[Kvkcgktl]

I have been in a continuous debate with my gf to what the queen does and her importance to us Australians. Is there a particular reason why she is still ruling Australia and does she have a job of some sort?

I never hear of her doing anything and from what I see she is just a figure head that last I heard (several years ago) fell over and broke her hip or something. Other then that I never hear or read about her. I'm curious to know of her importance besides the fact she is queen.

Is there any reason why she is still ruling Australia and why we are not our own independant country? I know eventually we will become independant but there must be a reason she is still ruling this country.

[derisgun]

"Ruling" is a bit of a stretch, we actually have very little to do with Britain any more. We just technically come under the monarchy and are part of the commonwealth.

Also we had a referendum about becoming an independent nation a few years ago. It got voted down by the people of Aus so here we are. Changing the constitution in a referendum requires a 66% vote or higher in favour so there was very little chance it was ever going to pass.

Plus we get to celebrate the queens bday public holiday still [thumbup].


As for what she does, a lot of charity work so i here. Day to day i have no idea, probably very little.

[www.forumsovetov.ru]

Day to day i have no idea, probably very little.

Bet she has a good bit of tea in the afternoon, filling in the blanks one bit at a time. You're welcome [yes]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_of_Australia

[PetraCromlich]

she stays at the castle and cooks and queens

[Kvkcgktl]

Well that pretty much settles it. My gf says she is very important and that all new rules/bills that are passed must be accepted by the queen (apparently a teacher told her). I thought that was a little overkill for one person to do all that.

I've asked many people and all had no idea what the queen actually does, and I think it would be cool to be our own independent country.

As for the queens BDay, yea that's cool and all, but as a school student, it doesn't exactly affect me considering i believe the last time her BDay was during the damned holidays[thumbdown]. I didn't mind though, I think I took the week off TAFE anyways

[traithJah]

The Governor General is responsible for all the queens duties and acts on her behalf. And unless requested by the GG, The queen has nothing to do with Governing Australia.

Out of interest, where you taught at school about the GG firing the Whitlam government after a constitutional crisis in 1975?

[Kvkcgktl]

The Governor General is responsible for all the queens duties and acts on her behalf. And unless requested by the GG, The queen has nothing to do with Governing Australia.

Out of interest, where you taught at school about the GG firing the Whitlam government after a constitutional crisis in 1975?

Nope, I was told my by uncle when I was younger that the queen fired one of our Prime Ministers, but was not told why.

So what are the duties of the GG. My gf kept saying that the GG's duties is to pass on information to the queen to get her approval or something. She never mentioned anything about the GG actually doing the queens duties.

[traithJah]

Hmm, the biggest moment in Australian politics since Federation and it's not taught in schools anymore [rolleyes] FYI it was not the queen who fired the Prime Minister it was the GG using his reserve powers.

Have you heard of the famous speach by Gough Whitlam on the steps of Parliment house? "Well may me say god save the queen... because nothing will save the governor general!"

Listen to this link, it's the most dramatic time in Australian politics

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOJNaqjUra4


For the GG role got to this link http://www.gg.gov.au/ it will be interesting for you I think

One thing you obviously won't know is that unlike the US, where the president is Commander in Chief, it's the GG who is Australia's Commander in Chief.

And check this link out for info regarding the Prime Minister Gough Whitlam's dismissal http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1975_Au...utional_crisis

[Kvkcgktl]

"Well may me say god save the queen... because nothing will save the governor general!"

I heard that saying by my gf's Nan last night when I had dinner at her grandparents place.

Thanks for the links, will read them when I get back from looking after someones place.

Also I always assumed that the Prime Minister was the big shot in Australia. It's always all over the news for weeks (sometimes months) when a Prime Minister is to be elected and they make there speeches, but when the GG get's elected or chosen it get's displayed on the News for about 5 minutes or less then that's it.

I also understand that our current GG is the first ever female. Had no idea it was a big deal, but good on her[yes]

[traithJah]

The PM is still the bigshot, the Queen appoints the GG on the advice of the PM [rofl]

Things get sticky when the GG term overlaps the outgoing and incoming PM.

[Ternneowns]

that last I heard (several years ago) fell over and broke her hip or something.

Um no. You're probably thinking of the Queen Mum.

[cheesypeetyz]

She's a tourist attraction and that's about it. I don't know why though. You get an idea of what a pompous, self important woman she is by the fact that even at 8,000 years old she refuses to abstain and let her son have a go.

[PypeMaypetasy]

She's a tourist attraction and that's about it. I don't know why though. You get an idea of what a pompous, self important woman she is by the fact that even at 8,000 years old she refuses to abstain and let her son have a go.

I think that might be the very reason she hasn't abstained yet.

[Ternneowns]

She's a tourist attraction and that's about it. I don't know why though. You get an idea of what a pompous, self important woman she is by the fact that even at 8,000 years old she refuses to abstain and let her son have a go.

Why should she?

[cheesypeetyz]

Why should she?

a) she's so old she's preserved in formaldehyde
2) it would stop that racist moron prince philip being seen in public
3) I have never met anyone in business who doesn't look forward to handing over the reins to their children at some point and seeing them do well.

[BashBeissedat]

I think that technically the monarch can block a piece of government legislation (at least in th UK) but it hasn't happened for hundreds of years. Who knows, if we get a complete nutter in number 10 one day who wants to start a war based on what his imaginary friend says she might step in....

