It is with deep sadness and regret that constitutional monarchists mourn the loss of their greatest asset.

The Red Bandana, also known as Peter FitzSimons, is to abandon his post as the Australian Republic Movement chair in November for – as far as anyone can tell – ‘the greater good’ (which is only mildly more interesting than the usual ‘personal reasons’ cited by extinguished politicians).

FitzSimons has made this sacrifice after seven years to allow ‘younger, more diverse voices’ to take the lead, telling The Guardian that he ‘never wanted to lead the movement through an actual referendum’.

‘I’ve been doing it for seven years, the nature of this is you need, it always needs fresh voices, fresh energy, and fresh networks.

‘You need people coming from all over.

‘I’ve always said that I would never be the guy to take it to a referendum.

‘It’s time for me to move on. I’ve been a drum for an ARM and now we probably need a flute.’

Perhaps FitzSimons saw the overwhelming outpouring of affection for Her late Majesty, The Queen, and realised that her death has reignited traditional sentiments across the Commonwealth – as was sharply depicted by cartoonist Johannes Leak where republican figures were shown carting the coffin of the republic down the streets behind Elizabethan crowds.

Or maybe it wasn’t such a great look to have FitzSimons (an older, privileged, well-off white bloke living on ‘stolen land’) getting into a public scuffle with the young, female Indigenous Senator Jacinta Price while the Voice referendum is in play…

‘I personally support the Voice,’ added FitzSimons, although it probably depends which Indigenous voice is speaking.

Labor, the Greens, and the ABC have made it pretty clear that they have a preference for left-wing Indigenous Voices and – if at all possible – they would like to enshrine those voices into the Constitution, forever silencing the voices of dissenting Indigenous people who dare to think differently to the activist mob.

This is the trouble with collectivism, especially racial collectives; they have a habit of demanding uniformity of opinion (or else) based on how people look. What they think or feel is irrelevant to the machine of activism.

In a taste of the nonsense to come, republican figures are already fighting over politics (something the Crown specifically does not do) with Meredith Doig, ARM deputy chair, saying that ARM should stay out of the Voice to avoid upsetting conservative republicans while other members of ARM want to wade in on the issue.

Republicanism has always struggled to gain traction in Australia.

If you want to put a conservative voter off the idea, simply remind them that they face of a future of President FitzSimons, President Kevin Rudd, President Malcolm Turnbull, or one of the many screechy ‘Australian of the Year’ winners festering in the crucible of Woke. Similarly, if you want to turn a republican into a monarchist, mention their new President Tony Abbott or Pauline Hanson.

The resulting public revulsion reveals a simple, dangerous truth: the President will be a political figure with actual power, not a ceremonial custodian. Whatever strife the current Prime Minister has created, an allied President would double it.

A President divided down party lines (or worse, activist lines) can never achieve the unifying force of Her Majesty. They will never sit above politics as the defender of the Constitution or deny would-be dictators the Presidential throne.

Nor will a President (or Prime Minister) replicate the scenes we saw last month where nations came together to mourn a public figure who leads through devotion and service rather than ambition and power.

Successful civilisations need a common thread, particularly if our politicians insist on going down the path of multiculturalism where we no longer share language, religion, or history. This is especially true at a time when Western nations are appointing special rights based upon race and companies have legalised discrimination to polish their social licences.

As FitzSimons said, ‘Someone that connects with younger voters and multicultural Australians will be important in the success.’

That should worry everyone. Our youth have been raised as socialists (the lazy sort) while many refugees dream of rebuilding the same president-led socialist dictatorships that caused them to flee. A republic imagined by the young will be one that empowers the tyrannical who have spent years using their naivety for profit.

‘It is wonderful, right now, to have the republic on the agenda, to have a strong movement with expanding membership and money in the bank – and, most importantly, to have for the first time in history, a Minister for the Crown devoted to removing the Crown.’

Anyone who has listened to Thistlethwaite knows that he says nothing, offers nothing, and does nothing except facilitate the construction of a presidential throne. Given how little regard or care politicians have shown for citizen rights in the last two years, why would anyone give them even more power? Do we honestly believe they deserve it?

The only defence Australia has against decades of ideological turmoil is the Crown failsafe. It will take years for our youthful socialists to realise that poverty and collective identity is not the way forward, the least conservatives can do is make sure the damage isn’t permanent. Whether you like Charles III or not, his WEF leanings are less dangerous than those of a President owned by the same organisation.

‘We’ve said that Australia is on a journey to maturity and independence,’ said Thistlethwaite – and he is right.

There is nothing more mature than admitting that Australia’s political system is the oldest and most stable continuous model in the world.

It is also mature to admit that Prime Ministers govern their nations better when they know they are being watched and judged by a monarch who has the people’s interests at heart.

Our democracy and independence is stronger while ever it remains free of the threat of dictatorship – as is the natural course of all republics. Even America, the most successful republic in the world, is sliding into disrepair. In the absence of monarchies, it has developed a separate system of hereditary power where the children and relatives of former Presidents assume a born-to-rule ideology of family dynasties that serve no one but themselves. Is that better? Not for democracy.

Power needs a guardian to keep it safe, and a President is about as secure as a wallet left at a train station. The good news is that the republic is bleeding out and it will need a tourniquet, not a bandana, to save it.

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