The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall will soon be in Australia

The previous Victorian government had predicted the presence of Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, at the Melbourne Cup: On 2nd February 2010 Victorian Racing Minister Rob Hulls, told the public that the Queen had been invited to attend Australia's premier horse race.

"I know that the Queen is a great racing fan, and I honestly don't know whether or not she has any plans to come here," he told reporters. It was “up to her” if she wanted to attend the 150th Melbourne Cup he stumbled into the TV cameras.

As it turned out, the Queen did not visit Melbourne in 2010, but one year later. However, the Melbourne Cup is on the mind of our Royal Family and in 2012 The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall are expected to be in Australia in early November. Their Royal Highnesses have been deputised to represent The Queen and that their visit will be a continuation of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in Australia.

This week, The Age published the news Charles and Camilla tipped for Melbourne Cup. “Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla, may outshine all the other celebrities at this year's Melbourne Cup, if speculation is correct that their Australian visit will include a day at the races.”

It would be Prince Charles' second time at the Melbour-ne Cup, after his trip to Fleming-ton with Princess Diana in 1985. If the royal couple do grace Flemington on Tuesday, 6th November, they will certainly be the highest profile guests at the spring racing carnival. So far the sponsors have yet to announce their international celebrity guests but it was already announced that actress Mischa Barton will be a Cup guest. Mischa who?, you may ask. The Royal guests would draw world-wide attention to Australia’s most important race.

The Melbourne Cup has been Australia's major Thoroughbred horse race since it was started in 1861. It is marketed as "the race that stops a nation" and held on the first Tuesday in November, which is a public holiday in Victoria.

The 2012 Melbourne Cup Field will be announced on the Saturday before the race, 3rd November 2012.

The Melbourne Cup 2012 field of 24 horses will feature some of the best staying horses from around the world. 2011 Melbourne Cup winner Dunaden is already in the running to defend their title in the Melbourne Cup 2012.

For the latest information see 2012 Melbourne Cup Field.

On the first visit of a reigning Australian Monarch the Queen and Prince Philip attended the Melbourne Cup in 1954.

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"Charles will be our next head of state"

It seems that Shaun Carney, an associate editor of The Age, went too far yesterday. He had admitted:

“Charles will be our next head of state. And, whether I live to see it or not, I'm convinced that Charles' first-born, William, will be Australia's head of state after that.”

Today The Age’s editorial returned to the familiar republican modus vivendi:

“People who have a strong and principled attachment to the institution of monarchy may be relatively few in this country, but there are undoubtedly many who sincerely profess admiration and affection for the monarch. That fact alone may keep the republic at bay for the remainder of her reign.”

And the author of the editorial expressed equally this hope:

“The mystique of monarchy may yet prove to be merely the mystique of a monarch, and popular support for an Australian republic, which has waned in recent years, may revive. For the present, however, an observation of Liberal frontbencher and former republican leader Malcolm Turnbull probably captures the popular mood most accurately: Australia has more Elizabethans than monarchists.”

How much better did Shaun Carney capture the situation for the Australian Monarchy - at present and in the foreseeable future:

“ ...for Australians, the diamond jubilee festivities were our celebration too, because the Queen is our head of state.”

“ Charles seems a decent person who has played his part in raising two fine young men in William and Harry. None of them asked to be born into the British royal family, which, because Britain colonised this continent in the 18th century, is our royal family.

“And we had our chance to go in a different direction, but, by a national vote of 55-45 per cent, chose not to. As recently as the late 1990s, a solid majority of Australians were telling pollsters that they wanted Australia to become a republic, to cut the formal constitutional ties with Britain and to have a full-time Australian head of state. Then the republicans started squabbling about what sort of republic we should have, which cruelled the chance of success at the 1999 referendum, and the opportunity to end Australia's days as a constitutional monarchy was lost.

“Originally, the republicans - especially the direct-election advocates who had supported a ''no'' vote at the referendum - argued that the country would be able to return to the question a few years down the track. It soon became apparent that this would not happen. Then they looked to the period after the Queen's passing as the appropriate time for the move to a republic, convincing themselves that Prince Charles as king would be a turn-off to monarchists - a forlorn piece of wishful thinking.

“In the meantime, public attitudes in Australia have changed. Republican sentiment has been in steady retreat. Last year, the Queen attracted enormous numbers during her Australian visit. The gushing from Australians behind the barricades in Melbourne about the Queen's magnificence equalled the encomiums from their London counterparts this week.

