Peter Consandine founded The Republican Party of Australia [RPA] with 4 other Australian colleagues on 10 January, 1982.
He is the mainstay of The Party – the other 4 having either died or moved on to separate challenges, since.
Peter – as The National Executive Director of The RPA – earnestly believes that Australia must have a discernible national identity and that this ideal can only be possible when we have Australians as Heads-of-State. This indubitably means that Australia must dispense with having aristocrats from another country as representative of US.
Peter is a committed republican and is thereby an arch-advocate of his Fellow-Australians being collectively sovereign when the existing (British) Head-of-State either dies or abdicates. However, if the present arrangements cannot or will not – for whatever reason – be changed during this, the 9th monarchical reign, then at the latest in the reign to follow (i.e. the 10th since European settlement).
It is more that 20 years since the first Australian Republican Referendum was defeated in a 45%:55% loss. Peter and The RPA campaigned for the ‘YES’ vote in tandem with the Malcolm Turnbull-led Australian Republican Movement [ARM] back then but he was cognisant that the model for the republic on offer had a major flaw in it apropos the dismissal of the Heads-of-State.
There is no doubting in Peter’s mind that a more-inclusive model – one, whereby eligible Australian voters directly-elected The Presidency – would have fared better than the so-called ‘Parliamentary Appointment’ model on 6 November, 1999. Peter really does believe that there is every reason why a ‘direct-election’ model for the Presidency will succeed next time around. This is why Peter and his (registered) political party steadfastly champions a progressive-inclusivist model – The Presidium – for the Australian Republic. This progressive-inclusivist model may be perused on his party’s website: See Here
Peter is the UNpaid CEO of the Democratic Co-Operative which IS The Republican Party of Australia. In more ways than one Peter is the Chief Conductor of The Republican Party Orchestra which comprises nearly 3000 Players/Members, Australia-wide. Peter ensures that The Party operates on professional business bases and he personally maintains the National Secretariat of the Republican Umbrella Group at Castle Hill NSW 2154 in tandem with The Party’s Serviced Office at nearby Bella Vista, NSW 2153.
In the current state-of-play, Peter strongly suggests that because various members of the Royal Family are actually leaving the Establishment in London (known as ‘The Firm’) that the time is right for a withdrawal of Australia’s long-term connection to same.
Short of a persuasive argument being presented to the known-monarchical Prime Minister, Scott Morrison, to follow the precedent set by his predecessor, John Winston Howard, to give his Australia-wide electors another say on the matter, Peter has instigated a purposeful ‘Republic by Default’ campaign. Peter wishes it known that this grassroots initiative is quite separate from any agenda-setting campaign being waged on or by the newly-named Australian Republic Movement [ARM] led by the red bandanna-wearing Peter FitzSimons.
