http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/brett-collett/ Brett Collett was elected the National Youth Convener of the Australian Republican Movement in 2008 and serves as a member of the ARM’s National Committee. He first became passionate about Australia becoming a republic when, as a 14-year-old, he didn’t understand why Australia would vote to keep the Queen as the nation’s head of state. A former journalism student at RMIT, Brett abandoned both his study and dreams of being the next Annabel Crabb to help out on the 2006 Victorian election campaign for the Labor Party. He currently works as a staffer for Mark Dreyfus QC MP, the Federal Member for Isaacs. When not eating, sleeping and breathing politics and media, Brett can be found at the MCG cheering on his beloved Hawks or on his couch watching Foxtel and updating his Facebook status accordingly. en Copyright 2013 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/its-not-you-its-me-why-we-should-ditch-the-royals/ First, a confession: I love England. The Beatles and Radiohead are my two favourite bands, I daydream about watching Manchester United beat Liverpool at Old Trafford and I love washing down crumpets with a nice cup of tea as much as anyone. However, in my role as the National Youth Convener of the Australian Republic Movement, I get to speak to a lot of young people about why Australia should become a republic and how our generation can make a big difference in making that goal a reality. Unsurprisingly, most of the young people I speak to agree: it’s time for an Australian to be our head-of-state, not a foreign monarch who happened to be the first-born of the previous monarch. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Brett Collett) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/its-not-you-its-me-why-we-should-ditch-the-royals/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/its-not-you-its-me-why-we-should-ditch-the-royals/#item1139 Mon, 07 Sep 2009 19:40:04 +0000 Brett Collett | Author bios | The Punch