WHY WE TOAST THE QUEEN OF AUSTRALIA

 by Dr. Glen Sheil

In Australia’s Constitutional Monarchy our Crown belongs to the People (Section 128). The Crown represents the entire Power of the Government (Section 61), and it is completely subordinate to the Constitution (Section 2).

Our Governor-General is appointed and removed, instantly, by the Queen on the advice of our democratically elected Prime Minister. This is merely our method of appointment and removal, and has nothing to do with control. It is a congenial reminder of our remarkable Constitutional development.

The G-G possesss no power of his own, but after being sworn in to be apolitical and to govern on behalf of all the People without fear or favour, without affection or illwill, he is given all the Powers of the Australian Crown.

Thus it is the Crown that is of central and paramount importance to our Constitutional Monarchy. This is because the Crown denies power to any political rogue. Because Australia had no one to wear her Crown we requested the Queen to do so for us, and she has graciously accepted. The Queen will relinquish this role when requested.

The situation now is that the Queen is Monarch of Great Britain, where she reigns and rules. She is also the Queen of fifteen other Constitutional Monarchies, one being Australia, where she is the Sovereign, and she reigns but does not rule. It is one of the greatest examples of comity in the history of Government.

We toast the Queen because she wears our Crown for us, in exemplary style, and she represents Britain, which gave us our heritage free of all encumberence, and which led to the best Constitution in the world, and a better system of government than any republic in the world, indeed the best system of government yet devised by man.