[WikiEN-l] Re: Queen Elizabeth II

Wed Mar 9 00:00:33 UTC 2005

Skyring writes:

>Ummm, that merely gives the definition of republic you've already
>quoted. I wasn't disputing that. What''s your definitive source for
>saying the Queen is the head of state?

Well, as a committed republican I am actually interested in this 
debate.  So I put "Australia constitution" in Google, and went to the 
Parliament of Australia's web-page, where I found something called 
"Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act."  Now I am no expert on 
Australia so if this thing -- I mean Parliament or the Act -- have no 
official standing, please tell me!

Anyway, I learned that the Act was itself enacted by HRH

>Be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with 
>the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, 
>in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as 
>follows:--

I then went to chapter 1, which is about the legistlative branch, and read 
this:

>1. The legislative power of the Commonwealth shall be vested in a Federal 
>Parliament, which shall consist of the Queen, a Senate, and a House of 
>Representatives, and which is herein-after called "The Parliament," or 
>"The Parliament of the Commonwealth. "
>2. A Governor-General appointed by the Queen shall be Her Majesty's 
>representative in the Commonwealth, and shall have and may exercise in the 
>Commonwealth during the Queen's pleasure, but subject to this 
>Constitution, such powers and functions of the Queen as Her Majesty may be 
>pleased to assign to him.

I then went to chapter 2 which is about the Executive branch and it starts 
like this:

>61. The executive power of the Commonwealth is vested in the Queen and is 
>exercisable by the Governor-General as the Queen's representative, and 
>extends to the execution and maintenance of this Constitution, and of the 
>laws of the Commonwealth.

I also learned that there is a republican movement in Australia (which 
suggests to me that at least some Australians do not think they live in a 
republic, yet).  Well, this movement has a web-page that has a FAQ 
section.  The answer to the question, "Who is Australia's Head of State" is:

>Elizabeth II, the Queen of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, is 
>Australia's Head of State because:
>The Constitution of Australia defines the Parliament as "the Queen, a 
>Senate, and a House of Representatives" and vests the Federal legislative 
>(law-making) power in the Parliament (section 1, Constitution).
>The executive power (the governing and administrative power) of the 
>Commonwealth of Australia is vested in the Queen (section 61, Constitution).
>The Queen has the power to disallow any law within one year of it being 
>made even after the Governor-General has given his assent (section 59, 
>Constitution).
>The Governor-General only holds office "during the Queen's pleasure" which 
>means that the he can be dismissed by the Queen at any time (section 2, 
>Constitution).
>Lastly, but probably most importantly in a symbolic sense, is the Schedule 
>to the Constitution that requires all Federal Parliamentarians to swear an 
>oath or declare an affirmation of allegiance to the Queen. This oath of 
>allegiance can only be changed by alteration of the Constitution — unlike 
>the Citizenship Oath, which can be changed by an Act of Parliament, or the 
>Ministerial Oath which can be changed by Proclamation.

The "Australian Monarchist League" (motto: protecting Australia's 
constitution) also seems to think Australia is not a republic.  Their 
web-page has an article by Sir David Smith (I'm not exactly sure what "Sir" 
means in this context since I happen to live in a republic -- is this "sir" 
like "Sir Lancelot?"), which begins:

>Under our Constitution we have two Heads of State - a symbolic Head of 
>State in the Sovereign, and a constitutional Head of State in the 
>Governor-General.

So look, I am not a constitutional lawyer.  But these few quotes give me 
the impression that the Queen has some role in that polity called 
Australia.  I am not sure that the Queen is head of state, maybe the 
Governor-General is the head of state -- but it seems pretty clear that 
s/he derives this status from the Queen.

Soooo ... can someone explain to me why there seems to be some controversy 
over this matter?

Curiously yours,
Steve

Steven L. Rubenstein
Associate Professor
Department of Sociology and Anthropology
Bentley Annex
Ohio University
Athens, Ohio 45701