the times | Thursday January 13 2022 V2 33Hawke, who died aged 89 in 2019, said
that the changes were no sign of disre-
spect and did not herald a move toward
an Australian republic. God Save the
Queen was retained as the royal anthem
to be observed when the members of the
royal family were present.
Under the newly proposed republican
model, Australia’s head of state would
act on the advice of the government of
the day. However, he or she would be re-
quired to remove a prime minister who
lost a vote of no confidence.
Australians last voted on the ques-
tion of becoming a republic in 1999. In
that referendum they were asked if they
wanted to replace the Queen with a
president appointed by a two-thirds
majority of parliament. Republicans
opposed the proposal, preferring a di-
rectly elected president, and 55 per cent
voted to retain the Queen.
According to other polls the republi-
can campaign has weakened since
then. Last year a survey for The Sydney
Morning Herald found that support for
a republic was only at 34 per cent.
Support for the monarchy is thought
to be driven by the long reign of the
Queen and fondness for the younger
royals, as well as an apathy about the
need for a republic. There is little pro-
spect of a referendum unless Labor
wins the general election in May.Dentist ‘killed wife’
on Zambian safari
Page 36Japan plans railgun to
shoot down missiles
Page 34Australian republicans claim a majority
of the public support ditching the Brit-
ish monarchy and have proposed a new
system to elect a head of state.
In the plan, called “the Australian
Choice”, each of the country’s nine par-
liaments would nominate a candidate
who would be put up for a national vote.
The Australian Republic Movement
said the system was designed to pro-
duce a list of distinguished Australians
from whom the public could choose a
replacement for the monarch.
“People don’t want a Trump-like
figure and they don’t want Shane
Warne... They want an eminent per-
son,” Peter FitzSimons, a former rugby
player who is the group’s chairman, said.
He added that a suitable model was
needed before the Queen’s death.
Politicians elected to the eight state
and territory local parliaments, plus the
national parliament, would be banned
from putting forward their names.
In polling commissioned by republi-
cans, 57 per cent said they would vote to
become a republic if this model was put
to a referendum; 25 per cent said they
were unsure and 18 per cent said they
would vote against.
It has come to light that Buckingham
Palace accused Bob Hawke, the Labor
prime minister of Australia from 1983 to
1991, of “discourtesy” when he left affir-
mation to the British monarch out of the
Australian citizenship pledge. The 1983
dispute was reported by The Australian
based on letters released by the national
archives. The Queen’s private secretary
at the time, Sir Philip Moore, also wrote
to the governor-general, taking issue
with changes decided by Hawke. Moore
said it was “disappointing” that the
Queen had not been consulted and “a
mistake God Save the Queen was no
longer the vice-regal salute”.Australians want
to dump monarch,
Republicans claim
Shifting attitudes
Polling on whether Australia should be
a republic or a monarchy
Republic Monarchy Undecided2000 05 10 15 200102030405060%Polls conducted by various companies including Newspoll,
Essential, YouGov & IpsosAustralia
Bernard Lagan SydneyA Canadian politician has been
criticised for tweeting a photograph of
his wife shovelling snow from their
driveway after her 12-hour hospital
shift.
Jon Reyes, minister of economic
development and jobs for Manitoba,
captioned the photograph of his wife,
Cynthia: “Even after a 12 hour night
shift at the hospital last night, my wife
still has the energy to shovel the
driveway. God bless her and all our
frontliners. Time to make her some
breakfast.”
Tens of thousands of social media
users promptly attacked the self-
proclaimed family man. “What kind of
a husband would let his wife shovel the
driveway after a 12-hour-shift?” tweet-Snow joke: Minister’s tweet
triggers a sexism storm
ed one. “I will personally pay for her
divorce lawyer,” wrote another.
TMZ, the US celebrity news site,
pointed out that Reyes had stayed up
the entire previous night tweeting
about tennis.
When the social media response was
reaching a fever pitch, Cynthia Reyes
decided to enter the fray. In a statement
on Facebook, she wrote she had arrived
home early while the rest of the house-
hold was sleeping. The couple have two
children and a dog.
“As I pulled up to my driveway, I felt
energy to shovel the snow that fell all
night and into the morning,” she wrote.
“It’s refreshing after having worn an
N95 mask almost the entire night. Most
importantly, I enjoy it.”
The photograph would not have
gone viral, she suggested, had their
gender roles been reversed.Canada
Charlie Mitchell Ottawa
survival as election gets off to ugly start
hold together his “United for Hungary”
electoral alliance. Zoltan Kovacs, Or-
ban’s closest aide, has written on a gov-
ernment website: “Marki-Zay person-
ally stood behind Laszlo Biro from the
antisemitic, far-right Jobbik [party]. In
Hungary, Biro is known as the man who
refers to Budapest as ‘Judapest’.”
In response, Hungarian liberals will
probably point to Orban’s own antise-
mitic attacks on George Soros, the Jew-
ish Hungarian-American billionaire, as
the organiser of an international con-
spiracy to destroy Hungarian culture.
Orban also hopes to remind voters of
his particular brand of social conserva-
tism by holding a referendum on elect-ion day on family values and the “pro-
motion” of homosexuality.
Hungarians will be asked to back a
ban on the promotion of gender reas-
signment among children and vote on
restricting access by children to gay
content on the internet.
Marki-Zay will aim to defuse the
issue by stressing his religious commit-
ment as a practising Roman Catholic
under communism, unlike Orban.
However, while in Brussels he visited
the street where a Fidesz MEP had been
arrested after what was described as a
homosexual orgy. “I would like to see a
country where even Fidesz politicians
can openly embrace their homo-sexuality, because there is no shame in
that,” he said.
Many in Brussels and across Europe
would be glad to see the end of Orban
after repeated Hungarian challenges to
the supremacy of European law, espe-
cially on “liberal values” such as re-
fugees or gay rights.
During a Brussels summit last
summer Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime
minister, told Orban that his plans for
anti-gay legislation meant “Hungary
has no business being in the EU any
more”.
In contrast, Marki-Zay told the web-
site Euractiv that his administration
would be a “grand prize for the EU”.GUY BELL/ALAMY; SOTHEBY’S