“The republican cause in Australia will always have adherents, but republicanism's moment has passed. Perhaps it will return, but not for a long time.”

To publish a contradicting opinion piece with the all too familiar republican statements one day after Shaun Carney’s admission that the republican crusade has failed to capture the Australians is an effort to re-establish the newspaper’s credentials among the Australian republican circles. Alarming figures haunt the Melbourne branch of Fairfax media. The Age’s sales dropped 13.4 per cent on a weekday in the March 2012 quarter and the Saturday Age lost 12.4 per cent. Instead of transferring 66 editorial production jobs to New Zealand – which lead to a journalist strike of 36 hours in Melbourne – Fairfax should re-examine their editorial policy.

Everybody who follows the RadicalRoyalist knows, that Rupert Murdoch has no friend in this blogger, but it must be said that while The Age lost readers in double digits, Murdoch’s Melbourne tabloid HeraldSun newspaper fell only 3 per cent in March 2012.

Murdoch knows, what people want to spent money on. Last Saturday the HeraldSun offered a 52-page souvenir magazine that was sold with the newspaper on 2nd June, the day before the beginning of the big Diamond Jubilee celebrations. It is a lovely and well-edited magazine with references to the Queen of Australia and the Queen of Victoria – terms you will never find printed in The Age. How did The Age report on the Diamond Jubilee celebrations? They re-printed articles from The Daily Telegraph and the Guardian. Nothing extraordinary, but perhaps the editor thought not being nasty had been praise enough.

But why should one buy a Melburnian newspaper, when there is so little content that pleases its readers?

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Victoria needs more pomp and circumstance rather than blandness

The Age’s and The Sunday Age’s dislike for anything royal is well-known. But this Sunday’s attack takes it to a new level. In today's editorial Return to vice-regal pomp risks alienating Victorians The Sunday Age ridiculously praises governors who breached their Oath of Allegiance by “proposing changes to the constitution that would remove references to the monarchy to allow a transition to a republic”. It might be added doing so without any reference to the people.

Too much pomp? Governor de Kretser inspecting a guard of the Royal Australian Navy.

What was Governor Alex Chernov’s crime according to The Sunday Age?

“Mr Chernov wants functions at Government House to be run on a 'non-commercial basis'. Yet at the fashion festival launch, he acknowledged the festival was 'a significant major event' and one of the 'world's leading events of its kind'. It is also an important part of the economy, and subsidised by taxpayers - as is the Governor himself while he holds the office and lives in his elegant residence with its landscaped gardens. (At the fashion party, Mr Chernov invited guests to inspect some of the rooms.)”

For The Sunday Age only a republican governor is a good governor. But the editorialist goes further by deciding what is relevant to Victorians and what is not. It’s in the same logic that s/he determines: “They [vice-regal appointments] exist for historic and legal reasons but also represent a world view and system of government that is no longer relevant to many Australians.” By the term “to many Australians” it is clear, that the opposite is equally true: To many Australians vice-regal appointments are a significant part of the political structure for the state and the federation itself. While the Monarch is absent, the Governors(-General) represent the crown. It is highly bizarre that the Fairfax editorialist expects them to act as promoters of republicanism.

Significantly The Sunday Age’s agitation led nowhere. When checking the editorial on-line, the RadicalRoyalist was the only one reading it. Doesn’t say that all about The Sunday Age's relevance?

Swearing-in ceremony of Victoria's 28th Governor

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Accession Day celebration in Melbourne

Melburnians have the opportunity to celebrate the Queen of Australia’s 60th anniversary of the Accession on Monday, 6th February at 2 pm at the Mission to Seafarers, 717 Flinders Street, Melbourne, Victoria 3005. Please inform Phyl if your are coming, Tel. 9645 4417.

The seafarers' building was designed by Walter Butler in 1916 and is architecturally significant as being a fine urban example of the Arts and Crafts & Spanish Mission style in Melbourne. It was also the place, where Melburnian Monarchists came together to celebrate Prince Charles' 60th birthday.

The building itself is worth a visit since it is an oasis of calm in the city.

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Victoria's new Governor was sworn-in

"Ladies and Gentlemen. His Excellency, the Governor, has assumed office."

The Age could not help being cheeky in its report on the inauguration of The Queen’s new representative in Victoria, Alex Chernov: “[He] was sworn in as the state's 28th Governor with all the formality that monarchists would require for such an occasion.” Indeed they do!

