On Fri, 04 Mar 2005 08:03:08 +0000, actionforum@comcast.net actionforum@comcast.net wrote:
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Peter, the Queen IS the Head of state here in Australia , though the matter is complicated by the G-G representing her.
But isn't Peter also correct that Austrailia is a republic? I thought most constitutional monarchies were republics. The salient point is whether the monarch or the constitution is supreme. If the monarch cannot suspend or amend the constitution, then what you have is the rule of law, a "republic".
Spot on. The Australian people drew up their Constituion through a People's Convention with popularly elected delegates, and the resultant constitution was approved by the people in each of the six colonies. The constitution may ONLY by changed by a majority of the voters in a majority of the six States.
Neither the Queen, nor the Governor-General, nor Parliament, nor the Government may amend a single letter of the Constitution without the express approval of the people.
The Governor-General's powers are given to him in the Constitution by the people, and the Queen is all but powerless. She cannot issue instructions nor may she exercise any of the Governor-General's constitutional powers.