Posted on 08/18/2010 4:20:56 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Julia Gillard, the Australian prime minister, has said Australia should cut its ties with Britain and become a republic when the Queen dies or abdicates.
Ms Gillard, who was born in Wales and moved to Australia with her parents aged five, acknowledged that many Australians had “deep affection” for the Queen, but said that the status quo could not remain.
“What I would like to see as prime minister is that we work our way through to an agreement on a model for the republic,” she said during an election campaign stop in Queensland.
“I think the appropriate time for this nation to move to be a republic is when we see the monarch change.
“Obviously I’m hoping for Queen Elizabeth that she lives a long and happy life, and having watched her mother I think there’s every chance that she will.”
While it has its own flag and national anthem, Australia currently operates as a constitutional monarchy, which means that the Queen, as head of state, has the same formal role as she does in Britain. Her representative, the governor-general, is in charge of the army, must give assent to all laws passed by parliament and has the power to dissolve both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Yes we hope she lives a long and happy life...BUT when she dies we’ll free ourselves of the institution she stands for.
A liberal weasal coward...you want rid of the monarchy go and tell it to her face.
They make me sick.
God Bless the Republic!
She doesn’t care for Prince Charles?
For that stance, she might pick up a bit of support on FR, even if she is a lib.
Or she could do it the proper way as we Americans did some 235 years ago!
As for us in the UK, we should remain a Constitutional Monarchy. I couldn't bear the thought of YET ANOTHER BLOODY POLITICIAN being President.
She doesn’t have the guts to confront her and the history of the relationship between the UK and Australia is a completely different kettle of fish to that of the UK and US.
Would they even be talking about this if Charles were not the next batter up?
Gillard wants them to part on good terms, and before it gets ugly, which it’s likely to do when Charles ascends the throne.
Like the song goes, “We’ll sing in the sunshine....then I’ll be on my way.”
It seems reasonable to foresee AU having a titanic problem with Islam in the coming decades, and even a vestigial, token king with Islamic sympathies will make matters more difficult.
Elizabeth has been the beautiful, brilliant supernova of the British monarchy, but after her it will be an entirely different phenomenon. She earned all the love, all the honor given her, but the monarchy per se cannot command the people’s allegiance.
Moreover, the true heritage lies not in the monarchy but in the culture, the language, the law, and the lives of those who built and served the nation. These endure.
It's hard to think of a less defensible institution than a monarchy. Australia was treated terribly by the English -- it was established as a penal colony, and the English used Australian soldiers as cannon fodder in numerous wars, most notably World War I, callously throwing Australian troops into suicide missions far too dangerous to risk expending English life.
If I were Australian, I would have nothing but contempt for the United Kingdom and the monarchy it supports.
The history between the UK and Australia is much worse than that between the US and the UK. The differences between the US and the UK were generally resolved during the last major fight in 1814. Australia still bears a huge degree of legitimate resentment towards the UK.
And you base that on what evidence?
It's good to know that even after all these years, Europe still teaches them everything...
Really? Many conservative philosophers, people like Hobbes and Locke, believed a constitutional monarchy to be the ideal system of government.
Australia was treated terribly by the English -- it was established as a penal colony,
But not JUST a penal colony. No more than America was.
and the English used Australian soldiers as cannon fodder in numerous wars, most notably World War I, callously throwing Australian troops into suicide missions far too dangerous to risk expending English life.
That is an outrageous slur. I'd like to see actual figures of Australian troops suffering higher casualty rates than Britons, Canadians, Indians, South Africans or anyone else.
If I were Australian, I would have nothing but contempt for the United Kingdom and the monarchy it supports.
Don't let your nationality stop you from expressing your feelings.
And what pray tell would that be?
No I don’t think that is true. She is just being a politician. She knows that there is still a lot of pro-Monarchist sympathy in Oz, and even more for Liz personally, and she doesn’t want to upset those people.
I was being a smart ass, my FRiend ... tah!
well, come on — even you in the UK would raise a fuss if Charlie became Charlie III, right? Willim V is a better bet and I hope that happens.
Actually, no, the Aussies and the Brits have a very close relationship.
aha no worries FRiend.
I totally agree. I despise Prince Charles.
He would be a disaster for our country with his ill informed nonsense leftist elite rhetoric.
You funny.
Shou'd foreign foe e'er sight our coast,
Or dare a foot to land,
We'll rouse to arms like sires of yore
To guard our native strand;
Brittannia then shall surely know,
Beyond wide ocean's roll,
Her sons in fair Australia's land
Still keep a British soul.
In joyful strains the let us sing
"Advance Australia fair!"
“How well do you know Julia Gillard?”
>>>>”That is an outrageous slur. I’d like to see actual figures of Australian troops suffering higher casualty rates than Britons, Canadians, Indians, South Africans or anyone else.”
A British Royal Commission into Gallipoli concluded that from the outset the risk of failure outweighed Its chances of success.
The British had contributed 468,000 in the battle for Gallipoli with 33,512 killed. 7,636 missing and 78,000 wounded.
“The population of Great Britain and Ireland a month before the outbreak of the War of 1914-18 [WW1, which includes Gallipoli] was officially estimated at 46,089,249.”
http://homepage.ntlworld.com/hitch/gendocs/pop.html)
The Anzacs lost 8,000 men in Gallipoli and a further 18,000 were wounded. The Anzacs went on to serve with distinction in Palestine and on the western front in France.
Australia had a population of five million - 330,000 served in the war (WWI), 59,000 were killed.