Channel Ten was more solemn on this occasion and broadcast Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu’s remark on the Constitutional Monarchy which the Governor represents: “[...] because it reminds us all that the head of our government of state has an independent and respected arbiter who will act without fear or favour.” It goes without saying that ABC Victoria did not include this sentence in its reporting. Unlike the public broadcaster, Channel Ten also included the oath of Allegiance of the new Governor:



And the full Oath of Allegiance can be heard in this video:



Alex Chernov, AO, QC was born in Lithuania in 1938 to Russian parents. His grandfather had held a post there in the imperial administration. But when the Russian revolution came he returned to Russia to become a minister with the white administration, which had monarchist associations and was opposed by the Red Army.

Chernov's grandfather was eventually captured and murdered by the reds, so his grandmother returned to Lithuania. The sanctuary there was shattered when the Soviets moved in in 1940.

"Because of our association with the white government, our family was on what I call the hit list of the communist government. And when the Red Army marched into Lithuania, my family scrambled out and kept going south until they came to Australia," he said.

But his father never made it to safety. Like his father before him, he was murdered by the Red Army.

The family settled in Salzburg for four years, knowing they were safe from the Red Army as the city was in American hands following World War II. When he arrived in Australia as a postwar migrant in 1949 at the age of ten he couldn't speak a word of English.

Alex Chernov was created an Officer of the Order of Australia in the 2007 Queen's birthday honours list for service to the law and education. After the Queen appointed him Governor he told The Age: "We live under the constitutional monarchy at the moment. That's the basis on which I was appointed. I'm happy to continue in that role."

In 59 seconds historian Dr Ray Wright explains the Westminster System in the following video . He was Usher of the Black Rod of the Victorian Parliament from 2000 to 2005:

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Prince William to visit New Zealand and Australia in March

Prince William will visit New Zealand and Australia next week to tour areas devastated by recent natural disasters, St James's Palace has said. On 17th March the Prince will travel go to Greymouth, near the site of the Pike River mine disaster on the South Island of New Zealand in which 29 people died. The following day he will go to Christchurch where more than 150 people died in an earthquake last month. Prince William will give a reading at a National Memorial Service in a Christchurch park on the 18th March, which is expected to be attended by up to 100,000 people, and then carry out other engagements in the area.

On 19th March will arrive in Australia and spend two days visiting a number of areas in Queensland affected by the recent floods and cyclone. On 21st March he will arrive in north-western Victoria to view areas affected by the worst floods in the state’s history.

The Prince will visit the two countries on behalf of the Queen following invitations from Her Majesty’s prime ministers of New Zealand and Australia. "William will be travelling on behalf of the Queen and the wider Royal Family," St James's Palace spokesman said.

The spokesman added: "The Royal Family have been watching the natural disasters with the same shock and sadness as everyone else.

"They wanted to show their solidarity with the people of New Zealand and Australia, and the decision was taken with the prime ministers' offices and the royal household that Prince William should attend and visit the countries."

Prince William will meet those affected by the recent disasters, and members of the emergency and other support services.

New Zealand
Prime Minister John Key told reporters today that Prince William would speak at the memorial service.

"This is a heart-warming gesture that will mean a lot to the thousands of people whose lives have been forever changed by these events," Mr Key said. "I think all New Zealanders will appreciate the gesture from The Queen to ask Prince William to come down. It's a very important step that he's taking because it shows you the international feeling for Christchurch and Cantabrians."

Victoria
Premier Ted Baillieu said he was "delighted" Prince William was showing his support to hard-hit communities.

“The Royal Family has shown a lot of interest in the terrible damage done to communities and families by the floods and Victorians will be greatly heartened to know of their interest,"’ Mr Baillieu said.

“The Prince’s visit will provide immense support and comfort to communities and families stricken by these floods.”

Queensland
Premier Anna Bligh said the visit would do wonders for the state’s struggling tourism industry.

"I do thank the Prince for his decision to visit Australia," she told state parliament, "I hope that he sends the message back to his friends and colleagues in the UK that Queensland is open for business and that while he’s here he gets an opportunity to see that himself."

The local media
The Age published a rather silly comment by Michael Shmith: Will we still have the will for Will? . What else could be expected?

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Two setbacks for republicans
This weekend saw two considerable backlashes for republicans.

Kingdom of Spain
The Spanish autonomous region Catalonia voted against the incumbent three party coalition government. While the Socialists (PSC) lost nine and the former Communists/Greens (Iniciativa Verds-Esquerra ICV-EUiA) two seats, the Republican Left (Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya - ERC) was more than halved: from 21 seats it could retain only ten. Or in actual figures: In 2006 414,067 Catalonians had given their votes to the ERC, this time 218,046 Catalonians thought it to be a good idea to vote for the republican left.

