From the desk of Roland Rocchiccioli – 6 February

If, on opening your eyes first thing in the morning, and before pulling the doona back over your head, you immediately remember, “Oh my God, The Queen of England is Australia’s head-of-state”, then you need – sooner, rather than later – to get a life!

IT has been reported Liberal MP, Jason Falinski, was part of a two-year consultation on an Australian Republic Movement manifesto which proposes Australians should choose their head-of-state from a shortlist of 11 people pre-selected by politicians.

According to Sandy Biar, ARM national director, “It’s a model that has a chance of winning a referendum.”

Conversely, opponents would argue, confidently, it is a very slim chance!

The notion is so gauche; so vulgar; so ridiculous, and so profoundly insulting to those suitable persons of pre-eminence, it is beyond comprehension. Does Peter FitzSimons – ARM chair, and the rest of his meddling gang, seriously imagine – or believe – there would be list of suitable Australians willing to submit themselves to a popularity poll?  We are talking about a head of state, not the Logies! Where does one get the voting form? From a collector’s edition of TV Week?

One would have thought, given the COVID pandemic sweeping the world, unemployment rates, homelessness, drug addiction and trafficking, fiscal tribulations, child abuse, increasing domestic assault, the cost of living, gas emissions, housing affordability, public debt, tax and superannuation reform, and food shortages, there were more important things to occupy the minds of those who spend their time pondering where, or not, Australia should become a republic.

There is no perfect system of government. The instant you invest someone with a portfolio of power it creates a societal imbalance; however, its many and varied shortcomings notwithstanding, our current system of a constitutional monarchy, headed by Elizabeth II, serves us well. You can be assured: Pauline Hanson, Clive Palmer, Craig Kelly, and a list of like-minded colleagues – too many to number – would not exist in any system other than a fully evolved and free democracy, such as we have in Australia.

In a statement, the Federal Labor opposition welcomed the ARM’s announcement; however, while it affirmed its commitment to an Australian head-of-state, its priorities for constitutional reform were for the recognition of Indigenous Australians, and a providing them a voice to Parliament.

Mr Fitzsimons, in reasoning for constitutional change, and in what might be construed a churlish, personal attack on The Queen, questioned why Australian should still be finding our head of state from “one family of English aristocrats living in a palace in England”. Perhaps Mr Fitzsimons would find Her Majesty more acceptable if she were living in a two-up two-down on a run-down, government, housing estate.

The conundrum remains, how there are those Australians hell-bent on tinkering with a system which ‘ain’t broke’. This latest ARM initiative is so bizarre, so unworkable, anyone who cares about safeguarding our system of government must lend their support to make certain it never comes to pass – ever!

It would be cataclysmic.

Onslow, Western Australia, has recorded a daily temperature of 50.7 Census (123.26 Fahrenheit) degrees, on par with Australia’s record temperature at Oodnadatta Airport, South Australia, 2 January, 1960.

Extreme heat in the west is not uncommon. In Agnew, 20 February, 1947, the day I was born, it was 115 Fahrenheit (46 Celsius). Melbourne recorded the same temperature during the Black Saturday bushfires, 2009.

Official data reveals the past seven years to be the warmest on record despite the La Nina weather pattern. It further revealed, the world has already warmed between 1.1 and 1.3 degrees above pre-industrial levels.

Also, the world’s oceans recorded their hottest temperatures in more than 60 years, driven by greenhouse gases. Concerningly, the ocean’s ecosystems will be unsustainable in the warmer climate.

Do not be fooled. Climate change is factual. We cannot ignore the science. The consequences are too dire to contemplate.

Changed is imperative for survival!

Roland can be heard with Brett Macdonald radio 3BA every Monday at 10.45am and contacted via [email protected].