The Crown is right that Bob Hawke was a republican. But aspects of his portrayal are preposterous
It is surely the misappropriation of the term ‘terra nullius’. ‘Terra nullius’ was the legal doctrine, more correctly the myth, that Australia was unsettled at the time of English occupation in 1788. But presenting ‘terra nullius’ as somehow tied up with the argument for an Australian republic is an anachronism, a historical sleight of hand. It is also most unlikely to have formed part of Hawke’s vision for an Australian republic. Bob Hawke was definitely a republican, inherently committed to the logic of an Australian head of state.
Source: The Guardian November 28, 2020 19:00 UTC
