A brief history

The Real Republic Australia had its origins in the Constitutional Convention held in Canberra over 10 days in February 1998 to discuss an Australian republic.

A total of 152 delegates attended from all states and territories. They included a mix of delegates appointed by federal, state, and territory governments as well as delegates elected by popular vote in individual jurisdictions.

Many delegates wanted to debate a potential republic model to be put to voters, but their efforts to have the Convention focus on that discussion were thwarted.

Delegates to the 1998 Constitutional Convention

Instead the Convention ended up wasting too much time on a “constitutional monarchy versus republic” debate which was never the main game and the outcome of which was never going to change many minds.

On the first day of the Convention, just after morning tea, Clem Jones, the former Lord Mayor of Brisbane, called for the question on whether or not Australia should become a republic to be resolved by day three to allow for a workable and acceptable model to be decided by the end of the Convention.

Unfortunately the motion was lost and the so-called “politicians’ republic” model emerged from the Convention.

That model – the appointment of a head of state by a minimum two-thirds majority vote of MPs in the Federal Parliament – did not have majority support even among delegates. The vote was far from an enthusiastic endorsement:

  • 73 delegates voting “yes”,

  • 57 voting “no”, and 

  • 22 abstaining.

Opinion polling at the time showed Australians preferred a direct election model to choose their Head of State so it was no surprise that voters rejected the “politicians’ republic” at the November 1999 referendum.

As a result a number of delegates resolved to form an organisation dedicated to advocating for a directly elected head of state. They included: 

  • Clem Jones, 

  • Ann Bunnell former Deputy Mayor of Townsville in Queensland, 

  • Brisbane lawyer David Muir, 

  • the late Ted Mack former North Sydney mayor and independent MP in the NSW and Federal Parliaments, and 

  • Phil Cleary, former independent federal MP from Victoria.   

The Real Republic Australia continues to campaign for a republic model with the direct election of our head of state. 

Its work is supported by the Clem Jones Group in line with the wishes of the late Clem Jones who was Brisbane’s longest serving Lord Mayor from 1961 to 1975 and is acknowledged as the driving force behind the city’s development from what was often dismissed as a sleepy country town to a major, modern, and vibrant city on the world map. 

A champion of average Australians, the late Dr Jones was passionate about voters having the right to choose their head of state through a direct election.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE HANSARD RECORD OF THE 1998 CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION