Minister talked about the International Year of the World's Indigenous Peoples. The declaration of a republic in this country will go some way towards redressing some of the outrageous things which have been perpetrated on the Aboriginal peoples in this country in the last 200 years. I believe that it is singularly repugnant to have as the symbol of the country a flag which does not pay due respect to the original owners of the country, to the original inhabitants of the country, to the original minders of the country. That is the state of symbolism in Australia at the moment. One hopes that when the republic comes consideration will be given to symbols which reflect what the republic is, so that reconciliation with the Aboriginal peoples can take place and so that a true sense of identity is given to all of the people from diverse backgrounds who have come to call Australia home and who will see the national capital as a city-state which reflects their aspirations in this, their new country.
Madam Speaker, the economic benefits are difficult, but not impossible, to identify in precise quantifiable terms. There needs to be a greater reliance on Australians by Australians. There must be a greater recognition that, as a country, we need symbols that at both a national and an international level portray our aspirations. When you look at parliamentary history you see the ridiculous oaths and declarations with which Australians have been asked to pledge their troth. It is interesting to go back to the time of that arch-conservative and pro-monarchist Sir Robert Menzies and look at the words with which Australians were required to pledge their troth. They referred to an institution half a world away. During our history we have developed our own values.
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