Queen snub: MPs and soldiers ‘should NOT swear allegiance to foreign monarch’ in Australia
AUSTRALIAN MPs and members of the armed forced should not have to swear allegiance to the Queen because she is a “foreign monarch,” the chairman of the nation’s campaign for republicanism has said.
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Peter Fitzsimons said the majority of the 24.6 million people living Down Under would be “shocked and disappointed” to learn that the politicians representing them in parliament do not have to mention Australia or the Australian people in their oath - but do have to mention the Queen. In his submission to a parliamentary inquiry into nationhood, national identity and democracy in October, the 58-year-old chairman of the Australian Republican Movement (ARM) questioned the current format. He said: “Most Australians would be shocked and disappointed to learn that their elected member of parliament is not required to pledge any allegiance to them or the nation.
“It is beyond question that the allegiance of parliamentarians, judges and members of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) lie with Australia and its people first.
“Why must they be forced to continue to make pledges of allegiance to a foreign monarch of a former colonial power over and above the people of Australia?”
In an interview with The Australian newspaper he said a referendum on the wording of oaths was needed.
He said the pledges taken by elected parliamentarians and diggers - Australian slang for soldiers - should be “changed immediately by legislation”.
He said: “In many respects, this would simply ensure that the oath being taken by members of the Australian Defence Force reflects the allegiance they already demonstrate in uniform every day — a commitment to the Australian people.”
He later took to Twitter to say he had received a “very encouraging reaction” to his words.
“How obvious is it that our Australian Defence Force personnel, and our parliamentarians, should swear fealty to Australia and its people, not her Majesty?” he said.
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Founded in 1991, ARM campaigns for the Queen to be removed as Australia’s head of state and replaced by an Australian man or woman.
In the current oath, MPs and ADF members have to swear to be “faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, Her heirs and successors according to law”.
The proposed wording would remove any reference to the Queen.
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Instead, public servants would swear “that I will be loyal to the Commonwealth of Australia and the Australian people, whose laws I will uphold, nationhood, national identity and democracy”.
In 1954 the Queen became the first reigning monarch of Australia to set foot on Australian soil.
She has visited the country a total of 16 times.
In a 1999 referendum 54 percent of Australians voted against becoming a republic.
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