[Ternneowns]

a) she's so old she's preserved in formaldehyde
2) it would stop that racist moron prince philip being seen in public
3) I have never met anyone in business who doesn't look forward to handing over the reins to their children at some point and seeing them do well.

That's not the way it works. A Monarch is a Monarch until they die or (on rare occasions) abdicate. That's the way it's always been the way and the Queen was brought up.

[cheesypeetyz]

It's not that rare...list of abdications:

Lucius Tarquinius Superbus 510 BC (Roman Monarchy dissolved) Lucius Cornelius Sulla 79 BC Diocletian AD 305 Romulus Augustulus 476 (Western Roman Empire dissolved) Pope Benedict IX 1048 Isaac I Comnenus 1059 Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor 1105 Emperor Huizong of Song China January 18, 1126 Albert I of Brandenburg 1169 Dermot McMurrough, High King of Ireland 1169 Ladislaus III of Poland 1206 Pope Celestine V December 13, 1294 John Baliol of Scotland 1296 John Cantacuzene, emperor of the East 1355 Richard II of England September 29, 1399 Baldassare Cossa, Antipope John XXIII 1415 Pope Gregory XII 1415 Erik VII of Denmark, XIII of Sweden 1439 Amadeus VIII of Savoy 1440 Murad II, Ottoman Sultan 1444 Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor 1 1555/1556 Christina of Sweden June 6, 1654 Mary Queen of Scots July 24, 1567 John Casimir of Poland 1668 Frederick Augustus of Poland September 24, 1706 Philip V of Spain 14 January 1724 Victor Amadeus of Sardinia 3 September 1730 Ahmed III, Ottoman Sultan 1 October 1730 Charles of Naples (on accession to throne of Spain) 6 October 1759 Stanislaus II of Poland 7 January 1795 Qianlong Emperor of China February 9, 1796 Charles Emanuel IV, King of Sardinia June 4, 1802 Francis II, Holy Roman Emperor August 6, 1806 Charles IV, King of Spain March 19, 1808 Joseph Napoleon, King of Naples June 6, 1808 Gustav IV Adolf, King of Sweden March 29, 1809 Louis Napoleon, King of Holland July 2, 1810 Napoleon I, Emperor of the French April 4, 1814, and again June 22, 1815 Victor Emmanuel I, King of Sardinia March 13, 1821 Charles X, King of France August 2, 1830 Pedro IV, King of Portugal 2 May 28, 1826 Pedro I, Emperor of Brazil 2 April 7, 1831 Miguel, King of Portugal May 26, 1834 William I, King of the Netherlands October 7, 1840 Louis Philippe, King of the French February 24, 1848 Ludwig I, King of Bavaria March 21, 1848 Ferdinand, Emperor of Austria December 2, 1848 Charles II, Duke of Parma March 14, 1849 Charles Albert, King of Sardinia March 23, 1849 Leopold II, Grand Duke of Tuscany July 21, 1859 Isabella II, Queen of Spain June 25, 1870 Amadeo I, King of Spain February 11, 1873 Alexander, Prince of Bulgaria September 7, 1886 Milan, King of Serbia March 6, 1889 Liliʻuokalani, Queen of Hawaiʻi January 17, 1893 (monarchy abolished) Sunjong, Emperor of Korea August 29, 1910 (monarchy abolished) Xuantong Emperor of China February 12, 1912 (monarchy abolished) Nicholas II, Emperor of Russia March 15, 1917 (monarchy abolished) Ferdinand I, Tsar of the Bulgarians October 3, 1918 William II, German Emperor November 9, 1918 (monarchy abolished) Marie-Adélaïde, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg January 14, 1919 Constantine I, King of the Hellenes September 27, 1922 Prajadhipok, King of Siam March 2, 1935 Edward VIII, King of Great Britain and Ireland December 11, 1936 Carol II, King of Romania September 6, 1940 Bảo Đại, Emperor of Vietnam April 25, 1945 (Feudal Dynasty dissolved) Victor Emmanuel III, King of Italy May 9, 1946 Michael, King of Romania December 30, 1947 (monarchy abolished) Wilhelmina, Queen of the Netherlands September 4, 1948 Léopold III, King of the Belgians July 16, 1951 Farouk, King of Egypt July 26, 1952 Talal, King of Jordan August 11, 1952 Fuad II, King of Egypt June 18, 1953 (Monarchy abolished) Saud, King of Saudi Arabia November 2, 1964 Charlotte, Grand Duchess of Luxembourg November 12, 1964 Omar Ali Saifuddin, Sultan of Brunei October 4, 1967 Juliana, Queen of the Netherlands April 30, 1980 Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg October 7, 2000 Hans-Adam II, Prince of Liechtenstein3 August 15, 2004 (Made his son regent) Norodom Sihanouk, King of Cambodia October 7, 2004 Saad Al-Abdullah Al-Salim Al-Sabah, Emir of Kuwait January 23, 2006 Jigme Singye Wangchuck, King of Bhutan December 15, 2006 (Made his son King)

[FredderiK]

Compare that (dubious) list of abdications against one that contains all of the monarchs, in every part of the world, that has every existed, then state that it's not rare. Anyway, I think the point is that in Britain, voluntary abdication has genuinely been very rare and there is no moral reason why Elizabeth R should give up her title.

[levitratestimon]

abstained yet.

she refuses to abstain.

abstain from what??? i think the word you are looking for is abdicate!