The proposed replacement of the Australian monarchy with a republic is a highly controversial issue. Alan Atkinson addresses the current controversy and provides a provocative defense of monarchy. He argues that the facts about Australia's enduring attachment to the idea of monarchy are more complicated than the New Republicans and the Prime Minister's Republic Advisory Committee would like to believe. Atkinson explores the symbolic transformations that would occur in public life--the changes in moral purpose and responsibility--that would occur if this transformation to a republic were to occur.