Archbishop backs republican case

Conservative Australian farmers were targeted by republicans yesterday in a cheeky stunt claiming that if Prince Charles becomes…

Conservative Australian farmers were targeted by republicans yesterday in a cheeky stunt claiming that if Prince Charles becomes their next head of state his loyalties will be divided. And the Catholic Archbishop of Melbourne was accused of stirring up "tribal Irish" divisions when he appealed to voters to support the beleaguered republic case in tomorrow's vote.

In the final 24 hours, the stakes are high, with up to 26 per cent of the electorate undecided. But an opinion poll showed fewer than one in 10 voting against the republic actually want the queen as head of state.

Almost half those voting No said they opposed the move to a president because they believed the constitutional monarchy was working. Another third said they were against the republican model on offer because there was too much uncertainty.

In the bush, the No vote is especially strong, so a prize Murray Gray bull was led on to the steps of Sydney's Town Hall bearing the sign: "No Bull. Prince Charles doesn't like me."

READ MORE

The republicans were capitalising on Prince Charles's recent appointment as an ambassador for British beef. They have argued a British head of state cannot also represent a frequent trade rival like Australia.

"The fact is if we had an Australian head of state, that head of state could be out there actively promoting Australia, our products and our beef," said one farmer, Mr Robert Webster.

The chair of the Yes case, and head of the Australian Republican Movement, Mr Malcolm Turnbull, said of Prince Charles: "He knows he's on the British team, it's just a pity the No case doesn't. They want to have a British beef ambassador as our next head of state."

However, Mr John Anderson, the Deputy Prime Minister and head of the rural-based National Party, which is backing the monarchy, says the republicans are grasping at straws. "There's a sense that this is an issue that's been very much promoted by people in Sydney and Canberra and Melbourne who seemed to be obsessed with trying to replace something the bush doesn't believe is broken in the first place."

One of those Melbourne people could be Archbishop George Pell, who in an intervention which has surprised many backed the republican cause which has been fatally divided between those who want an appointed or an elected president.

He is No 2 in the Catholic Church in Australia and said the symbolism of the royals had been eroded and Australians, whatever their political or religious convictions, should vote Yes. The archbishop said events in East Timor showed the country needed to stand on its own two feet. "The monarchists are relying on apathy, ignorance and those who want a directly elected president. Their argument is bankrupt," he said.

However, a leading monarchist and intellectual, Christopher Pearson, said the archbishop was abusing his position by putting out a press release and claiming it was only his personal view.

"This is entirely an intemperate and tribal Irish kind of attack," said the editor of the Adelaide Review. "What he's done is to jeopardise his pastoral role to nearly half of his flock. It's delinquent and he should think better of it."

Meanwhile, in the final public debates on the republic, the Treasurer, Mr Peter Costello, summed up the apprehension of many Australians who, according to polls, support the idea of a republic, even if they seem unlikely to vote for the model in which parliament appoints a president.

"My great fear is that if Australia votes No, a country that is overwhelmingly republican in sentiment will be constitutionally a monarchy and will be for quite some time," he said. "I think that will be a trouble for Australia because our constitution will tell us something that we don't feel in our hearts or our heads."

But Mr Phil Cleary, a former independent federal MP, continued his fight for the so-called real republic which has seen those in favour of a popularly elected president join forces with the monarchists to defeat the referendum. "Don't think politics is only fashioned by those in power. They only come and go," he told the National Press Club in Canberra.

"The people will have a big say in the republic and a big, big say in where we go after November 6th if it goes down. I reckon if we vote No it will be one of the bravest decisions we ever make."