Honorary President

Senate Submission

 Overview 
 Title
 Introduction
 Framework
 Origins
 Advantages


 The Amendments 
 20 References
 Section 126
 Section 59
 Section 60
 Section 61
 Section 2
 Section 4
 The States
 All Amendments


 The Election 
 Why Elect
 Apolitical
 Electoral Law
 Timing


 Independence 
 Introduction
 The Two Roles
 Costs v Benefits
 Free Speech


 Other Issues 
 Referendum
 One Royal Link
 Honorary Vice Pres
 Spectrum of Powers
 Questions
 More Questions
 Conclusion

Other Issues

The Referendum Question

One of the controversies of the 1999 Referendum was the referendum question. The following is the question put to the people and rejected:

The explanation of the law explains the overall intention, explains who replaces who and how the Head of State is appointed. The YES campaign was fortunate that the method of dismissal was not included.

Under the Model for an Honorary President, the question can be framed without reference to the Governor General. This alone makes the question simpler. If, in other respects, the same form of question is used, the referendum question under this model would be as follows:

There would be little controversy in such a question and it is certainly to the advantage of the Honorary President Republican Model’s chances at referendum that such a straightforward question would be asked of the electorate.

Next: One Remaining Royal Link