Introducing the Witenagemot Acts
The Witenagemot Acts are a concrete, fully-formed proposal for evolutionary constitutional change in Australia. Instead of a radical leap to a republic, the Acts propose a pragmatic, genuinely minimalist step that allows public familiarity and consensus to build over time. They establish structures that function both as a stable, permanent model of government and as a potential stepping stone to a fully independent republic in the future. The model ensures that the existing system of Australian government is preserved in its entirety while providing a mechanism to bring the power of the Crown of Australia home.
Together, the two Acts require that the King of Australia must be resident within Australia and provide for a Regency during periods when he is absent. They introduce Australian-specific mechanisms like a directly elected, politically neutral President-Regent and an independent body called a Witenagemot to review nominations and select the final list of candidates for election. Finally, they normalise the practice of an Australian citizen being entrusted to hold the power of the Crown, thus establishing a precedent for a locally elected Head of State within the existing framework of constitutional monarchy.