Esther Anatolitis, Co-Chair

Editor of Meanjin Esther Anatolitis is one of Australia’s leading advocates for the arts and active civic engagement. She is a member of the National Gallery of Australia Governing Council, holds an honorary associate professorship at RMIT School of Art, and heads strategic consultancy Test Pattern – whose values are art, tenacity and democracy.

Across twenty years Esther has led creative and media organisations and served many boards and policy committees as a bipartisan appointee. While leading regional and national peak bodies, Esther designed and presented Australia’s first advocacy training programs for the arts and cultural sector, supporting thousands of members in first-time and ongoing civic participation. Her writing has long focused on the foundations of Australian democracy and the need for an Australian head of state, and she’s a frequent commentator on national politics and culture.

Esther’s commitment to an Australian republic dates back to the 1999 referendum where her grassroots campaign work included moderating a raucous artists’ debate at Parramatta Rd’s long-lost Side On jazz bar. More recently she’s been a member of the Australian Republic Movement’s Victorian Branch Council. Esther’s book Place, Practice, Politics was published in 2022, and her edited collection Essays that Changed Australia: Meanjin 1940 to today is due out in November.

Jack Archer, ACT Convenor

Jack is a passionate republican and a long-time ARM member.

His republican journey began as a kid on a late-night mission to remove the Queen’s picture from the wall of a government institution his father ran. The simple and unremarkable act of replacing that picture with a view of the Australian landscape captures Australians capacity to act in our right to determine our own future, without being bound by our history and colonial institutions.

As ACT Convenor and an ARM member, he seeks to build on that simple childhood act by playing an active role in the campaign for an Australian Head of State.

Jack brings a professional background in advocacy and working with regional communities to negotiate change. He currently runs his own consulting business advising communities, industry and governments and organisation on issues in regional Australia. He was previously CEO of the Regional Australia Institute, leading its establishment in 2011. 

Peter Botsman, General Executive Member

Peter Botsman has been fortunate to work in varied positions: think tank head: Evatt Foundation, Brisbane Institute, Whitlam Institute, Professor of Public Health (UWS), Professor of Public Policy (UQld), Honorary Fellow, University of Melbourne 2000 to date. He is also a small but successful farmer. He has advocated for, and enjoys being around young people, and has worked as a secondary teacher in regional and remote communities focused particularly on Aboriginal and disadvantaged young people.

Michael Cooney, General Executive Member

Michael has been a member of the Australian Republic Movement since he was 15 years old, as someone born after the referendum, he will bring a passionate young voice to engage the critical demographic of young people who missed the last debate for a republic.

Nathan Hansford, Co-Chair

Nathan is a management consultant with experience advising governments and corporates across Australia, Asia, the Middle East, North Africa, the Pacific and Europe.

The experience of having faciliated republic movement supporter groups in Asia prompted Nathan to reconnect with the Australian Republic Movement at a state and national level when he relocated back to Australia.

“We are a multi-cultural country, with tens of thousands of years of Indigenous heritage and custodianship, where equality and independence are core to our sense of us, yet we are still represented by a foreign monarch from a foreign land. I want nothing more than for my Korean-Australian daughters to be able to aspire to the highest representative position in Australia, our Head of State.”

“If you want to be involved in the ACT please find me on the Australian Republic Supporters Facebook Group and connect so we can work together to make an Australian Head of State a reality!”

Bodhi Hardinge, Western Australian Convenor

Bodhi is a climate and energy consultant turn Policy Advisor who advises the WA Government. He is passionate about the equality and sustainability of Australia. He completed an MPhil as a Frank Downing QC scholar at the University of Cambridge, and has been an active committee member in Western Australia for several years now. While Australia is a great country, Bodhi believes we should always strive to improve our democratic institutions. Bodhi looks to create an engaged and inclusive movement in Western Australia and contribute to the development to an even better Australia, an Australian republic.

Wendy Le Cornu, Tasmanian Convenor

Wendy Le Cornu was outraged by Whitlam’s dismissal in 1975 and disappointed by the failed referendum in 1999. She’s a proud Australian and would love to see Australia become a republic.

The legacy of our colonial past is both pride and shame, and Wendy hopes our nation can make peace with that and move forward as a united people. Being shackled to the monarchy impedes that process. Australians have been loyal servants, but it’s time for emancipation: time to do things ‘the Aussie way.’

Wendy has worked as a Japanese/English teacher, counsellor, office manager, sales assistant and waitress. She’s retired and lives with her husband in Tasmania. They have three grown up children and five grandchildren.

Hon Clare Martin AO, NT Convenor

Clare Martin was the first Labor Chief Minister of the Northern Territory and its first female Chief Minister. She led the Labor Party to victory in 2001 and then a second time in 2005.

