Rafe Champion invited Guest Speaker at Wattle Day Luncheon #19
being held on 29 August 2024 in the Terrace Room of the Blue Gum Hotel Waitara 2077

Rafe Champion invited Guest Speaker at Wattle Day Luncheon #19
being held on 29 August 2024 in the Terrace Room of the Blue Gum Hotel Waitara 2077

Full PDF Available

PROGRAM & PROTOCOL

For the 33^rd Republican of the Year Banquet at the Nota Chef’s Feast on 22^nd July 2023

7pm:  Official Start to proceedings with MC, Paul Tully, at the Top Table welcoming The Throng and then inviting ALL to be UPstanding while He (Paul) proposes a Toast to:

 “The EVENTUAL REPUBLIC – May it Happen Sooner rather than Later!”

7.O2pm: Announcement of Apologies…those of Craig Foster; David Muir; Peter Johnstone; Lindsay Marshall; Trevour Hains-Wesson; Jonno Nichol; Rick & Lou Allogia; Colin Stephens; Jean Lin; Scott Peterson; Ted O’Brien & Janine Keating.
7.06pm:  RPA National Executive Director, PETER CONSANDINE gives a brief overview to The Throng of what has happened to date – over the previous 41½ years – and what is anticipated today, in the continuing scheme of things AND where The Enterprise goes from here.

7.10pm:  MC informs The Throng what the ‘Question forms’ are for and when to pass them back to him.

[approximately] 8.30pm – or following the serving of the 3^rd Course (of 5):  MC gives the essential reasons why The Guest of Honour is the deserved Winner of The RPA Gong for Oz Republican of the Year, 2023 …*Refer to Media Release which can be found on Page5 of RPA Wattle Day Newsletter #18 of June, 2023. And to follow: MC reads out The Guest of Honour’s brilliant Credentials…* Refer to the Top Section of the Official Invitation to The RPA Banquet.

GUEST of HONOUR:  Doctor BENJAMIN T. JONES

QUESTIONS of The Guest of Honour (one per Attendee) fielded by the MC.

VOTE of THANKS to the Guest of Honour by GLENN DAVIES of the Queensland Chapter of The Australian Republic Movement

Ca 9.30pm for 10pm: MC wraps UP proceedings by inviting The Attendees to feel free to take PETER CONSANDINE’s business card with them as they depart the room.

Full PDF Available

Agenda

for the  35^th Annual Republican Convention

being held at Scottsdale,  N.E. Tasmania, 7260

on Saturday, 27^th May, 2023

Arrival: 10am with Credentialling , Morning Tea/Coffee/Chocolate followed by a Welcome to the Venue and the Occasion itself…indeed, One for the would-be History-Makers!

Commencement of Proceedings circa 11am:

Topic 1: The three (3) Referenda  being put to The Oz People by the Albo-led  Labor Gummint in the remaining period of their First Term &/OR in their Second Term…(a) The Voice to the Federal Parliament;

(b) Recognition of Local Government [the 3^rd Tier] in an
amended Federal Constitution – bearing in mind that this
proposal has been defeated already twice before;

(c) The Second Republican Referendum

Topic 2: The Nuclear Issue…has the time come for The RPA to make a
considered policy apropos the appropriate energy mix for Australia?
*small, modular nuclear reactors now in full production per the Hitachi corporation!

Topic 3: The Establishing of the Republican Heritage Fund to ensure future
funding for The RPA grassroots Oz Republican Champions

Topic 4: (well in advance of time) Nomination of new ARM Chairman, Craig
(‘Fozzy’) Foster as RPA Oz Republican of the Year 2024

Topic 5: King Charles be written to and formally asked to convince his State representatives i.e. the Governors of Western Australia & Queensland
to change their existing Monarch’s Birthday Annual Holiday to that of June in lieu of as heretofore and thus – and very belatedly – chime in
and share the holiday in legion with the other 4 States and 2 Territories

Topic 6: Life Membership to be awarded to Jean Lin + Colin Stephens who [will have] earnt their gongs and Joyce Phillips who has been a long time Supporter-Member of The Party and Customer but who is now in her dotage

Topic 7: Reviving the Campaign for a Tasmanian State Republic – YES or NO?

