What other
Commonwealth leaders say:
"The creation of an
Australian republic can actually deliver a heightened sense of
unity, it can enliven our national spirit and, in our own minds
and those of our neighbours, answer beyond doubt the perennial
question of Australian identity - the question of who we are and
what we stand for."
~ Paul
Keating, Prime Minister of Australia June 7, 1995
"Our position as
a party is clear - we are committed to an Australian republic."
~ Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia, April 6, 2008
"The intention to
have a Barbadian as the Head of State of our country, is
inspired by the purest intention of lifting up the Barbadian
identity, ... to set new goals of aspiration for every child
born in this land."
~ Owen Arthur,
Prime Minister of Barbados, February 11, 2005
"I love the Queen
dearly, but the time has come when we must have a head of state
chosen by us, representative of us and immediately accountable
to us. The majority of people in Jamaica are ready to consign to
history the last vestiges of colonialism."
~ P.J.
Patterson, Prime Minister of Jamaica, September 28, 2003
"I think it's
simply a factor of New Zealand evolving very much its own
identity. Over time, I’m on the public record as saying it is
inevitable that New Zealand will change its constitution and
become a republic."
~ Helen Clark,
Prime Minister of New Zealand, July 9, 2001
"I have more than
once spoken with Her Majesty about my view that New Zealand
would at some point elect its own Head of State. We discussed
the matter in a most sensible way and she was in no way
surprised or alarmed and neither did she cut my head off."
~ Jim Bolger,
Prime Minister of New Zealand,
April 27, 2007
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