New Zealand with a population of one million lost 18,000 men out of 110,000 and had 55000 wounded. These New Zealand figures (62%) represent the highest percentage of all units from the Anglo-Saxon world.”
http://www.anzacs.net/AnzacStory.htm
Another link about the number of Australian killed in WWI including Gallipoli:
“*A revised estimate, dated January 26, 1919, in the same book gives the total number of Australians killed as 8,709. This larger figure is the accepted official estimate of the total number killed. In all 61,522 Australians lost their lives in the First World War.”
http://www.awm.gov.au/encyclopedia/gallipoli/fataities.asp
Australia and the Gallipoli Campaign
http://www.anzacsite.gov.au/5environment/timelines/australia-gallipoli-campaign/august-december-1914.html
100 Events of the Gallipoli Campaign
http://www.anzacsite.gov.au/5environment/timelines/100-events-gallipoli-campaign/august-december-1914.html
Australians at War 1901-2000
http://www.anzacsite.gov.au/5environment/timelines/australia-at-war-1901-2000/1901-1913.html
I don’t think Australians “resent” the British - there is a sense of rivalry from the Australian side, for example in playing sports. I used to live in the UK & know that the British (without generalising too much) tend to consider Australians and even Americans as their “colonial cousins”.. if you get the meaning..
Australia will not become a Republic any time soon. At present, it doesn’t seem to be a real issue for the majority of people in Australia. The current system works well.
And then executing the soldiers who were following their orders. "If you encounter any Boers you really must not loot'em! And if you wish to leave these shores, for pity's sake, don't shoot'em!"
I used to live in the UK & know that the British (without generalising too much) tend to consider Australians and even Americans as their “colonial cousins”.. if you get the meaning..
I have lived here my whole life, and personally I don’t think ‘colonial’ comes into it.
Generally speaking we have great affection for both countries, coupled in with healthy competative instincts in the sporting arena for example.
Much rather be doing battle in the field of sport than the field of war!
Or at least if it is the latter we’re both on the same team thankfully! ;)
>>>>”I have lived here my whole life, and personally I don’t think ‘colonial’ comes into it.”
Perhaps you should move to Australia for a few yrs for a different perspective ..lol
Anyhow, immigration from the UK to OZ has been increasing in recent yrs. Of course, Poms are so passé ;-)
We do love the weather there! ;)
>>>”We do love the weather there!”
Well... if it was just a matter of weather, Brits would be emigrating to Spain, West Indies, or even India in droves.
Many average Brits migrate to Australia in search of a better, more prosperous life. And, in this case, I’m not referring to the upper or upper middle class Brits (who are wealthy), and who constitute a relatively small portion of the overall population in the UK.
You answered your own point there.
1. In case you didn’t know, Brits are well known for moving to the south of France and Spain. In huge numbers.
2. Why would we want to move to India or the West Indies?
We go from a MEDC to a MEDC...it makes sense.
As it happens, huge number of Australians come here also....
My point was more a joke you took too literally.
I took your joke about the weather.
My point was about an increase in immigration from the UK to Australia in more recent yrs. Particularly given the recent economic climate in the UK and Europe, including Spain & France.
The reverse from Australia to the UK has not been to the same extent. And, certainly not for the *average* Australian to find a more prosperous life in the UK.
Btw, many Brits have had holiday houses in parts of Spain & Southern France for decades - nothing new. Also, on a British passport it is much easier to move to another EU country.
But, to make a deliberate effort to migrate to Australia, which requires a visa, a work permit, permanent residency is a different matter. Yet we’ve seen an increase in migration from the UK to Australia in recent yrs.
Actually, this followed an advertising campaign in the UK on the part of Australia to get Brits to work over there!
As for France/Spain...that is true, but numbers have been increasing for years, and it isn’t just holiday homes, people move out there in great numbers.
In fact the irony is that as more Brits go over to Australia...more Australians are coming here:
http://www.embraceaustralia.com/australian-workers-migrate-to-uk-7299.htm
I don’t know much of the point of this discussion lol.
Brits move theres, Australian move here, it’s the modern world.
I don’t read either fact as an indictment of society in either country.
We just happen to like each others country is all.
True, it has been part of the modern world, since 1970’s at least, for Australian graduates & others to visit the UK on *temporary* work visas (reciprocal arrangement w/AU).
I was in the UK in May/June this yr. Didn’t hear much about Ad campaign in the UK to get Brits to work over here.
Very much doubt that most Australians looking for temporary work/time in the UK are in the UK because of rising property market in Australia per your url. But that tells a story too. Btw, rents are high here too, depending on a given state/city/suburb/etc..
No, it is not an indictment of society in either country.
It is just a fact that the UK economy has been atrocious last couple of yrs in particular, while things have been fairly steady in OZ during GFC. And, I personally have come across more & more Brits (not students) but business people & families who have *permanently* moved to Australia.
Actually, there has been a very noticeable increase in migrants from South East Asia, India & the UK in the last 4 yrs or so in certain parts of urban Australia.
What overseas people need to appreciate is that we do have our issues such as essential infrastructure (water, housing, transport, hospitals, schools & much more...) in order to maintain the current standard of living & extend it to others. We need to sort these out before inviting many others (incl. skilled migrants) - as much as we like each others country.
That’s unfair. Politicians of all stripes and all nationalities traditionally saddle the military with silly ROE’s. It’s going on still.
Not at all I’m afraid.
And if there are any Americans on who don't understand that mindset, then you don't have a chance of understanding how the empire really worked.
In the case of Morant, they were following the ROE that they were given, but the rules were changed in order to gain favor during negotiations with the Boers, so they were made “Scapegoats of the Empire.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.