Allison Henry - The Sydney Institute

Name: Allison Henry

Bio: National Director of the Australian Republican Movement

An Australian Head of State: Where Are We At? – 2nd March 2005

An Australian Head of State: Where are we at?

This speech was printed in Sydney Papers Vol.17 No.2 in 2005 (pages 21-32)

Debate over constitutional change and whether it’s time for Australia to become a republic reached a climax at the Constitutional referendum in 1999. While the “No” vote prevailed at the time, many do not believe a majority of Australians will be satisfied to have a British monarch as their Head of State after the death of Queen Elizabeth II. So debate continues, if in more muted tones, on just when and how Australia may become a republic and embrace a system where an Australian can be Australia’s Head of State. Allison Henry is the National Director of the Australian Republican Movement. In an address to The Sydney Institute on Wednesday 2 March 2005, she set out the republican argument for constitutional change.