The republican debate will hit Bathurst tonight at an open public forum to be presented by Peter FitzSimons.
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The well-known journalist, author, sportsman and activist is also the head of the Australia Republican Movement.
His public address was the brain-child of Bathurst councillor Jess Jennings who invited Mr FitzSimons to the city.
“I sent him a Tweet and said ‘would you consider giving a lecture on Australia becoming a republic in Bathurst as its our 200th year?’ and he said yes, if I could get him a good audience,” Cr Jennings said.
C Jennings added that the debate was an important one to have, especially considering it was Bathurst’s bicentennial year.
“Becoming a republic is a fundamentally important debate in Australia because it’s about our identity as a nation,” he said.
Despite the looming talk, Bathurst’s citizen of the year Christopher Morgan said now is not the time for Australia to become a republic.
“Although I’m not in favour of a republic at any time during the life of the current monarch, I do think it’s certainly a debate to have,” he said.
“I do think we have the finest constitution on earth and that’s what allows us to have vibrant debates like this.”
“The Queen as a person has been such an asset to the modern world as a monarch.”
Mr Morgan did, however, add that the preamble to the Australia Constitution does need to be amended to much more inclusive of the country’s indigenous population and heritage.
And he believed it was timely to talk about the design of Australia’s national flag.
“Flags are not a static thing and change to reflect changing times,” Mr Morgan said.
Mr FitzSimons will address the forum for up to an hour, after which a question and answer session will commence.
Cr Jennings will be hosting the forum and encourages people to embrace this opportunity to hear from a gifted and passionate speaker on a hot topic in the country.
“It is not very often you get a high profile speaker out to Bathurst for a big issue like this,” he said.
The public forum will be held at the Oxford Hotel’s Bistro Piper tonight from 6pm to 8pm.
Anyone wishing to attend is asked to RSVP by calling 0423 224 750 or leaving a text message.
