Vice-Regal Saint: Happy Australia Day
Whilst The Monarchist is happily not prone to the Australian folk tradition of irreverence, mockery of authority and disregard for rigid norms of propriety, we do nevertheless have an enormous soft spot for that brave Commonwealth Down Under, which was claimed by the British Crown in 1770 and initially settled through penal transportation to the colony of New South Wales, founded on 26 January 1788.
Uncultivated or not, who can not but admire that broad Ockered accent, that distinctive slang born of mateship and booze. The larrikin Ned Kelly can rot in hell, but strines like Paul Hogan and Steve Irwin and other free spirits of the Bush and the Outback probably exemplify manly virtue better than the whole stock of males across the rest of the English-speaking world.
To wit, congratulations to Trooper Mark Donaldson, VC. That the British and international press could scandalously and virtually ignore an Australian winning the Victoria Cross last week, is thankfully no skin off the tough Aussie back who pays little attention to what others think about him anyways. It happens to be the Australian way.
So Happy Birthday, Oz, and God Save Your Queen!
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9 comments:
We don't all wear singlets, drink beer to excess, drive utes and barbecue shrimps every opportunity we get, but thanks for your kind wishes!
Incidentally, as a relative newcomer to this site am I correct in saying that there are a number of Canadians active? In which case, perhaps one could enlighten me; within the Canadian honours system, can a Canadian citizen/subject be made a knight, either KBE, one of the royal orders, or indeed of the Order of Canada? I ask as today's Australia Day Honours remind me just how meaningless a title such as 'Companion of the Order of Australia' is when no practical recognition is offered.
All the very best,
God save our Queen!
Nice to see another Australian on The Monarchist.
Incidentally, the republican movement chose today to start a new campaign for a republic, which has recieved very little media attention, a small article in the Australian and the ABC. The ABC article had comments, 103 in total, from a couple of dozen commentators split fairly evenly in support one way or the other. Yes, that is how important the republic is to Australians right now.
Oh? Is it an actual campaign, a la the "Mate for a Head of State" campaign, or a more general, "Australians want a republic...Prime Minister X give us our republic please"?
Oh? Is it an actual campaign, a la the "Mate for a Head of State" campaign, or a more general, "Australians want a republic...Prime Minister X give us our republic please"?
It is more along the lines of "LEt us make lots of noise and hope peopel actually start thinking about the issue again!" as opposed to anything more serious. It will go the way of the Mate for Head of State campaign, oblivion.
The simple fact is despite the republican movements posturing, no one but those with a vested interest either way care.
There are plenty of Canadians here, I know, I'm one of them. Yes, Canada and Australia are virtually identical when it comes to our respective Honours systems. Our highest order and class is Companion of the Order of Canada, and we too now have a nationalised Victoria Cross. We do still recognize the Royal Victorian Order, However, which is the personal gift of HEr Majesty, but I don't believe we are permitted the rank of Knight.
Canada may be older, bigger and richer than Oz, but we are less culturally distinct (Americans who wear warmer clothes) and not as geo-politically significant (Australia is not overshadowed by America as much as Canada), I would argue. And we're a pygmie in the eyes of the international press, who under-report anything Canadian because we are looked upon as a boring, tranquil and indistinct place.
Two years now since a Newspoll on republicanism... my guess is that if they are still conducting them, they're not publishing them because they're showing support for a republic falling.
That - or it's not considered a hot issue anymore by the Australian, that ultra-republican newspaper during the 99 referendum, which means republicanism is well and truly dead...
I was at a function hosted by a personal friend earlier this year, and so had the opportunity to have a crack at another friend who was a state Liberal MP who donated a raffle prize to the ARM recently (the wife of a fairly prominent Sydney republican made the mistake of sending me a book of tickets to the raffle - she won't be making that mistake again).
When challenged, the MP shrugged his shoulders and blushed.
If that's the level of passion within the ARM's political supporters, then they are toast.
PS Tweedsmuir, do you understand that it is now precisely BECAUSE of "...the Australian folk tradition of irreverence, mockery of authority and disregard for rigid norms of propriety..." that we are still a constitutional monarchy?
If we didn't mock the authority of Australia's political class, we'd have done what they told us to do and meekly accepted that they were's Australia's self-selecting aristocracy, with the right to choose the president.
For example, Kieran Gilbert on Sky News (and any anchor on Radio National) can barely contain his/their rage when talking about republicanism... it's quite funny actually.
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