Move towards republic on hold

Australia's moves towards becoming a republic have been put on hold after a
parliamentary inquiry dismissed calls to put the question forward at the next
federal election.
A Senate committee was asked to consider a bill by the Australian Greens to have a
non-binding vote on the issue.
The bill followed last year's 2020 summit, which recommended Australia adopt its own
head of state by 2010.
Close to 250 submissions were made to the committee, conveying views on both sides
of the debate.
But in its report, the committee said the submissions failed to address the
inquiry's terms of reference about the appropriateness of the plebiscite.
It did, however, recommend a public awareness campaign about the constitution to
better prepare the public for any future reforms.
Greens leader Bob Brown said the committee refused to make any recommendations to
"avoid embarrassment".
He said there was no reason that the vote should not be held at the next election.
"There was no evidence (to the committee) which indicated that some specified future
time will be better than the near future or, at least, during the next period of
government if not the next election," he said in a statement.