PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY: Should Australia Or Canada Become a Republic ?

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PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY: Should Australia Or Canada Become a Republic ?
by Darius Kadivar
14-Mar-2010
 

Both Australia and Canada are Constitutional Monarchies and full members of the British Commonwealth. Yet in recent years debate over whether or not they should Part from the British Monarchy has gained public opinion.

Australian Constitution:

The Parliamentary System of Canada:



Royal Backgrounds and Republican Debates in :


AUSTRALIA

 

Since federation in 1901, Australia has maintained a strong and stable political system with a bicameral parliamentary democracy and the Queen of Australia (currently Queen Elizabeth II) as the constitutional monarch and the Governor-General representing the Queen as head of state. The majority of the slightly over 21.7 million population is spread around the main cities of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide, and Darwin and the capital city of Canberra, located in the ACT.

Australia is a prosperous multicultural country with its fair share of migrants coming from all over the world. The country has always done extremely well in achieving excellent results in the many international comparisons of standards of living such as in healthcare, public education and the protection of civil rights. Australia is a member of the world’s leading organizations such as the United Nations, G-20 group of major economies, the Commonwealth of Nations, ANZUS, APEC, OECD, and the WTO.


More
Here


 

Crown Prince William Trip to Australia 2010:

Senator Bob Brown puts forward a motion to the Senate that Australians vote a simple yes or no to a republic (2008):


Republic Debate in Australia (25 March 2006, Nine Network (Australia):

 


CANADA

 

Canada shares the same monarch with 15 other monarchies in the 54-member Commonwealth of Nations, a grouping known informally as the Commonwealth realms. The emergence of this arrangement paralleled the evolution of Canadian nationalism following the end of the First World War and culminated in the passage of the Statute of Westminster in 1931. Since then, the pan-national Crown has had both a shared and separate character, and the sovereign's role as monarch of Canada has been distinct to his or her position as monarch of the United Kingdom, as reflected in the monarch's unique Canadian title.
 The monarchy thus ceased to be an exclusively British institution, and in Canada became a Canadian establishment, though it is still often denoted as "British" in both legal and common language, for reasons historical, political, and of convenience.

Effective with the Constitution Act, 1982, no British or other realm government can advise the sovereign on any matters pertinent to Canada, meaning that on all matters of the Canadian state, the monarch is advised solely by Canadian federal Ministers of the Crown. As the monarch lives predominantly outside of Canada, one of the most important of these state duties carried out on the advice of the Canadian Prime Minister is the appointment of the federal viceroy, who is titled as Governor General, and performs most of the Queen's domestic duties in her absence.

The sovereign similarly only draws from Canadian coffers for support in the performance of her duties when in Canada or acting as Queen of Canada abroad; Canadians do not pay any money to the Queen or any other member of the Royal Family, either towards personal income or to support royal residences outside of Canada. Normally, tax dollars pay only for the costs associated with the Governor General and ten Lieutenant Governors as instruments of the Queen's authority, including travel, security, residences, offices, ceremonies, and the like.In the absence of official reports on the full cost of the monarchy, the Monarchist League of Canada regularly issues a survey based on various federal and provincial budgets, expenditures, and estimates; the 2009 edition found that the institution cost Canadians roughly $50 million in 2008. More Here

Canadian debate on the monarchy between JJ MacCullough ( Citizens for a Republic) From Vancouver, Canada and From London Hafal Neydal Mankoo ( Monarchist League of Canada):

Canadian Monarchy: A short look at the Canadian monarchy, from the time of Queen Victoria to Queen Elizabeth II:

Related Blogs:

PARLIAMENTARY DEMOCRACY: First Public Gathering of the Iranian Majlis (1906)

ROYALTY: Shah and Shahbanou visit Australia (1974)

 

David Starkey's "Last Word" With Maryam Namazie about Iran and the Monarchy (More4 TV April 19th, 2006)

HISTORY FORUM:The Monarchy with David Starkey (Cambridge University)

Restoration Blogs:

