Karin Sowada - Constitutional Convention

Constitutional Convention

In 1997, Sowada made a brief return to political life when she was nominated to become an Australian Republican Movement delegate to the Constitutional Convention on whether Australia should become a republic. She received the easily winnable fourth spot on the movement's ticket and was elected to the convention. Sowada became a prominent spokesperson for the Australian Republican Movement during the convention, vigorously opposing direct election of the president and supporting the movement's sometimes-controversial leader, Malcolm Turnbull. She acted as chief 'numbers man' for the ARM during the Convention.

After intense negotiations between the various factions, the Constitutional Convention finally resulted in the approval of a republic model to be voted upon at the 1999 referendum. As one of its strongest supporters, Sowada was appointed to a three-person committee directing the official "Yes" campaign, along with Liberal Party figure Andrew Robb (now an MP) and Peter Barron, a Labor Party adviser. The campaign ultimately proved unsuccessful with the defeat of the referendum, however, and Sowada faded out of the spotlight rather than become involved in the subsequent recriminations. She was briefly mentioned as a potential successor to Turnbull as Australian Republican Movement chairperson after his 1999 resignation, but nothing came of this, and she once again returned to academia.