It is historical. We have a reasonably stable political system as does the UK and so our government has evolved through consensus since the restoration of the British monarchy.
Australia slowing but steadily made all the necessary laws to become a fully sovereign independent nation but we retained an Australian monarch who follows the same rules of succession as the British monarch. I expect the people who worked to obtain our sovereign independence thought the monarchy would be dealt with next and there was an attempt and it got sunk by a nasty scaremongering campaign. Some of the misinformation still circulates today and it has become part of many people’s beliefs.
We need a massive campaign to educate the population so we can achieve the sort of constructive and sensible consensus that are the hallmark of our successful and stable democracy. Unfortunately both social and mainstream media will promote increasingly partisan and divisive misinformation for their own purposes. I am sure many advocates for reform don’t want to deal with the hyper-partisan negativity and army of cookers that will arise flying monarchist flags. Perhaps if the monarchy is left alone they will disappear up their own arses and make it easier.
Nath@aussie.zone 4 weeks ago
The real answer to this question is “habit”. The people who drew up the Australian Constitution in the 1890’s thought of themselves as British citizens, even though they were literally making plans for a new nation that would be independent of England. In terms of taxes, I don’t believe Commonwealth membership costs us much - though I’m not super informed on this point. I could be swayed on the matter.
Even as citizens of the new nation of Australia, that generation of Australians still thought of themselves as British, too. It took a few more generations for us to really think of ourselves as purely and exclusively Australian.
If the constitution were being drafted up today, we’d have a serious conversation about whether we’d be a Constitutional Monarchy or some sort of Republic. But, it’s not and we’re not.
There are real advantages to being a member of the Commonwealth of nations. I’m not entirely dissatisfied with the status quo. If we ever do split from the Commonwealth, I’d want to look closely at what is proposed to replace it. I would not for example want our government to end up like what our friends in the USA have.
unionagainstdhmo@aussie.zone 4 weeks ago
Becoming a republic wouldn’t necessarily exclude us from the Commonwealth: en.wikipedia.org/…/Republics_in_the_Commonwealth_…
kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 weeks ago
While America is certainly a dumpster fire I would argue getting rid of all monarchist influence was one of the few good things it did. Of course over time it went from a progressive country to a regressive country and today a country of reactionaries.
Nath@aussie.zone 4 weeks ago
What is the problem with the monarchy? That they’re unelected? Well, neither are the Billionaires who fill that same niche in US politics. Except Billionaires have a strong agenda and really drive the popular and political narrative. Even here, we’re not entirely immune to the influence of the Billionaire class. Only, I find myself at odds with just about everything the Billionaires say. By contrast, the royals rarely engage with politics. When they do, I find myself in agreement with the things they champion more often than not.
I do understand that the royals have a lot of influence on our government. And that when they speak, we’re all but obligated to give them at least an audience. But that brings me back to the previous sentence: I can’t think of anything they’ve said that I took substantive issue with. I say this also as someone who never much liked Charlie. I liked his mum and first wife, though.
This is coming across as me being pro-royal. I’m not really black-or-white on them like that. My own stance is more that I don’t have anything strongly against them - rather than being particularly pro-royal. I won’t cry myself to sleep if Australia cuts ties with the monarchy. But, I’m not marching in the streets seeking that outcome, either.
kittenzrulz123@lemmy.blahaj.zone 4 weeks ago
Im a Anarcho-Syndicalist, I hate government and capitalism