Letter to The Editor - a leader bequeathed by a process rich in tradition and sanctified by religion

to THE AGE
     There have been monarchies and republics for thousands of years, so neither model is more ‘anachronistic’ than the other (‘Symbolism matters: why I’m a staunch republican’, 6/11). Nor is it true that our monarchs have ruled ‘through no other merit than birth’; they had good genetic endowments and long periods of training to prepare them for their arduous responsibilities.
     Then again, Her Majesty the Queen is not accurately described as an ‘unelected foreign monarch.’  She shares her ethnicity with most of us; she is constitutionally an Australian as well as a Briton; and she has been chosen (‘elected’) by a respected system, even if it is not by the kind we use to change our governments.
     I wonder why Dan Crowley is so enamoured of having a national president subservient to popular whims and vested financial interests, rather than a leader bequeathed by a process rich in tradition and sanctified by religion.
     NJ, Belgrave, Vic