Part 29 – UK: Australia is not the UK
Australia is NOT the United Kingdom.
Australia is not a Sovereign Monarchy like the United Kingdom, where the Individuals of the UK are mere “subjects” of a “Sovereign Queen”.
In Australia under our entirely unique form of government it is the Australian Individuals who are Sovereign.
This has been the case in all material respects since the Australian Colonies secured self governance. By 1890 the Australian Colonies had achieved “Self Governance” and considered themselves to be the most free people of any nation in the World.
This was repeatedly stated during the Australian Constitutional Debates by most every one of the Founding Fathers.
This was the exchange between two of our Founding Fathers in the context of what had already been achieved in Australia with self government by 1890.
Australian Founding Father Mr. McMillan stated:
“As the hon. member, Mr. Gillies, said, under our form of government we have every possible freedom”.
On 10 March 1891, another Australian Founding Father Mr. Cockburn stated:
“. . . Federation cannot exist, co-ordinate houses cannot exist and work together unless they both recognise the sovereignty of the people, and yield to the sovereignty of the people. . .”
Yet, the few remaining legal ties to the Monarchy were not of any major concern to the Colonial Australians.
One major concern was that decisions of the Australian Courts could be appealed to the Privy Council in the United Kingdom. However, this was only a concern for the major industrialists and not a concern of the vast majority of Colonial Australians.
The other issue was the mere potential for the “Queen” to disallow legislation passed by the Colonial Parliaments. It occasionally happened during the pre-self government stage, but only to ensure that there was no inconsistency between the common law in the United Kingdom and that operating in Australia.
This was in fact wise, because had the laws of Australia and the United Kingdom gone in different directions at that stage, it would have almost certainly been to the detriment of the Australian Colonialists who would have the expense of travelling to the United Kingdom to uphold an Australian Law in a foreign Court which exercised jurisdiction over the Australian litigant.
In all other aspect the legal ties between Australia and the United Kingdom were largely symbolic once the Australian Colonies secured self government by 1890.
At Federation the objects of our Self Governance were cemented in our independence, save minor cultural and structural "safety nets" until a safe transition was secured for all Australian Individuals and Australia.
Queen and Crown and Commonwealth and Sovereign mean the same thing in Australia as in the United Kingdom, right ?
Well, Yes and No and Sometimes and Not exactly.
Let me try and explain.
After Federation Australia is no longer under a Monarchy.
The UK is still a Monarchy.
Australia did retain the Queen but merely as a symbolic representation of the “Crown”.
Australia is a Representative Democracy within the framework or “structure” of a Constitutional Monarchy.
That is, the purely symbolic “Monarchy” operates within (not above) our Australian Constitution.
In this context the “Crown” is itself symbolic of the collective sovereignty of all of the Australian Individuals under the protection of the Australian Constitution. In Australia the “Crown” represents the collective will of all Australian Individuals.
The “Crown” in Australia represents every one of the Sovereign Australian Individuals.
Think of it as the “crown” sitting on the heads of every Australian Individual at the Freedom Rally if every other Australian Individual were there with them !
We are the “Crown” in that sense, which is why the “Crown” is often used as a symbolic term for our Australian Government.
Under our Australian Constitution it represents the “collective will" of every Australian Individual. This "collective will" is expressed as our “voice” through our elected representatives within our democracy.
That is how it must work in law under our Australian Constitution.
Let me be clear. If it is not within the “law” of our Australian Constitution it is UNLAWFUL.
It gets a little confusing because Australia is part of the “Commonwealth”, in the sense that it was a former Colony belonging to the Monarchy.
However, since independence and particularly since Federation, Australia itself is a “Commonwealth” quite distinct from the Monarchy of the United Kingdom. The term takes its meaning from its context.
If you are feeling sad for our American Brothers and Sisters right now, feel far worse for our Brothers and Sisters in the United Kingdom.
So far we have hopefully established that under our various Constitutions, Australia has the most freedoms in the World, followed by the United States, but the subjects of the United Kingdom are in real trouble.
This takes a little explanation which I will attempt in Part 31.
