Shorten's republic plans brought no victory

The vote in this general election was not so much anti-Labor but rather anti-Shorten. This is because Bill Shorten announced many changes to the status quo.

Any change, however minor is bound to affect some people and, in this election, there were so many proposed changes that it was obvious that a great number would be voting against Labor.

One of the major changes which rarely had a mention was the undertaking by Bill Shorten to hold a plebiscite on a republic. It was only briefly mentioned because the Labor Party knew that a republic would split the vote.

The Australian Monarchist League campaigned extensively against Shorten-Republic-Labor. We produced several videos (links here: https://www.dropbox.com/preview/SHORTEN-DANGER%20VIDEO%201.mp4?role=personal
 https://www.dropbox.com/preview/SHORTEN%20DANGER%20-%202.mp4?role=personal ) which were spread far and wide amongst our support base, which numbers many thousands, and we had people on polling booths handing out ‘Put Shorten-Republic Last’ how to vote cards.

Our membership comprises people of varying political allegiances, including traditional Labor. In 1999 it is estimated that one third of Labor voters voted against the republic. These are the people who rejected the Shorten proposals. These are the people, amongst others, responsible for the return of the Morrison government.

Philip Benwell

Australian Monarchist League