Republicans: Deceitful or delusional?

I was recently engaged in a healthy debate on the issue of an Australian Republic on a popular blog, and it astounded me how many people claimed then Prime Minister John Howard rigged the referendum by removing from the question the words 'president' and 'republic'. Well, see for yourselves, here is the question:

Do you approve of an Act to alter the Constitution to establish the Commonwealth of Australia as a republic with the Queen and Governor General being replaced by a President appointed by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Commonwealth Parliament?

Such a confusing question, what? I can see how 72% of electorates, 54.87% of voters and every state could reject the proposed changes on such an ambiguous and poorly worded question.
Incidentally, it was Australian Republican Movement leader Malcolm Turnbull (I think I've heard his name recently) who proposed the word 'president' and 'republic' be removed.
Now, I am no fan of Howard, Ifound his administration to be both unconservative and downright incompetent and times, not to mention profligate in its spending ($800,000 dollars spent on a few hundred refugees under the Pacific Solution for Gods sake. If you are going to lock refugees up at least try and do it economically). But had he rigged the referendum, it would have been such an immense breach of Australian law and constitution there would have been no end of legal challenges launched by the republicans. There were none. Why? Because Howard did everything according to the constitutional requirements and protocols.
As for the illogical statement that 'a No vote was not a vote for the monarchy' that is like saying 'a Labor vote was not a vote against the Liberals'. Not a perfect analogy I admit*, but it illustrates the farce.

*There are more than two parties, there were only two choices in the referendum.

The Slow Death of a Republic

The latest Morgan Poll ( http://www.roymorgan.com/news/polls/2008/4290/ ) shows the general level of support or a Republic in Australia at 45%, while support for the Monarchy has risen to 42%. While highly encouraging for anyone who truly cares about the future of this countries political system, the really important result is one barely commented on, even in what little media attention has been given to this poll. This is that 64% of young people asked, 14-17 year olds, support the Monarchy. This makes a mockery of Republicans claims that they only have to sit back and wait for the 'inevitable' Republic to come to them.
I have long held that most republicans are not fuelled by concern for our constitution, but an immature dislike of Great Britain and her institutions which developed amongst Baby Boomers as a reaction to their parents loyalty. The younger generations lack this, we travel to Britain, work in Britain, live in Britain in vast numbers. We have more respect for Britain, though we do not defer to them in any way, and rightly so.
Australia is a proud, independent nation that shares one of the most stable and free political systems in the world, and the bedrock of this is our constitutional monarchy. Thankfully, Australians, and particularly young Australians, are beginning to wake up to this fact.

Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia.

After eleven years of incompetent and radical government masquerading behind the conservative label so unthinkingly bestowed by a compliant media, Australia has a new Prime Minister. Thank God.
Although Howard claimed to be socially conservative but economically radical (a contradiction, one is either conservative or not) the pure and simple truth is that he was a power hungry man who would attack any institution, any eminent person, who dared to criticise him and his clique of absurdly useless ministers. He was economically radical and socially neglectful, doing nothing to help promote traditional valued in Australian society, all the while espousing such populist trash as 'mateship'.
We now have a truly conservative Prime Minister in the form of Kevin Rudd, who has, it seems, promptly abandoned earlier claims to hold a referendum on the Republic question, much to my delight as the one difficulty I had in voting for a Rudd government was that Labor supported the idea of an Australian Republic.
Let us hope the venerable institutions of Australia, so abused by the Howard government, can now be rejuvenated and restored.