Starting all over again: Rethinking the republic of Australia for the 21st century

Mark McKenna presents The 13^th Dymphna Clark Lecture
Starting all over again: Rethinking the republic of Australia for the 21st century

Nov 14, 2012, 8pm- 9pm at The National Library of Australia

More than a decade since the 1999 referendum, there is no sign that the republican fire is about to be rekindled. The Labor Party offers mute support. The conservative parties believe the issue is dead. Amongst the political class, there is no palpable sense of urgency. Even many of those who led the Yes campaign in the 1999 referendum have fallen in line with conventional wisdom: the republic should wait until the death of Queen Elizabeth II. In this lecture, Mark McKenna argues that rather than waiting for the Queen to die, we need to start rethinking the case for a republic now. We need to rethink the arguments for a republic and make them relevant to Australia in the twenty-first century.

Mark McKenna is the winner of the 2012 Prime Minister’s Award for Non-Fiction for his biography, An Eye For Eternity: The Life of Manning Clark. McKenna has been a Senior Research Fellow and Faculty at the University of Sydney since 2006. He is the author of several prize-winning books, including Looking for Blackfellas’ Point: an Australian History of Place, which won the Douglas Stewart Prize for Non-Fiction and Book of the Year in the 2003 NSW Premier’s Literary Awards.

13^th Dymphna Clark Lecture, November 14 2012, 8pm- 9pm, National Library of Australia.

Entry: $30 ($20 members, $15 concession)
To avoid disappointment please book by phone (02) 6295 1808, email info@manningclark.org.au or online at Eventarc: https://register.eventarc.com/11919/manning-clark-house-13th-dymphna-clark-lecture