Ep 218: Peter FitzSimons

Summary: I wanted very much to bring you this conversation with Peter FitzSimons. You can follow him on Twitter @Peter_Fitz.  Peter is the Author of over 30 books, mostly focused on Australian historical figures and historical moments.  He's an absolute authority on what it has meant and what it now means to be Australian.  He's also the Chair of the Australian Republic Movement - a group of Australians dedicated to having an Australian as our head of state.  Peter is also an International Rugby Union player, who ran onto the field representing our country many times all over the world.  He writes a regular column for the Sydney Morning Herald where he doesn't hold back on his progressive views.  I wanted to talk to Peter about January 26th because it's a difficult day for many Australians. I should say, I'm proudly an immigrant to this country, I willingly took citizenship of this country and I will do whatever I can to make this country an incredible place for everyone that lives in it.  And that's where January 26th is a problem for me.  But where to? And why?  Well that's where Peter FitzSimons comes in.  As Chairman of the Australian Republican Movement, he has a solution that could be a way out of this debate that we keep having.  We met in his family home in Sydney, and I can't thank him enough for taking a precious hour out of his day to make it happen.  You can follow Peter on Twitter @Peter_Fitz (https://twitter.com/Peter_Fitz), he's quite active there and loves an exchange if you let him know you heard him here.  I'll say this now - Peter gave me the best level check I've ever had in 218 episodes of this show, I asked my producer Andy to leave it in - here's my chat with Peter FitzSimons.