The Australian Monarchist League Inc.
P O Box A1213, Sydney South NSW 1235, Australia
Phone: 02 9232 4959 - 0419 417 097 Fax: 02 8580 4923
Email: secretary@monarchist.org.au
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AN OPEN LETTER TO THE BRITISH FOREIGN SECRETARY
27 December 2011
The Rt. Hon. William Hague MP
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
Foreign & Commonwealth Office
King Charles Street
London SW1A 2AH
Dear Foreign Secretary,
A British Foreign Office report, compiled in September and November and
published today by various media, credits the visits of the Queen and
Prince
William to Australia and the latter's marriage earlier this year with
curbing republicanism in this country.
However, the report goes on to state: "In the longer term, demographic
change is reducing the number of Australians who feel a natural tie to the
UK, and many Australians feel becoming a republic is a natural part of
maturing as a country."
Obviously the royal visits have done much to entrench the monarchy in the
hearts of the Australian people. However, may I say that the report is
manifestly incorrect in assuming that Australians support the monarchy
because it is British.
Most Australians today support our unique system of constitutional monarchy
because it is an arrangement that best protects our democratic traditions.
The
ties that once bound Australia to the United Kingdom were long severed -
mainly by Britain as it sought to subjugate itself to Europe - and
Australia
has already matured in its own right. Australia is as free of Britain as is
the United States of America, the only difference being that we have
retained the Crown of the United Kingdom as our own constitutional Crown
because it suits our own purpose.
Just because Australians have a deep respect for the Queen and are rather
infatuated with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge does not mean that they
feel likewise about the United Kingdom.
Changing demographics obviously affects a nation's future, but the British
Foreign office fails to appreciate that many republicans are of British
descent and many monarchists are not. Supporting the Australian Constitution
is not about racial preference but about understanding that which underpins
our exceptional democracy.
Yours sincerely,
Philip Benwell
National Chair
Australian Monarchist League
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