Media Releases

The Australian Republican Movement published an email accusing Buckingham Palace of releasing “a misleading statement and issuing ‘spin’. To quote:

“Buckingham Palace responded on Tuesday night with a misleading statement implying the release of the letters showed the Queen supported Australia’s independence (despite doing all they could to stop the release of the letters) and ‘played no role’ in the events of 1975 despite being consulted, effectively forewarned and even advising the Governor-General on his powers. The ARM was quick to call out the Palace for its spin. It’s clear the Palace received more of a hint about what was to come on 11 November 1975 than Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam did.”

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I had been invited to attend and was therefore present at the formal release of the correspondence between the then Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, and Sir Martin Charteris, private secretary to the Queen, at the National Archives of Australia in Canberra. The release of what is termed ‘the Kerr papers’ clearly showed that the Queen was not involved in the dismissal of Gough Whitlam.

We have always advised that Sir John simply used the powers of the Constitution (section 64) to withdraw the letter of appointment he had earlier given to Gough Whitlam to be a minister. There was no conspiracy or underhandedness whatsoever. It was the action of a Governor-General seeking to resolve the political and economic crisis facing the nation.

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The release of the so-called “Palace Letters” by the National Archives this morning vindicates Sir John Kerr’s actions on November 11 1975, frees the Palace of any allegations of political interference, and proves our system of constitutional monarchy is by far the best and safest form of government for the Commonwealth of Australia.

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The formal release of the Kerr papers will take place tomorrow morning at an event in the National Archives of Australia in Canberra at 10 AM.
The Australian Monarchist League is of the opinion that an inspection of the papers will clearly show that the Queen was in no way involved in the actual dismissal of the then Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, and that those who advocated otherwise should apologise.

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The YouGov Poll
As featured in the Daily Telegraph (12/7/20)

(See News Article Below)

Of course, a warped poll is going to create a warped response. The inference in the question was that we are somehow a vassal of the United Kingdom, which we are most definitely not. We find that the emphasis in the question is misleading and would corrupt any response.

No mention was made of the fact that Australia is a free, sovereign and independent nation and has been so for over 100 years. It is true that our constitution, our laws, our base culture and our language were all were gifted to us by the United Kingdom. It is also true that the United Kingdom gifted true independence to us with the Australian Constitution.

Our constitution does not mention, anywhere, the term head of state, which, in republics means ‘the president’. This is because we are different from republics. We are a constitutional monarchy with a sovereign represented by the Governor-General, who is an Australian. Upon appointment he is the person who becomes the executive head of the state.

The plain fact is that our system of constitutional monarchy works because we have checks and balances which cannot be replicated in any republic where most are totally controlled by politicians and big-business. Therefore, becoming a republic would be a retrograde step for Australia.

It is interesting that there has been no mention of who requested and paid for this warped poll. Details cannot be found on the YouGov website.

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7/7/20
[Reference ABC News: Should statues which 'don't respect traditional custodians' be removed from around Canberra? (6/7/20)]

The Australian Monarchist League has members with many varying political opinions, but most members agree that reconciliation and advancement of social issues in Australia will have the greatest chance of success under an Australian Monarchy and the current Australian Westminster system. Statues of our past and current Monarchs, prime ministers and others are symbols of this and must be preserved.

Accordingly, the Australian Monarchist League is vehemently opposed to the removal of any statue of King George V or of Sir Edmund Barton or indeed of any of Australia’s great leaders of the past.

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The Anti-Queen Agenda of Mark Parnell MP
2/7/20

South Australian Greens MP, Mark Parnell, is concentrating, not on helping struggling families and businesses to survive through the current tough economic times in the State he is supposed to care for but has declared his priority to be an anti-Queen agenda.

Mr Parnell plans to retire from the South Australian parliament, but before he goes, proposes to table a motion to abolish the Oath of Allegiance to the Queen for members of the parliament, judges, police and other officers of the Crown (InDaily 1/7/20).

In a similar manner to the cultural Marxist mob wanting to tear down statues representing Australia’s historical past, this MP seems intent on tearing down Australia’s system of constitutional monarchy by eroding our national symbols and promoting republicanism by stealth, even though the last time the people voted on constitutional change, they vehemently rejected a republic. What next does he and his cohorts have within their sights - the Australian flag?

Australia’s constitutional monarchy has, for over a hundred years, protected our democracy and, in so doing, has provided a way of life with continuity, safety, economic opportunity and family values. All this will be put into danger if Australia becomes a politicians’ republic

We are sure that the South Australian parliament has much better ways in which to spend their valuable time than pandering to constitutional vandalism.

END

Republicans Fail to Understand Australia’s Constitutional System.
5/6/2020

It really is amazing how, after 30 years of constitutional debate, republicans still do not understand the Australian system of governance with the monarch as sovereign head of state and the Prime Minister as head of government. They continue to view us as some relic of colonial days whereas we are long past British domination and are, today, a modern free and independent nation which chooses to be a constitutional monarchy under the (Australian) Crown.

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The Queen’s VE Day Message
7/5/20

The Queen will be broadcasting a rare message to commemorate VE Day on Friday evening at 9 PM, London time.

Whilst VE Day relates to ‘victory in Europe’ day, it is very relevant to potentially millions of Australians whose parents, grandparents and other relatives fought in Europe and the Middle East against Nazi Germany and its allies.

We therefore call upon all Australian television channels to broadcast the message in full both at the time of broadcast and prior to the Saturday evening news.

We have just launched a petition which has already received over 250 signatures and is fast gaining in popularity.

Philip Benwell
National Chair
Australian Monarchist League