Phil Cleary is an Australian commentator on politics and sport, particularly Australian Rules Football. While advocating a republic, he broke with the Australian Republican Movement (ARM) over disagreement about how the President should be chosen, forming a group called 'Real Republic'. This advocated direct election of the President, as opposed to the model advocated by Malcolm Turnbull of the ARM, under which the President would be chosen by a joint sitting of the Parliament. This was the model that was proposed in the 1999 referendum.
