Media Releases

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

30/4/20

Disgraceful Attempt to Link Captain James Cook to COVID-19

The Australian Monarchist League calls on the Deputy Chief Health Officer of Victoria, to formally apologise for comments likening the arrival of the Endeavour to COVID-19.

Ms Annaliese van Diemen, as DCHO, is the signatory of Victoria’s lockdown laws which are considered to be the strictest of all the Australian States.

AML National chairman, Philip Benwell, said that the comments were “a disgraceful attempt to blacken the name of Captain James Cook, one of the world's greatest 18th-century explorers.”

Mr Benwell went on to say that it was strange that, MS van Diemen made no reference to, nor took any responsibility for, her namesake, Anthony van Diemen, who was responsible for sending Abel Tasman on his 1642 voyage which landed on the West Coast of Tasmania over a century before that of Captain Cook.

Ms Annaliese van Diemen should make an immediate public apology to the people of Australia for her attempt to attack the reputation of Captain James Cook.

Philip Benwell
National Chair

www.monarchist.org.au

Republicans Now Attacking the Queen for Being a Protestant
21/4/2020

Whilst the Australian Monarchist League has been active in promoting The Queen’s Covid and Easter messages, and also our online celebration for Her Majesty’s 94th birthday tomorrow, Tuesday 21 April, the Republican Movement have also been busy, mainly criticising the Queen, the monarchy and the constitution but without ever telling us how the republic they propose will better the system of governance we currently enjoy. We shouldn’t forget that politicians will come and go, recently more frequently than before, but the Crown remains as a permanent protector of our Constitution and democracy.

One such example is their new advertisement (pictured alongside) which, like most republican promotions, is both inflammatory and fundamentally wrong. It states “Are you: Catholic?, Muslim?, Jewish?, Buddhist?, Atheist? Your banned from being Australia’s head of state (it’s only for those of the Church of England) why are you putting up with discrimination?”

The fact is that, upon appointment, the Governor-General becomes executive head of state and any Australian can aspire to that role whatever their race or religion. We have had so far, Jewish, Catholic and atheist Governors-General/heads of state and the likelihood is that we will have persons of other faiths in that office in the future.

Whilst it is true that the monarch must be of the Church of England, because that is the state religion of England; in Australia, we have freedom of religion which is guaranteed by the constitution and by the Queen. Many Catholics, Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Atheists and others value the freedom of worship they enjoy under the Crown, whether in the United Kingdom or in Australia or in other realms.

Philip Benwell
National Chair
Australian Monarchist League

12 December, 2019

The new proposal by republicans to void the referendum process and have the state and federal parliaments vote on the succession when the Queen passes (Annika Smedhurst Telegraph 8/12/19) is fraught with legal complexities and will not work.

The proposal, promoted by Labor MP Julian Hill, is typical of the sort of system that will exist under a republic where the voice of the people will be muted with politicians reigning supreme.

14 February, 2020

The Australian Monarchist League welcomes the proposed visit by the Duke of Cambridge to Australia. His Royal Highness, representing the Queen, will visit areas ravaged by bushfires and meet with firefighters and also those who have lost their homes.

Hopefully, this visit will also lead to a formal recognition of the heroic involvement of all those involved in fighting the devasting fires of this past month whether they be volunteers or otherwise.

END

9 January, 2020

The decision by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex to seek a measure of privacy in their lives and that of their son, Archie, has come as no real surprise as this is something that has been in the air for some time. The intense media intrusion into the Duchess’s family and unexpected criticism of the Duke over jet travel whilst promoting environmental policies would have undoubtedly have firmed their decision.

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29 December, 2019

The article today in the Courier Mail headed ‘Brexit likely to revive republican movement’ could itself well be one of the laughable but fictitious episodes of ‘Yes Minister’ which it highlights.

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2 December, 2019

In July 2017, Malcolm Turnbull, when Prime Minister and obviously playing to a wider audience stated “Even republicans like myself can be, and in my case are, very strong Elizabethans,” he paid tribute to the Queen as having embodied “selfless public service, dignity, wisdom and leadership for longer and more magnificently than anyone alive today”. AAP 12/7/17)

However, it didn’t take him long to change his tune. On this Tuesday, the 26th November, when speaking to a republican dinner in Canberra this so-called Elizabethan said, “it is an “absurdity” and “crazy” that the Queen is the nation’s head of state when she is “not a citizen of Australia”. (Australian 27/11/19) As a former prime minister he knows, or should know, that the Queen is above citizenship and that, as Queen of Australia, passports are issued in her name through her representative, the Governor-General.

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