On the 6th November 1999, the day had come to decide whether or not the Australian Constitution should be changed to make Australia a republic. There were many arguments both for and against the republic, and in the end the majority of the people voted the republic out. As it was later found out it wasn't the republic itself they didn't want, but infact the model they were given.'Yes'case was led by the Australian Republican movement, Malcolm Turnball. But there were many others supporting the 'Yes' case. Such as Kim Beazley (ALP leader) according to him on the 25th January 1999 Australia needed to vote 'Yes' in order to create a clear path to "constitutional maturity" he also said to "…vote for a new sense ...view middle of the document...
" The 'No'case (Australians for a constitutional monarchy) was led by Kerry Jones. According to panflet distribution by the ACM 1999, "the politicians not the people choose the president", "There would be nothing to keep the politicians honest" and that "The president won't be one of us, but one of them-a politician". Basically going against everything in the 'Yes' case.The 'No' case gained the support of many republicans who apposed the politicians appointing the president. They rarely mentioned the monarchy and used the slogan "Vote No to the politicians republic." Sophie Panopoulos a spokesperson for Australians for a constitutional monarchy said "I'm not an idealogical monarchist, but I don't think the proposed model is going to deliver us a better system of government. I don't think it has the same safeguards. There isn't a lot of passion for a republic at grassroots level because I think people see it as something cobbled together by a group of Canberra politicians.The republic failed because basically the 'No' campaign was just much stronger than the 'Yes' campaign. 'No' focused on the model where as 'Yes' focused on the monarchy. The 'No' campaign had been more influential, especially with its slogans 'Vote No to the politicians republic' and 'If it aint broke don't fix it.' The 'Yes' campaign was elitist, appealing to the 'chardonnay socialists,' and didn't capture the working class and traditional labor voters. Basically the majority voted 'no' due to the model they were given, but if that model is changed Australia should become a republic in the near future.