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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 1 Hansard (14 February) . . Page.. 190 ..
MR MOORE: Mr Corbell replies, "Fortunately not." I have to say that it is one of those memories that I recall but do not necessarily cherish. I rather actually cherish the times that we decided, "Bugger that, we're going to remain seated." It was a very short while after that that they decided that playing the national anthem in picture theatres was not a good idea.
Mr Speaker, there have been a number of precedents-and Mr Osborne mentioned the one of the prayer in this place-where we said, "Look, people have different opinions here. What we need to do is facilitate a way in which we respect each other and respect their opinions." I have to say that the fact that we are forced to make an affirmation or swear an oath to the Queen does not respect the view of people who have a republican attitude.
Similarly, we ought to be able to respect the attitude that is held be Mr Kaine and others. I think Mr Osborne's amendments do that without taking away the intention of Ms Tucker's legislation, which is to take the next step towards compromise and moving towards a republicanism approach, recognising there are some of us-and I am one of them-who would prefer not to swear allegiance to a monarch that is many miles away.
Mr Stanhope: Then support the bills.
MR MOORE: Mr Stanhope says, "Then support the bills." I will. I will support the bills as amended by Mr Osborne's amendments.
MR QUINLAN (9:10): Just briefly, Mr Speaker: like Mr Kaine, I have been around for some time. I remember when the monarch was the king.
Mr Moore: Well, that is before my time.
MR QUINLAN: Even as a kid, Mike, I was bemused by the concept of royalty. It still strikes me as crazy and I still wonder about people who believe in that. Royalty flies in the face of any perception of people being born equal. I will not cast aspersions on the House of Windsor, as well you could, and I do not claim to be a constitutional lawyer and therefore I would defer to others in terms of what structures we need in our society to replace monarchy, but I did give up a long time ago believing in Santa Claus, the Easter bunny and princes and princesses and I have to say that this still strikes me as humorous.
The people of the ACT participated in a referendum and voted for a republic-viva the republic. If it is within our jurisdiction to represent the will of the people by making these changes rather than preserving the status quo, then it would seem to me that by your own logic you would be supporting Ms Tucker's bill. It is within the province of the ACT Assembly to make these changes. Mr Stefaniak, if you want to represent our people then I think you should be on our side, mate, and you can give up believing in princes and princesses as well.
MR STANHOPE
(Leader of the Opposition) (9.13): Mr Speaker, I will join the debate quite briefly. As has been indicated by my colleague, the Labor Party will be supporting Ms Tucker's bills. I concede that the Labor Party's commitment to the republic is well known and, of course, this commitment does influence our approach to and our views on
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