The new government will be built by Covergència i Unió (CiU), a conservative and moderate separatist oriented party that had been in power for most of the time after Catalonia regained its autonomous status and became one of the autonomous Communities within Spain in 1980.

Victoria
Victoria went to the polls on Saturday and although not all votes are counted yet, it is most likely that the Australian Labor Party’s eleven years in government will come to an end. Premier John Brumby will be replaced by the Liberal Ted Baillieu. Mind you, this replacement is not the reason, why the RadicalRoyalist calls this electoral result a defeat for the republicans, though John Brumby loved to be called an "avowed republican". John Brumby’s record as a Premier of Victoria may have been appalling, when the transport system is at its worst since privatisation took place and the continuation of stupid and expensive, taxpayer strapping PPP (public private partnership) projects became a trademark of this state government, but since there is no guarantee that the incoming government of Liberal and National Party will perform any better, the main focus of this posting is on the fiercely republican Rob Hulls, Attorney General and “Labor’s attack-dog-in-chief, Brumby’s closest mate in caucus ... the man Brumby ensured became his Deputy Premier when others wanted the job after the abrupt departures of Steve Bracks and John Thwaites in mid-2007” (The Sunday Age on 28th November).

It was Hulls who accused opponents of his decision to replace the Queen with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) from New Year's Day 2010 as "rabid Monarchists".

His possible replacement as Victoria’s Attorney General, Robert Clark MP, stated in a letter to the RadicalRoyalist, “that what the Attorney-General [Hulls] has announced is beyond his powers and usurping the role of judges. It is also in direct conflict with the rules made by judges about criminal court matters, which still provide for the use of The Queen’s name.”

It has to be seen, if the taking office of Mr. Clark will make a change to the better. The RadicalRoyalist will remind the new Attorney General of his words.

On a more reconciling note, it should be said that on the personal level, Mr. Brumby had an excellent relation with his Queen. After meeting the Queen of Australia in October 2009 he said: “I was so impressed by how informed she was about Victoria and about Australia. . .she was particularly interested in the recovery, how people were faring and the status of the temporary villages.


“She's a remarkable person. She's extraordinarily well informed and deeply concerned about what's happening in Victoria and Australia. That's what so impressed me and this is something she has personally felt and personally experienced.”

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Republicanism comes with a price tag

Did you ever leave a price tag on a present? Then you know the embarrassing moment, when the presented discovered how much how much he or she is worth for you.

For republicans nothing can be too embarrassing, when they think, it could damage the reputation of the Australian Monarchy. And it comes as no surprise that The Age was the republican mouthpiece to blast the present’s details into the world - all under the label of freedom of information (FOI): Bill for state gifts to Queen a princely $709:

“The details were revealed in documents, obtained by The Age under freedom of information, that show the planning that went into the regal audience at Balmoral Castle. The theme for the royal offerings was the vivid blue, white, green and pink of the Victorian tartan.

“The ties - which were produced for Princes Philip, Charles, William and Harry, with extras - were 70 to 75 per cent Australian merino wool with the maker boasting: 'From a fashion point - the use of the Windsor knot makes the ties sit beautifully with collar shirt.'

“Princess Anne received the woollen scarf and the Queen also received a photographic diary of the Black Saturday blazes ($645).”

How shocking, the presents for The Queen had to be bought - in Victoria and they were not "Made in China"! Should Mr. Brumby have knitted them himself at home? Or on his countless helicopter flights around the countryside?

How appalled must The Age have been, that “The Premier, an avowed Republican, said the visit was ‘quite an honour’ and was effusive in his praise for the Queen's interest in Victoria", as the same newspaper quoted Mr. Brumby on 6th October 2009 as he and his wife, Rosemary McKenzie, left Balmoral Castle.

“I was so impressed by how informed she was about Victoria and about Australia ... she was particularly interested in the recovery, how people were faring and the status of the temporary villages.

“She's a remarkable person. She's extraordinarily well informed and deeply concerned about what's happening in Victoria and Australia. That's what so impressed me and this is something she has personally felt and personally experienced.”

Buckingham Palace had the decency not to go public with the presents the Brumby couple received in exchange. And Her Majesty will certainly not have left a price tag on the gifts. Style has no price.

And unlike the Labor Premier John Brumby the Queen of Australia also does not charge $5,000 for a seat at her dinner table.

