HOWARD’S PREAMBLE DECIMATED; ‘WE DID WHAT WAS RIGHT’, SAYS TURNBULL; BEAZLEY PROMISES CONTINUING CAMPAIGN

The referendum for an Australian Republic has been defeated.

The most recent figures show that 45.28% of the nation’s voters have supported the republican minimalist model in yesterday’s referendum. Voters in the Australian Capital Territory supported a republic, but Victoria is the only State to record a narrow (50.10%) yes vote.

The referendum on the Preamble has fared worse, with support from only 39.88% of voters. No State or Territory has voted in favour.

Speaking after the result became clear, Australian Republican Movement chairman, Malcolm Turnbull, said the blame for the result lay with the Prime Minister, John Howard, whom he said had “broken this nation’s heart.” Turnbull said that republican supporters had done “what was right.” He told supporters that today was the proudest day of their lives, and when their children in years to come wanted to know why the Queen of England was the Australian Head of State they could proudly say they had voted for an Australian Head of State on November 6, 1999.

Opposition Leader Kim Beazley last night promised to revisit the republic issue, saying it was vital that the issue be taken out of the hands of its enemies.

Today, Beazley talked of an indicative plebiscite in conjunction with the election after next, followed by a vote on a specific model. This process could take up to 8 years.

Kerry Jones, speaking to monarchist supporters, claimed victory in the referendum, praised republicans as “good Australians”, called for national unity in the lead-up to the centenary of Federation. James Blundell gave the assembled supporters a rendition of the NO campaign’s song.

In the other poll yesterday, the Labor Party’s Anthony Byrne comfortably won the Holt by-election with 72.97% of the two-party-preferred vote.

• Reluctantly, Australians Keep A Bond to the Queen – New York Times
• Australia Awakes To New Monarchist Era – New York Times
• Australia Votes To Keep Queen – New York Times
• Queen’s Domain Remains Intact – New York Times
• Australians vote to keep queen as head of state – NandO Times
• The Queen In A State – London Times
• Support Surges for Armenian Republic Model
• Australia Appears Reluctant To Give Up on British Monarchy – New York Times

Victorian and NSW Electorates Dominate YES vote

Nov 6 – 42 of Australia’s 148 Federal electorates, 28% of the total, supported the Yes vote in today’s referendum. 18 of these electorates (42%) were in Victoria, the only State to have recorded a narrow Yes vote. 15 Yes electorates were in NSW (36%). Only 7 electorates outside NSW and Victoria supported a Yes vote. There were 25 Labor electorates and 17 Liberal electorates that voted Yes.

This is a complete list of Federal electorates that voted Yes:

• Tasmania (1/5): Denison 53.47%
• South Australia (3/12): Adelaide 57.12%, Boothby 52.42%, Sturt 54.51%
• Western Australia (1/14): Curtin 56.21%
• Queensland 2/27: Brisbane 58.17%, Ryan 55.65%
• Victoria (18/37): Aston 52.39%, Batman 62.41%, Bruce 54.86%, Calwell 54.52%, Chisholm 58.33%, Deakin 53.70%, Gellibrand 57.99%, Goldstein 57.70%, Higgins 64.23%, Hotham 54.95%, JagaJaga 57.5%, Kooyong 64.93%, Maribyrnong 57.51%, Melbourne 71.50%, Melbourne Ports 66.17%, Menzies 60.91%, Scullin 57.02%, Wills 59.71%
• New South Wales (15/50): Barton 52.19%, Bennelong 54.99%, Berowra 52.58%, Bradfield 56.12%, Cunningham 53.98%, Fowler 52.50%, Grayndler 64.98%, Kingsford-Smith 55.84%, Lowe 57.04%, Newcastle 51.48%, North Sydney 61.75%, Sydney 68.14%, Warringah 54.57%, Watson 55.10, Wentworth 60.34%
• A.C.T. (2/2): Canberra 62.50%, Fraser 65.04%

Queensland And Country Areas Dominate NO Vote

Nov 6 – Whilst 42 electorates (28%) of all federal electorates cast a YES vote on the republic, by contrast 52 electorates (35%) cast a NO vote in excess of 60%.

Queensland dominated the NO vote, 25 of its 27 electorates rejecting the referendum proposal. Of these, 19 electorates recorded a NO vote in excess of 60%.

Nine electorates recorded a NO vote in excess of 70%. Five of these were in Queensland. Most are outlying or remote rural electorates.

This is a complete list of electorates which cast NO votes in excess of 60%:

• South Australia: Barker 67.93%, Bonython 66.77%, Grey 68.10%, Wakefield 67.07%
• Tasmania: Bass 65.71%, Braddon 68.90%, Franklin 61.46%, Lyons 69.66%
• Western Australia: Brand 66.50%, Canning 67.53%, Forrest 65.39%, Kalgoorlie 62.35%, O’Connor 71.63%, Pearce 62.66%
• Queensland: Blair 75.27%, Bowman 60.91%, Capricornia 67.67%, Dawson 69.58%, Fadden 63.04%, Fairfax 62.11%, Fisher 60.80%, Forde 68.42%, Groom 72.75%, Herbert 61.37%, Hinkler 69.66%, Kennedy 70.29%, Longman 66.55%, Maranoa 77.25%, Moncrieff 60.80%, Oxley 65.50%, Petrie 61.21%, Rankin 62.32%, Wide Bay 74.66%.
• Victoria: Bendigo 61.92%, Gippsland 65.68%, Indi 63.35%, Mallee 71.82%, McMillan 63.85%, Murray 70.23%, Wannon 64.77%.
• New South Wales: Calare 63.43%, Cowper 60.81%, Farrer 66.41%, Gwydir 72.44%, Hume 63.40%, Hunter 63.18%, Lyne 61.71%, New England 67.59%, Page 61.79, Parkes 69.62%, Paterson 60.18%, Riverina 66.81%.

Inner City Voters Cross Party Lines To Support Republic

Nov 6 – The inner suburban and city areas of the Australian capital cities provided the main support for the Yes case in the referendum. Voters in the outer suburbs, rural and provincial areas tended to vote No.

The electorate of Melbourne, held by Labor shadow minister Lindsay Tanner, recorded the highest Yes vote (71.50%) of any electorate in the nation. It was closely followed by Melbourne Ports (ALP – 66.17%), Kooyong (Liberal – 64.93%) and Higgins (Liberal – 62.43%). In other words, two of the ALP’s safest seats and two of the Liberal Party’s safest seats recorded the highest Yes votes. This suggests some correlation between education and income in the result. A less certain pattern is the correlation between Labor-voting electorates and the Yes vote, a pattern most evident in Victoria and the ACT. It should also be noted that Higgins is held by Peter Costello, the dominant government supporter of the Yes case.

By contrast, many safe Labor seats in the western suburbs of Sydney recorded No votes.

Interestingly, John Howard’s electorate of Bennelong recorded a 54.99% vote in favour of a republic, whilst Kim Beazley’s electorate of Brand only recorded 33.50% in favour. The seat of North Sydney, formerly held by prominent direct electionist Ted Mack voted 61.75% in favour of the republican model. All of this suggests a pattern of republican support concentrated in safe Labor and Liberal electorates in the inner suburban and more affluent areas of Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra, with pockets of support in the inner areas of Brisbane, Hobart, Adelaide and Perth.