2002 School Magazine

original works

Live Life. Live a Dream. Live Australia. I promise, just one more time. "He's such a lovely boy, darling. He has his mother's gentle touch. He's clever too - he passed twelve subjects for senior and now he's at university. " He's rich. handsome and born to be King - Prince William

Good morning my fellow students, ladies and gentlemen

Prince William is destined to become King of England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Head of the Church of England and the armed forces, Head of the Australian State Why? Because he was born to it, born into a royal family adored by grandmas worldwide, and I must shamefulIy admit that I have also read seven Prince William biographies But now I'm starting to ask some questions - I'm wondering how relevant his life, his reign, once his looks have faded, can really continue to be in our lives, in Australia, in this country. which we will one day lead My friends, as we approach the closure of five Years at BGGS, we must realise that we have learnt much - the essence of success. perhaps a fear of failure, what it is to be part of a team, part of something greater. As we fly the nest, we will still be a part of something greater - we will still be a part of Australia - and so we have a responsibility now to think about the issues facing our country. We are a new generat on and we have decis'ons to make for ourselves MY father once wrote my brother and I a letter, and he said that we would not leave school entirely free - that family and school life would bind us to certain conventions and expectations. That we would assume we must become educated and secure conventional careers - maybe even become leaders of some sort. and so fulfil the claims of the school brochure. Within these boundaries, my father pushed hard, even some twelve Years ago, that we must make a personal choice. He challenged us to challenge convention - in our own lives, in the life of the nation. Girls, today, I'd like You to challenge convention. The convention of the monarchy As the Republicans said before the 1999 referendum, we need to "Give an Aussie the headjob". Quite honestly, I can't believe the monarchists won with their three standard, boring arguments : "it is too expensive, and the money required to change the constitution could be better spent on education, welfare and health". "Britain 15 our mother country, Darlin!" "In the case of war, at least Britain would give us some protection. " Come on, ladies, these arguments are fraught with dangerous conservatism and a fear of change which is contradictory to the Australian character ; contradictory to the great Australian ideal of a "fair go". William would be our Head of State not because he had achieved an ambition, but because he was born a Windsor. The Royal Family even has a diminishing value in the eyes of the public - it 's now seen as 00 more than a symbolic institution which represents something that is quintessential Iy British - a love of tradition. pomp and circumstance But the courage to imagine otherwise, ladies and gentlemen, the courage to imagine this nation as a republic governed by Australians for Australians, is our greatest resource It's time to get serious. Because when we woke up the day after we voted 'No', we still had our beautiful cities. with their rampant drug abuse, we still had our beautifu oceans full of sewerage and refugees - we had given ourse ves - and lost - the opportunity to change who we are as a nation - or secure our own national identity. But it is the questions of change which are harder to answer: it is 00 origer enough to simply attack British privilege or employ pornographic slogans as the Republicans did before the 1999 referendum: rather we must develop a positive case for Australia, and ask what are the benefits of becoming a republic and how will these changes affect the everyday lives of Australians? In the face of countless late nights. the aCS. missing spares to listen to me ramble on, even in the face of the war in the Middle East, twenty children dying from AIDS very hour of every day - in the face of all this, many Australians ask why the movement for an Australian Republic matters - but it does matter because the questions of who we are and how we define ourselves leads to momentum in knowing what to do next - if we can forge a strong national identity of our own, which does not constitutionalIy lie In Britain, geographicalIy lie in Asia, defensiveIy lie in America and cultural Iy lie somewhere in between, then we are obviously going to learnjust who we are as a people We must have the ability to confidently face the future, as we leave the gates of BGGS for the last time, throw off our school girls' hats and become young women, as we all take direction in our own lives, we must have the ability to face the future as one strong nation, in which we can all play a vital part - in a nation of our own, with its own identity Fifty-five percent of older generations said 00 to change - we must challenge that convention - we have a responsibility to educate the public through schools and the media about the basics of our constitution and political system, so that we all understandjust what change represents. We as Young people are not really the drug addi homeless, alcoholic sexual animals portrayed by the media. We should be challenging convention through intelligent debate and education, so that our nation can unashamedly enter the twenty-first century with the promise that every child can become the Australian Head of State. Girls when you cast Your votes, o0k at our cou critical Iy - decide what's right, decide what's wrong, and decide we need a Republic I leave you w'th these words from the philosopher, Gregory Anderson : "When we are motivated by goals that have deep meaning, by dreams that need completion, by pure love that needs expression, then we truly live life. " Australia should be motivated by the goal of independence. by the dream of an Australian head of state, by a love for our country - and then we will truly live life, live a dream, live Australia

Come on Girls Grammar, let's work together to earn Australia the Republic we deserve

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