Comment on 'You're not my king': [Senator] Lidia Thorpe escorted away after outburst [at Charles III in Parliament House]

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Nath@aussie.zone ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ 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.

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