Topic 8: General Business which will provide an opportunity for Attendees to proffer their suggestions for ‘Advancing the Oz Republican Quest’

There, schedulely, shall be a Lunch Break ca 1pm where fresh sandwiches & delicious fruit juice will be served plus an Afternoon Tea/Coffee/Chocolate session where fresh hot scones will be served with  locally-made jam and
a Three Course Dinner from 7pm at the same venue in Scottsdale where premium Australian wines will be served and, as applicable, bottomless cup(s)  of superb arabica coffee as “afters”

Booking in Advance:

[A] Convention Attendance Fee = $85 per person

[B] Dinner = $85 per person

*Discount for Attendees attending the ‘Double-Header’ Event = $10 thus $170 per person. **BTW: Attendees at either or both sessions need NOT be RPA Members!

ALL Enquiries pertaining to the Scottsdale Happening should be made to The RPA’s National Executive Director, PETER CONSANDINE on (0408) 408 148 or per e-mail: peter.consandine@gmail.com

RSVPs may be forwarded to The Convenor of the Tasmanian Chapter of The RPA  (Laurie Dunlop) at PO Box 45, Gladstone, 7264 to arrive here by 25^th May

Payment may be made by Cheque or Money Order OR per Direct Debit via The Party’s Westpac Banking Account viz: BSB 032 078; Account Number 15 8111.

Full PDF Available

MC Paul Tully Presenting 2023 Republican of the Year Award to Winner Dr. Benjamin T. Jones

Full PDF Available

Wattle Day #18 Guest Speaker Glenn Druery known and widely respected in Australian politics as ‘The Preference Whisperer’

Full PDF Available

Record of The RPA Convention #34 at Katoomba, NSW 2780 on Saturday, 28 May, 2022

Theme: ‘Where to From Here for the Oz Republic?’

Moderator: Peter Consandine

1. Welcome, Background & Introductions – including discussion on the results of the Federal Election held on the previous Saturday and the ramifications thereof…It was agreed by Delegates that the concept of Multi-Party Democracy – albeit INdirectly – was given a big fillip;
2. Acknowledgement of 5 (five!) new Life Members of The Party namely Rick Martin + Scott Peterson + Mike Burke + Howard Wheatley + Jim Boddy – three of whom were to be awarded gold-framed Life Members Certificates this very night;
3. Necessity to locate and strike a deal with a new Republican Olive Oil Estate supplier – most probably in the Hunter Valley – due to closure of the first supplier;
4. New [actually, altered] RPA Membership categories schedule – deleting the $10 ‘Trial’ option which is effectively covered under the ‘Concession’ option. *The Party’s structures were considered and deemed to be ‘right for the times’;
5. Wattle Day continuity with (a) Annual Luncheons [16 to date], (b) promotion of 1st September as a National uniform Public Holiday to replace the Queen’s/King’s Public Holiday and, therewith, (c) the maintenance of the garnering of attendant petition signatures;
6. The Petition to the [then] Federal Liberal/National Coalition gummint of the Day in 2021 apropos at least the conducting of a National Inquiry into the undermining of Section #92 of the Commonwealth Constitution during the tragic years of the Covid-19 Pandemic with the setting UP of a National Cabinet and it was the general belief of Delegates that the matter be ‘kept alive and cogent’;
7. Relations with the mainly Brisbane-based Real Republicans of Australia (The RRA) were appraised and found to be satisfactory going forward;
8. Now that Australia has, as anticipated, a Labor administration federally – as a result of the Oz General Election of/on 21 May – the necessity to keep prompting the expected new Attorney-General, Mark Dreyfus, to make an Oz Republic a PRIORITY concern in the anticipated second term of the Labor gummint with the new Assistant Minister for The Republic, Matt Thistlethwaite, and the [separate] Convenor of Labor for a Federal Republic, Daniel White, to be kept copied;
9. New batch of T-Shirts to add to The RPA range of products – utilising the handily test-run logo & promotional statement: ‘All the Way with The RPA’;
10. (a) Lengthy consideration of the (current) 33-plank policy manifesto was given and it was ultimately determined that The RPA needed to NOT add to same but to, indeed, narrow down the Primary policies to a minimum three (3!) and a maximum five (5!) for interim promotional purposes – at least until 2025…this strategy would mirror the recent successful 3 policy packages of the so-called Teal Independent quasi-party candidates [6 of ‘em] at Federal Election 2022 &
10. (b) Ideas for future policy consideration would, amongst others, be
(a) plumping for banning of gambling industry advertising in ALL forms of media &
(b) plumping for a National Theatre organisation based in Canberra;
11. Unanimous decision to recognise the former NSW Premier and the former Federal Minister for Finance, John Fahey, as the 2022 Republican of the Year In Memoriam. Mr Fahey was, decidedly, one very prominent Liberal in the Oz Republican ‘Advance Guard’ during his days in state and federal politics;
12. Delegates were pleased that The Party’s finances were most healthy and concurred that the Republican Wine Club (established on 11th November, 1993) was so important in the necessary revenue scheme of things;
13. Westpac banking arrangements be re-formulated to accommodate the financial workings of both the Victorian & ACT Chapters of The Party;
14. Go-Ahead for future events viz: (a) Wattle Day Luncheon #17 on Thursday, 1st September 2022 at Oatlands near Parramatta
(b) Republic Convention #35 on Saturday, 28th May 2023 at Nowra [NSW South Coast] where the provisional theme is, provisionally, ‘A Well-Educated Republic’
(c) Wattle Day Luncheon #18 on Friday, 1st September, 2023 again at Oatlands;
15. The so-called RPA Succession Plan was wholesomely discussed and it was decided that it should be proceeded with, as before;
16. Comparison of the ARM and The RPA models for an Oz Republic comprised General Business and was, thus, the last subject of the day’s set Agenda.

