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Speaker 1: This is gam nation with jen Zyda well.

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Speaker 2: The Queen's death in September has reignited debate of Australia's

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Speaker 2: constitutional independence. Is it time for Australia to be independent

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Speaker 2: from the monarchy. Peter fitz Simon's has been the chair

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Speaker 2: of the Australian republic Movement for the past seven years,

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Speaker 2: and at a time when the debate is respectfully now

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Speaker 2: up to discussion, now the Queen has passed away, Peter's

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Speaker 2: announced he's stepping down from the position he joined us. Now,

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Speaker 2: Good morning Pete, Good.

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Speaker 1: Morning, Amanda, Good morning Jonesy'll always be happy to discuss it, yep.

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Speaker 1: But what does the head of state actually do? Presides

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Speaker 1: overseas that kind of thing. Basically, I mean the power

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Speaker 1: of the Westminster system. The power resides with the Prime

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Speaker 1: Minister and the government, and in Australia we have the

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Speaker 1: Government General who's representing Queen Elizabeth the Second or well,

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Speaker 1: in fact now King Charles the third Personly, in my

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Speaker 1: term for seven years, there was one particular moment. I mean,

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Speaker 1: I've always been motivated by the idea of republicanism. The

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Speaker 1: central idea is that Australia in the twenty first cents

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Speaker 1: the third decade of the twenty first century. We must

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Speaker 1: be able to do better and to find our head

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Speaker 1: of state from a family of English aristocrats living in

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Speaker 1: a palace in London where Australians. It's not a huge

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Speaker 1: thing to say our head of state should be an Australian.

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Speaker 1: And in February of twenty eighteen, Mike Hence, the then

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Speaker 1: Vice President of the United States, came to Australia and

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Speaker 1: he put out a twot He said, I've had a

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Speaker 1: wonderful afternoon with her Majesty Queen Elizabeth for seconds, representative

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Speaker 1: to Australia, certainly to Cosgo, the Governor General, and he

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Speaker 1: was absolutely correct in every particular. But that's what goes

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Speaker 1: out to the world that we can't run our own show.

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Speaker 1: You know, our Government General is a representative of the

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Speaker 1: British royal family.

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Speaker 2: It's interesting. I think people always felt that was just

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Speaker 2: ceremonial until the sacking of the Whitlam government and then

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Speaker 2: we realize it. They did play absolutely.

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Speaker 1: And so you know, I've been doing it. I've been

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Speaker 1: doing it news and some people are surprised that I'm

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Speaker 1: stepping down now. Well, I'm not stepping down. We've got elections,

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Speaker 1: you know, coming up. And I just said in June,

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Speaker 1: I said we were clearly coming to the end of

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Speaker 1: the Elizabethan Age. And I've been beating a drum barely

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Speaker 1: loudly for seven years. And so with the installment of

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Speaker 1: a Minister for the Republic, I love the phrase used

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Speaker 1: by the monarchist Lyell Shelton.

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Speaker 3: He said, believing government, we'll have a minister for the

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Speaker 3: town voted to removing the town. So when I started,

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Speaker 3: you know, there was no interest in the republic, you know,

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Speaker 3: in the public domain. It's now on the agenda. We

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Speaker 3: we have a government that's committed to it. You've got

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Speaker 3: you've got a Minister for the Republic.

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Speaker 1: It's clear. And now you've got the post Elizabethan Age.

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Speaker 1: It's entering a new phase. I was a beating drum.

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Speaker 1: I think we need a flute as.

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Speaker 2: But you and Lisa, you've had a bit of are

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Speaker 2: your wife Lisa, You've had a bit of controversy around

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Speaker 2: you guys lately.

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Speaker 1: Is this because of that that you're stepping down. We've

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Speaker 1: had a busy year, no doubt about it. But you

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Speaker 1: know it's it's just it's it's seven years. It's time.

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Speaker 1: It's it's a it's a it's a more melodic time

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Speaker 1: than then I deliver.

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Speaker 2: And how do you think the pulse of the community

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Speaker 2: at the moment respect for the Queen, but not so

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Speaker 2: much for the new king. And maybe it is time?

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Speaker 2: What what's your what are your ankle waters telling you?

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Speaker 2: What what your ankle waters? I taped mine all the

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Speaker 2: time for information.

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Speaker 1: I've never heard that phro. I like it. There were Look,

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Speaker 1: there are a couple of there are a few poles

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Speaker 1: taken at the very height of the morning in the

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Speaker 1: m O U r N I in the morning periods.

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Speaker 1: The second I thought, I thought completely irrelevant. You know,

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Speaker 1: like there was one that said we were one point down,

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Speaker 1: one five points down, one eight points down, average just

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Speaker 1: under five points and you know, of course, of course

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Speaker 1: at the height of that morning period there would be

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Speaker 1: a surge of interest in the royalty. But the premise

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Speaker 1: that we make, I mean, but the time for the

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Speaker 1: testing of that is not now. Let's check in in

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Speaker 1: a year when people settled in. Because what Queen Elizabeth

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Speaker 1: I in recent times, I mean, so many people have

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Speaker 1: said to me, I'm with you. Once the Queen dies,

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Speaker 1: and we've had a surge in membership what we have

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Speaker 1: never had in our history, and all of that, all

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Speaker 1: of that will play out well. We look forward to

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Speaker 1: seeing you beat the drama or get your fluid out

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Speaker 1: like a man. Peter, and thank you, thank you both

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Speaker 1: to your support man look after yourself. Peter I fits

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Speaker 1: on the