Why Direct Election?
I was not originally a “direct election or nothing” republican. Among republics with “responsible government” and a non-executive President there are many with a President elected by the members of Parliament (either the central Parliament alone or together with members of the regional Parliaments) that work perfectly well, and also many with a directly elected President that work perfectly well. Direct election (DE) starts, of course, with one huge positive reason in its favour – it is the most visible way in which we can signal that the people hold the sovereign power in the country. However, either system could work perfectly well here in Australia, and I previously would have been happy with either (though I objected to the Prime Minister’s power of instant dismissal of the President in the model offered to us in 1999). I have however, become a “DE or nothing” advocate for two reasons: • the fact that it is pretty clear that the people of Australia will accept nothing else – see my
