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The Captive Republic: A History of Republicanism in Australia 1788-1996 (Studies in Australian History)

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In this fascinating account, we see that Australian republicanism keep recurring. Brought forth by new generations of activists. Often with grandiose claims of a promised land, if only we could rid ourselves of those benighted royalists and their foreign sovereign.

From the very inception of Sydney colony, there was a republican movement. Perhaps not unsurprising, if you recall that one reason for the colony's being was that Britain could no longer send convicts to the Carolinas, as the US had won its independence. Hence many in the early Sydney of convict origin or descent had little love of royal rule.

In later years, the book shows how other factors caused new republican movements to arise. Culminating in the recent kerfuffle about abolishing the Governor General's post and replacing him with an elected or appointed president. While republicanism has broad sentiment, it tends to fall apart on the details of the transitioning to a republic. Something that John Howard gleefully exploited to defeat the latest republican push. Though keep in mind that this latest event was after the book's timeframe.

What is also interesting is how in the post World War 2 period, waves of migrants arrived from outside Britain. This diminishing of a British cultural heritage might have been expected to drive a demand for a republic. Yet any such trend appears minimal, from book's discussion. Australians from other backgrounds tend to be content with the Crown and the current arrangement.