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"The proposition by Mr Hulls is an affront in itself"

Two months ago the Victorian Attorney-General Rob Hulls snuck in immediately before Christmas a major change in Victoria’s legal system - without any public discussion. From 1st January 2010, criminal prosecutions are brought in the name of the Director of Public Prosecutions, rather than The Queen. Even a republican lawyer raised concerns about the changes.

But what is the Victorian Parliament saying? Labor MP Ann Barker, who represents the constituency where the RadicalRoyalist lives and works, echoes Rob Hulls’ claims:

“This change more accurately reflects the way in which criminal proceedings are currently conducted in Victoria, as the Director of Public Prosecutions is responsible for instituting, preparing and conducting indictable criminal proceedings on behalf of the Crown.

“Removing the reference to “The Queen” is consistent with the spirit and purpose of the Act and the Government’s commitment to modernising the criminal justice system.”

Ted Baillieu, the Leader of the Opposition in the Victorian Parliament, answered the RadicalRoyalist’s letter, but only to inform him, that he has no opinion of his own on this matter.

“I appreciate your concerns about this decision and its potential effects on the legal process in Victoria.

“I have passed a copy of your letter to Robert Clark MLA, Shadow Attorney-General, for his information and consideration of your comment.”

A very different response came from Peter Ryan MLA, Leader of The Nationals:

“The Attorney-General Rob Hulls is to be condemned for his proposal to replace reference to The Queen with that of the Director of Public Prosecutions. Robert Clark, our Shadow Attorney-General, has already made comment to that effect.

“I practised law for about 17 years before coming to politics. The proposition by Mr Hulls is an affront in itself. The more so, since he should busy himself about the multitude of issue which face Victorians in matters of law and order and the operations of the justice system at large.”

Shadow Attorney-General Robert Clark may have made comments about Rob Hulls’ dictated changes, but he has – so far – not made them known to the RadicalRoyalist. Two months after the announcement, the major political opposition party's point of view on this matter is still not known. There is nothing on his website either.

May be the Liberal Party in Victoria should adopt a perception of the federal Leader of the Opposition Tony Abbott, that an opposition should oppose the government. Especially when the government's measure work against the judicial traditions of this country.

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The Queen may attend the 150th Melbourne Cup

Last week the Vice-Regal Notes on the website of Her Majesty’s Representative in the State of Victoria, the Governor of Victoria, had an interesting note.

On Saturday 30th January 2010 it registered: The Right Honourable Christopher Geidt, CVO, OBE, Private Secretary to Her Majesty The Queen, arrived to stay at Government House.

This is not unusual, but considering Premier John Brumby’s meeting with his Queen at Balmoral Castle in October 2009 and his declaration after the audience, that he had invited The Queen to attend to 150th Melbourne Cup in November 2010, a visit of Her Majesty’s Private Secretary cannot be considered a coincidence.

On 2nd February Victorian Racing Minister Rob Hulls, who with his other hat as the state’s Attorney-General had decreed a month ago that The Queen will be replaced by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in Victoria’s legal system, refused to reveal to The Age whether or not The Queen had been invited to attend Australia's premier horse race.

"I know that the Queen is a great racing fan, and I honestly don't know whether or not she has any plans to come here," he told reporters. It was “up to her” if she wanted to attend the 150th Melbourne Cup he stumbled into the TV cameras.

As if she would fly to Melbourne just because she wanted to see a good horse race. But who would expect a nice and friendly invitation by someone with the freezing charms of Rob Hulls?
">The Queen received Her Victorian Premier on 5th October 2009.

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The Crown vs. The DPP

Without any public discussion Attorney-General and then Acting Premier Rob Hulls on 16th December 2009 announced a major change in Victoria’s legal system: "From New Year's Day, criminal prosecutions will be brought in the name of the Director of Public Prosecutions, rather than the Queen." RadicalRoyalist commented on this act of "creeping republicanism" here and here.

While the Leader of Her Majesty's Opposition in the Victorian Parliament, Ted Baillieu, and Peter Ryan, Leader of The Nationals keep refusing to explain their position on the replacement of The Crown in Victorian Prosecutions by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DDP), the RadicalRoyalist obtained a statement from a - as it happened - republican lawyer.

For fear of professional drawback he asked not to be named. His quest for anonymity is certainly honoured.

No one seems to care all that much - but I do believe words mean something and "DPP vs." means something I do not believe. Better, if you want to give [The Queen] the shove without appearing to do so (which is gutless), off the top, for Criminal P's would be perhaps: The State of Victoria vs." or perhaps "The People of the State of Victoria vs.".

