Anzac and the Australian republic

Does harping on Australia’s role in an imperial war 100 years ago slow our path to a republic? Here is the view of Sarah Brasch, national convenor of Women for an Australian Republic:

The Anzac Centenary is due to take another bite out of the republic’s popularity as we drown in well-funded sentimentality with a military flavour from 2014 to 2018. Fighting for the King of the British Empire – in a failed campaign in Turkey at the behest of British politicians and generals – should start ringing bells as some things get laid bare for all to see: it was men only; the handful of Aboriginals at Gallipoli were not even Australian citizens; not everyone is related to the combatants — or if they are, not necessarily on the right side! Eventually, the appetite for WWI will dull because its story does not have a discrete goal, a proper ending, nor is it about the future.

October 2013

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