Vote proposed on Queen's role
25 September 1998The Australian people will decide whether Britain's Queen Elizabeth II will open the Sydney 2000 Games, Olympics Minister Michael Knight announced on Friday.
Knight said he preferred Australia to be a republic by September 2000 and for the nation's first president to open the Games.
"But whether we're a republic or not is really in the hands of the people, not in the hands of the organizing committee," he said.
Prime Minister John Howard has said he would open the Olympics if he stayed in power after the Oct. 3 elections. Opposition Leader Kim Beazley said earlier this week he would either leave the task to a new head of state of an Australian republic or make "other arrangements".
The Olympic Charter says the head of state should open the Games but it is doubtful the International Olympic Committee would object to whomever the Australian government proposed.
