Australian Democracy and the Compound Republic

Abstract

On 6 November 1999, Australians went to the polls in a referendum designed to convert Australia into a full-fledged republic. Whether this would cause significant constitutional change was a matter of some controversy. Although a few commentators object to the formulation, the Australian polity is a hybrid of an imported British substructure, based on the Westminster parliamentary system, but significantly modified by reference to the federal experience of America, Canada and to some extent, Switzerland. Even before Federation in 1901, the Australian colonies had adopted aspects of American practice, such as elements of judicial review. The national constitution, however, which blends a federal system with parliamentary and cabinet government under a constitutional monarchy, has been controversially characterized as the "Washminster mutation." The referendum of 1999 was defeated partly owing to the fact that many thought Australia was in important respects a republic already - its "hybrid" nature reflecting the character of a mixed constitution so cherished in republican tradition. In any case, there was strong opinion that Australia enjoyed all the benefits of republicanism under the constitutional monarchy.