A new royal baby is on the way, it has been announced by the palace. A future king or queen. An occasion for congratulations from Prime Ministers and a media frenzy of news stories about the happy royal couple, no doubt. Good luck and best wishes to them.
Amidst all the sycophantic adulation, however, there is another aspect which is overlooked: unless something changes, the new baby will one day be the Australian Head of State. Rather than choosing our own, our Heads of State are created by an act of British royal copulation.
It that what we really want?
The concept of a hereditary Head of State does not make any more sense than a hereditary carpenter, doctor, lawyer or politician. A new baby is very nice, but bring on the Republic please.
Dec 5, 2012