The Australian public seems to have polarised into three distinct groups:

• Monarchists, who want to keep the present system, with the Queen (who lives on the other side of the world) as Head of State.

• Minimalist republicans, who want to keep as much of the present Constitution as possible, merely replacing the Queen and the Governor-General by a President appointed by the Australian Parliament or a specified majority thereof.

• Other republicans, who favour a President directly elected by the people.

On past performance neither of the last two options is likely to ever obtain the necessary majority at a referendum and Australia may thus even remain a monarchy long after the United Kingdom has converted to a republic.

However, it might be possible for Australia to become a republic by keeping most of the present Constitution unaltered, merely replacing the Queen as Head of State by the Governor-General, who would continue to be appointed in much the same way as now, and with much the same powers.

This would avoid using the title "President", which many people associate with the United States system of government and its many defects.