CANBERRA—Monarchists say the 2020 summit panel was stacked with pro-republicans, likening the vote in favour of an Australian republic.
Australians for Constitutional Monarchy national convenor David Flint said no monarchists were chosen to participate in the governance stream, although prominent Tasmanian Liberal MP and monarchist Michael Hodgman had nominated himself.
Professor Flint said the vote for a republic within the governance panel was 29 in favour and one abstention.
Former Governor-General Sir William Deane abstained from voting on the plan.
"If we apply the way the AEC (Australian Electoral Commission) counts referendums, the vote was 100 per cent in favour. This is a better result than Mugabe has managed in the Zimbabwean elections," Prof Flint said in a statement.
He said the vote at the 1999 referendum was 45 per cent in favour of an Australian republic.
"It is inconceivable that 45 per cent has somehow turned into 100 per cent," he said.
"This confirms our critique that the governance panel was obviously gerrymandered."
Under plans put to the final session yesterday, a plebiscite - a non-binding vote - on whether to sever ties with the monarchy will be held, most probably alongside the 2010 federal election.
If Australians vote yes, a referendum to decide on the model will be held, probably with the 2013 federal ballot.
Australian Monarchist League Chairman Philip Benwell said the governance delegates were specifically selected to produce the recommendation in favour of the republic.
"It is a recommendation made by republicans, not by a summit that comprises a consensus of the people," he told ABC Radio.
Mr Benwell said it was absurd to expect to go to a referendum within two years considering the prime minister's view there should be plebiscites first.
"There are other issues in relation to our system of governance that need to be looked at rather than a republic," he said.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said the summit showed loud and clear there was a big groundswell of support for a republic.
"In order to bring a republic about - and I am a longstanding republican and we are committed as a party to bringing about a republic - you do need widespread community support," he told ABC Radio.
"We lost the last referendum nearly 10 years ago. We don't want to lose the next one so we will be building this one up very carefully."
Summit co-chairman Glyn Davis said organisers had tried to ensure the summit makeup represented the broad population but hadn't screened people for their views.
"We screened them for their expertise and the things they wanted to talk about and the ideas they wanted to bring forward," he said.
"There were very few nominations from people who wanted to identify as monarchists or wanted to come to the summit to argue the monarchist case. There may have been a biased selection but it might have been a self-imposed bias," he said.
Professor Davis said the republic featured strongly in media coverage but was just one of a huge number of areas considered.
"There were hundreds and hundreds of other areas thrown up, not all of which commanded the support that the republic commanded."
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