HISTORY FORUM: Mashallah Ajoudani on Intellectuals and the Revolution

RESTORATION: Elected Monarchs of Malaysia

RESTORATION: The British Royal Family at Work (PBS : 7 Parts)

RESTORATION: Prince Charles, The Meddling Prince (5 Parts)

RESTORATION: Belgium King Baudouin takes Oath Amidst Republican Animosity (31st July ,1950)

RESTORATION: Greek Constitutional Monarchy Toppled by Military Coup (April 21st, 1967)

RESTORATION: King Simeon II of Bulgaria, The Republican Prince

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Nur-i-Azal

benross

by Nur-i-Azal on

Republic is still on the table here in Australia. The Labor Party under PM Kevin Rudd plans to to do another republican referendum if they get re-elected later this year. The reason why the last referendum here failed is because the Liberal Party then in power (i.e. the conservative Tories) under rightwing PM John Howard systematically derailed it, and the republicans blundered by conceding a flawed model to be put in front of the general public together with the actual vote to make Australia a republic rather than to vote on these issues separately. That was a big mistake on their part. The hardcore God, Queen and Empire monarchist Tories in the Liberal Party took advantage of the situation and so launched a well orchestrated media scare tactic against the Australian Republic in conservative parts of Queensland and South Australia that then ended up tipping the whole referendum into a decisive no.  The basic (non-)argument that republican opponents made was that Australia was under the threat of becoming a Banana Republic type dictatorship if it went republican. Bollocks! All the other states, however, voted yes in the 1999 referendum.

 

The next time around Australians will vote for a Republic. You can take that to the bank with you. The generality of Australians are not all that tickled by a family of German pretenders to the Stuart throne of England, to begin with. The Windor's legitimacy is a question with some important Australian intellectuals. Plus we don't exactly see ourselves as Poms (i.e. Brits/Limeys). Besides, like Canada, this great land really belongs to its original Indigenous Aboriginal inhabitants and not to the white European Anglo-Saxons who colonized it -- not to mention that the face of Australia is slowly but surely beginning to change into a conspicuously non-European Asian coloring.

The Australian Republic is coming, thanks be the Rainbow Serpent!

Ya NUR

 


benross

Monarchy is not an issue in

by benross on

Monarchy is not an issue in Canada. There are some for it and some against it. But nobody is willing to put the country in deep crisis over a non-issue. Opening the constitution is like opening a can of worms and the major concern is those worms not the monarchy.

Even in Australia, where monarchy was a much bigger social issue, and had very good chance to be rebuked, the attempt failed and it's unlikely to re-surface anytime soon. 

In Iran, our only legitimate constitution is constitutional monarchy. And unlike Canada, it is an issue and we won't have any choice but dealing with it, along all other worms!


Azadeh Azad

Yes, to a Canadian Republic!

by Azadeh Azad on

Thank you, dear Darius, for the post.

Constitutionally, the whole Canadian soil belongs to the Crown, and there are many lands within and outside the cities that legally and in a more direct way belong to the Crown, i.e., the Queen. For instance, in British Columbia (aka Canadian Columbia) people living in houses built on "the Crown Lands" are not allowed to have pets. This outrageous law is just one example of the absurdity of the  Monarchy.

We live in the 21st century, for heavens' sakes! Lands must belong to the Canadian people - primarily the First Nations! We want a Canadian Republic, ASAP!

Azadeh


Nur-i-Azal

I miss his mum, Shaheed Diana ;-(

by Nur-i-Azal on


AsteroidX

Go for it William ! We love Di's baby, he's a Class Act.

by AsteroidX on


Nur-i-Azal

Yes, to an Australian Republic!

by Nur-i-Azal on

If a decent republican model were to be submitted to a national referendum here, 85% would vote for it. The reason the republican referendum of 1999 failed is because of the flawed model presented by the republican camp that forced people to vote for the model rather than for a republic. Let us hope the Rudd government is re-elected later this year because they plan to reopen the national republican debate in the next session of parliament.

Yes, to the Republic of Australia!

Ya NUR