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AUSTRALIA-VOTE
Australian people should choose next head of state, republicans tell PM
CANBERRA, June 11, 2018 (BSS/Xinhua) – Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has been urged to use the upcoming appointment of the next governor-general as a trial run to select the country’s first native-born head of state via parliament or a public vote.
The Australian Republic Movement (ARM) call to cut one of the last remaining constitutional ties with Britain comes as opposition Labor leader Bill Shorten said a move towards a republic should be sought alongside a treaty with the country’s Indigenous people.
In a letter to the prime minister, republican movement president Peter FitzSimons said Turnbull should involve the Australian community in selecting a successor to Governor-General Peter Cosgrove, whose five-year term concludes next March.
FitzSimons urged Turnbull to consider testing one of two methods: opening the process to public nominations, before moving a joint resolution in the parliament with the Labor Party; or nominating several eminent Australians for a national vote.
The first method would trial election of a head of state by parliament, the second by voters.
“In either event, Australians would have more say over this important national appointment,” FitzSimons wrote, in a letter published on Monday by News Ltd.
A spokesman said the prime minister did not intend to break with convention and would make a recommendation to the Queen on Cosgrove’s replacement, while the ARM said it would continue to campaign for the next governor-general to be decided by the people.
BSS/XINHUA/AU/09:35 hrs