Always Have, Always Will

Kudos to Australia's new opposition leader Tony Abbott, who in an article that must have been painful for the Sydney Morning Herald to publish, has dashed the hopes of republicans who acknowledge that any renewed republican effort must have bipartisan support. ''I support the monarchy, always have, always will, not because I'm a royal groupie,'' he said. ''It's a terrific system of government and I challenge anyone to come up with a better one.''