Clare was Chief Minister for more than six years from 2001-07 and during that time held of number of ministerial portfolios including Treasury, Major Projects, Tourism and Arts and Indigenous Policy. The Martin government reinvigorated the NT economy, with strong jobs growth, increased private expenditure, an expansion of education and training, significant recognition of Aboriginal land rights and investment in arts across the Northern Territory.

Before politics, Clare spent almost two decades as an ABC journalist and broadcaster, working in radio and TV in Sydney, Canberra and Darwin.

Following politics, Clare was the CEO of the Australian Council of Social Service (2008-10) and Professorial Fellow at Charles Darwin University (2010-12) during which time she co-authored a book about Territory politics called Speak for yourself.

Over the last decade, Clare has been either chair or director of a wide variety of not-for-profit businesses and currently is Chair of the Museum and Art Gallery of the NT and the Darwin Entertainment Centre.

Isaac McSwan, Treasurer & Secretary, Queensland Convenor

Isaac McSwan is a partner of one of Brisbane's fastest growing accounting firms, and director of a large accounting offshoring entity based in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Isaac brings a vast range of financial experience from his dealing within the overseas offshoring industry as well as within the work he does advising businesses within Australia.

Isaac has always been passionate about an Australian republic, believing Australia is already well overdue to step forward and lead with its own Head of State.

Reggie Michelson, Victorian Convenor

After spending his career as a staffer in Victorian politics, Reggie Michelson is now a finance/communications professional. He has run campaigns from the local to the federal level and is a lawyer by training. 

He is a firm believer in a fairer, more egalitarian Australia and looks forward to contributing to Australia becoming a republic.

Raphael Murphy, SA Convenor

Raphael's passion for the Australian Republic Movement started when she studied Constitutional Law, leading her to question the relevance and role of the British Monarchy in modern Australia. Today, Raphael supports the ARM so that one day, we live under a system where the head of state is an Australian citizen, who will promote our culture and values, drive the nation’s economic prosperity and proudly represent our national identity.

Raphael has enjoyed a rich, varied and successful career of organisational consulting, strategic planning, consumer and social research, marketing and communications, individual coaching, and Board and Committee Membership across diverse organisations. Most recently, she has been engaged by organisations serving children, aged care, people living with disability, and fostering environmental sustainability and social inclusion.

Beth O’Leary, NSW Convenor

Beth O’Leary has a professional background in Health Economics consulting and holds master’s degrees in Business and Public Health.

She passionately believes it is time for Australia to have our own head of state. Australia is one of the most prosperous countries in the world.  A defining feature of Australia’s culture is the egalitarian principle that everyone is equal and entitled to the same opportunities in life. It is time to take the final step to full independence with a system consistent with our position in the world and our values.

Yasmin Poole, Youth Convenor

Yasmin Poole seeks to challenge policymakers to think differently. Her vision is for Australia to become a global leader in intersectional policymaking, with a Parliament that truly reflects the diversity of our communities. She is Plan International's National Ambassador, advocating for young women to be heard in Australian politics. She regularly provides commentary on Australian TV and radio, such as Q+A, The Drum, and ABC News. Yasmin is the Non-Executive Board Director of OzHarvest, Australia’s leading food waste charity, and previously worked on gender equality campaigns for the World Bank in the Pacific region. In 2021, Yasmin was recognised as the Martin Luther King Jr Center’s Youth Influencer of the Year. She is studying a Master of Public Policy and holds a Master in Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies at the University of Oxford on a Rhodes Scholarship.

Adam Spencer, vice Chair

Breakfast radio host, science communicator, television comedian, Australia’s best known mathematician, Adam has worn many hats.

But at his heart, he believes in the power of thought and conversation. As such he strongly believes that if we really think about it, and talk about it, Australia will want to take the step of appointing its own, home grown, Head of State.

Stephen Walters, General Executive Member

Stephen Walters is Chief Economist for the Business Council of Australia (BCA), based in Sydney. He previously was Chief economist for NSW, based in NSW Treasury. Before joining Treasury, Stephen was Chief Economist with the Australian Institute of Company Directors (AICD) and, for 14 years, was Chief Economist for investment bank J.P.Morgan. Stephen previously was Senior Economist with Access Economics in Melbourne and International Economist with Norwich Union and Alliance Capital in the United Kingdom. He also spent seven years as an Economist with the Treasury in Perth. Stephen holds a Bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Western Australia and a Master's degree in applied finance from the University of Melbourne. He also has qualifications in journalism and graduated from the AICD's Company Directors Course in 2017. Stephen has published three books, with a fourth to be published soon. Stephen is a former chair of the Executive Committee of the Australian Business Economists (ABE) and is a member of the Australian Statistics Advisory Council (ASAC).