A Queen on the topic of the Queen

Anyone who hasn't been under a rock knows that the Queen has been visiting Australia for the Commonwealth Games, to commence in Melbourne tomorrow..

She also managed to make it to Sydney to open the new colonnade of the Sydney Opera House yesterday. Poor old love, being shunted around the country. Well hopefully she is enjoying herself, as many speculate it will be the last time she visits here.

What was interesting to me was seeing how little interest there was in her visit. You would think that with her somewhat rare visits to a country where she is Head of State, that people would come out in droves.

But alas, relatively few people lined the streets and Opera House forecourt to welcome Her Majesty to Sydney.

At this point I should openly declare myself as a Republican. I'd much rather see an Australian queen as Head of State, than a British one. Don't get me wrong, I very much believe we should respect our heritage as a British colony (albeit dark), and see no reason to exit the Commonwealth community. And for that matter I respect Queen Elizabeth greatly as a leader of the Commonwealth and her nation, however why can't we show some independence and become the Democratic Republic of Australia?

I have spoken privately with a Commodore from the Australian Navy (who spoke with the Queen personally) and he mentioned that the she herself thinks, "It's about time Australia should leave the nest and fly on it's own." (I know it's second hand, but the source I know is reliable.)

Even when Prince Charles toured a few years back, he even made a comment indicating his surprise that Australia chose not to become a Republic in the then recent (and controversial) referendum.

Of course our Prime Miniature, Mr Howard, didn't exactly sell the idea to the nation. We of course all know he is a strong supporter of the Monachy, and chose carefully to word the referendum to ensure it's defeat.

A proposed law: To alter the Constitution to establish the Commonwealth of Australia as a republic with the Queen and Governor-General being replaced by a President appointed by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Commonwealth Parliament.

Electors were also asked to vote on a second question at the 1999 referendum which asked whether they approved of:

A proposed law: To alter the Constitution to insert a preamble.

Firstly, most people still do not know what a preamble is, so it was always going to be difficult to vote "Yes" for something you are not sure about, even with an info pack sent to each household. However it was clear to see, by polling taken before the referendum, that support for a Republic was high. What do you think would have happened if the proposed law stated instead?:

A proposed law: To alter the Constitution to establish the Commonwealth of Australia as a republic.

The answer would be clear, the referendum would have succeeded. Without a doubt we would have continued to debate the most appropriate means to decide the Head of State, which would have taken some time, but the Convention held on the Republic debate would have helped this along. We could have very well already been, by this time, living in an independent nation.

The ALP is publicly committed to reviving the debate and creating a republic. Mind you, this is probably only going to happen when the ALP gets in power or as a political promise to keep it in power.

Either way I think it's inevitable that we do become a Republic, as most younger Australians find no reason for the Queen to be our head of State, and even more of the nation, in polling already taken, would disapprove of the soon-to-be King Charles at the helm.

What are we waiting for?