Without constitutional change, women will be locked out of the position of head of state of Australia for at least three generations from the end of this reign. And Australian women will be locked out forever.
We already know the names of the three English men who will be Australia’s next three heads of state: Charles; William; George.
Without constitutional change, no woman, let alone an Australian woman, will be eligible to be Australia’s head of state until at least the end of the reign of Prince George (born in 2013), and even longer if his first-born child is a son.
It is not acceptable that any public position in our country be hereditary. It is not acceptable that any public position in our country be subject to a religious test. It is not acceptable that the highest place in our constitution be reserved to the descendants of imperial privilege. And it is not acceptable that our nation could live through whole generations, indeed lifetimes, in which women are so excluded from constitutional office.
In 2020, Australians should be allowed to vote on whether we become a republic with an Australian as our head of state, and on how our head of state should be chosen.
This should lead to a referendum for Australia to make the change in 2022.
This International Women’s Day, as we commit ourselves to equality for Australian women at every level of our society, we commit ourselves to an Australian Republic.
Because no Australian woman will ever be our head of state until an Australian can be our head of state.
Allison Henry Convenor, Australian Republic Movement Women’s Network
