Australians for Constitutional Monarchy

The UN has just released its latest Human Development Index.

The five countries which lead the Index are all very close in the UN's assessments. They are Norway, Sweden, Australia, Canada, and The Netherlands.

They all have one thing in common. They are all constitutional monarchies. A co-incidence? Not at all. Constitutional monarchies dominate the top end of the Index every year.

Needless to say, they are not to be found among those who are at the other end. 

 Until next time,

David Flint

On 30 March ACM put ten crucial questions to the Senate Committee inquiring into an Australian republic.

ACM l looks forward to the Committee's answers.

To read the ACM submission, click on Media Releases on this site, then click on the Release for April 13, 2004, entitled Senate Republic Hearing.

At the foot of that Release, click on ACM Senate Submission.

To read the transcript of Mrs Kerry Jones and Professor David Flint's appearance before the Committee, go to

http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/committee/57541.pdf

The relevant part begins at page 68. To read other transcipts,go to the same site,and open 57542.pdf

Until next time,

David Flint

It is surprising that the constitutional role of the Crown has been largely ignored in the republican debate.

This extends beyond the reserve powers. Even where the representative of the Crown is expected to act on advice, it is well established that he or she may, in appropriate cases, wish to be assured that what is being proposed is within power, that is, that it is legal.

In addition, if the exercise of the power is, as is often the case, subject to the fulfilment of a condition, that condition has been fulfilled. In addition it has been long accepted the Crown has certain rights- the right to be consulted, the right to encourage and the right to warn. According to reports from London, The Queen has increased the number of meetings with leading civil servants “ for fear of being kept in the dark”.

We have just heard the word republic used in a debate about a matter unrelated to the Constitution.

During the referendum campaign,the ARM actually proposed that the word republic not be used in the question! This suggests that the word has unpleasant connotations. More recently Bob Carr has argued that the words Commonwealth and Governor-General be retained.So why should we change the Constitution?

On May 6 2004, the NSW Carr Labor Government introduced the Constitutional Amendment (Pledge of Loyalty) Bill, 2004. This Bill seeks to amend the NSW Constitution Act to remove all references to the Queen from the Oath of Allegiance that all MPs and Ministers must take under the State Constitution, as well as the removal of references to the Queen in the Ministers’ Oath of Service.

NSW MPs have been swearing the constitutionally required Oath of Allegiance to the Crown since 1902.

For the first time in many years, the Queen's Birthday passed without at least one republican stunt disturbing the enjoyment of the public holiday.No one this year demanded, for example, that The Queen give back Australia's Crown Land!(Incidentally,with problems about infrastructure hospitals law and order, the NSW authorities have nevertheless found the time to change the name of Crown Land,and now they are targetting the Oath of Allegiance.)

The weekend was memorable for the London tabloids being caught out for publishing or giving any credence to what is now shown to be a blatant lie about the Prince of Wales: see our columns of 16 and 20 November, 2003.

June 12, 2004
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release
National Office, Sydney Australia

The Queen’s birthday holiday 2004 will be enjoyed by many thousands of Australians as a celebration of our history, our heritage and our great democracy. Australians have been celebrating this great holiday since 1788 when Governor Phillip declared a holiday on the birthday of King George III. Until 1936 the actual birth date of the reigning monarch was observed. But after the death of King George V it was decided to retain the June holiday weekend, apart from Western Australian where it is celebrated in September/October.

Australian republicans are still searching for their third republican model.
What the republican establishment is still looking for-after a decade of searching- is a model as good as the present Constitution-they have not been able to find it. Probably because it doesn't exist. Nevertheles , we sometimes hear references to the German model.

( Remember Mr Keating wanted to change the name of the Commonwealth of Australia to the Federal Republic of Australia)

The President there is elected by a college consisting of federal and state politicians. He has little executive power-the Germans remember the way President Hindenberg appointed Hitler Chancellor in 1933.  As The London Daily  Telegraph says ,the presidency is as close Germany gets to royalty since abolishing the monarchy.