Booking Form PDF Available Here

Full PDF Available

The REPUBLICANS’ ANNUAL NATIONAL CONVENTIONS
combining the Annual theme-based Conferences and Annual General Meetings of the Umbrella Group embracing
The Campaign for Australian Constitutional Change (CACC)
The Republican Party of Australia (RPA)
The Republican Wine Club (RWC)
The Republican Coffee Club (RCC)
The Republican Olive Oil Estate (ROOE)
The Republican Treasure Chest (RTC)
Wattle Day Events Inc. (WDE)
The Advocacy for Multi-Party Democracy (AMPD)
Executive Communications P/L (ECPL) [the Clearing House for the entire Umbrella Group]

Forthcoming Annual National Republican Conventions:

#36 NOWRA, NSW June 2024 [Theme: Reform and Change of the Australian Governmental System]

#37 TOOWOOMBA (Darling Downs) QLD May 2025 [Theme: ‘Crime and Punishment in the Australian
Republican context!’]

#38 MORNINGTON, VIC May 2026 [Theme: ‘Reviving Manufacturing Industry to Ensure a Technologically
Advanced Republic!’]

*The National Executive of The Republicans reserves the right to vary the order of the scheduled Conference regime – as political circumstances dictate, going forward with The Party Organisation’s medium-term set of objectives in tandem with the August 2009-introduced mezzanine structures.

Wattle Day Luncheon #17 Guest Speaker Andrew Baxter with RPA National Executive Director Peter Consandine

PETER CONSANDINE with Severina Biabato – Enthusiastic A.R.M. Member at The Broadway Open Forum held on 10th November 2021

Wednesday, 1 September 2021 at Rozelle NSW 2039 16^th Annual Wattle Day Luncheon…Guest Speaker: Jim Simpson, Convener of the Worldwide Climate Realists organisation.

*Pre-Arranged postponement – predicated on NSW Gummint restrictions notwithstanding – Wednesday, 27th October at the same venue.

MC Vic Hocking together with 2020 Wattle Day Luncheon Guest Speaker Brett Kelly and Wattle Day Events National Secretary Peter Consandine at the 15^th Annual Gig at Rozelle NSW 2039 on 1^st September of the chaotic, Covid-19 pandemic year.