As an Australian republic supporter (and having in fact sworn loyalty to the Constitution for the State of New York & the United States of America), I can not say I am at all pleased to see "Regina" replaced by the Victorian DPP in criminal prosecutions.

[Queen] Elizabeth II is still the Head of State of Victoria, isn't she? Australia and Victoria are still Monarchies, aren't they, though we seem to ignore the fact?

Criminal actions are appropriately brought in the name of and by the highest authority in the State (figurehead not) - and that's not some mate of Rob Hulls.

Criminal prosecution in New York are "(The) People vs. ..." and Victoria should remain "Queen/Regina vs. ..." until the Crown is replaced by The People as the supreme authority in the jurisdiction.

It will be interesting to see, if the Opposition in Victoria will be able to formulate an opinion on Rob Hulls' outrageous act of removing The Queen from Victoria's legal system.

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"Rabid Monarchists"

The Victorian Attorney-General and Acting Premier Rob Hulls has a problem. He does not like his actions being questioned. After his announcement two days ago of the replacement of the Queen with the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) from New Year's Day was received with blanket opposition, he hits back at his Monarchist critics inside Victoria and beyond her borders. He claimed "rabid Monarchists" were wrong to suggest the change was part of a conspiracy to undermine the Monarchy.

Oh yeah?

It is not as if Monarchists have no reason to see in his action an improper way of removing the Queen from our legal system and replace her by a government appointed DPP.

And all this was done in secrecy, announced a fortnight before it will come into force and before the Christmas holidays will stop all political action. Honi soit qui mal y pense, one could say with the motto of The Most Noble Order of the Garter ("Shame on him who thinks ill of it").

A fellow Monarchist remarked in a forum: “Mr Hulls’ justification suggests a poor understanding of the Australian and Victorian constitutions, the Australia Acts of 1986, and the role of the Australian Crown. Or perhaps it is just a blatant attempt to cover up a personal republican agenda? Either way it does not inspire much confidence in the State’s Attorney-General.”

Today The Age wrote on this matter:

“Mr Hulls, an avowed republican, hit back, saying Monarchists were inventing ludicrous conspiracy theories when all he was trying to do was modernise the state's justice system.

The Victorian convener of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy, Brett Hogan said, there were good reasons for criminal legal proceedings to be brought in the name of the Queen.

'Having legal cases go forward on behalf of the Queen or the Crown reflects the fact that the case against an accused is pursued on behalf of the state as a whole, not the person who currently happens to hold the office of Director of Public Prosecutions,' he said.”

You actually do not have to assume a conspiracy theory, just look at the actions of the Labor governments. For instance I find it appalling that the Victorian government made a deal with the private (!) consortium AquaSure to build a desalination plant and agreed to release law enforcement data – including images, audio, video and “data related to individuals” to AguaSure. That’s a new kind of public private partnership.

And the latest move of the Rudd government to censure the internet is equally boiling my blood. On Tuesday afternoon, the Communications Minister, Stephen Conroy, announced he would introduce legislation before next year's elections forcing ISPs to block a secret blacklist of "refused classification" (RC) websites for all Australian internet users.

The former High Court judge and ardent Monarchist Michael Kirby has criticised the Federal Government's internet censorship agenda, saying it could stop the "Berlin Walls of the future" from being knocked down. In an interview with Fairfax Radio Kirby said some circles feared the controversial policy would be "the thin end of the wedge of the Government moving in to regulating the actual internet itself".

"Once you start doing that you get into the situation of Burma and Iran where the Government is taking control of what people hear and what information they get," he said, adding that Australia's approach hadn't been attempted anywhere else in the world.

Is that really all “ludicrous conspiracy theories” or just fear of what may come up next that the control freaks in the Victorian and the Federal governments want to impose on us? Freedom wears a Crown, not a Phrygian cap.

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Creeping republicanism

Without any public discussion Attorney-General and Acting Premier Rob Hulls yesterday announced a major change in Victoria’s legal system. The Age: "From New Year's Day, criminal prosecutions will be brought in the name of the Director of Public Prosecutions, rather than the Queen."

Mr. Hulk, oh pardon, Mr. Hulls: "Substituting the DPP for the Queen or Regina reflects the legal and political independence from the United Kingdom and its monarch that has been achieved by Australia."

From 1st January 2010, law lists will read "DPP vs Bill Smith" instead of "Queen vs Bill Smith".

What a progress! And what kind of legal argument is it to claim, this move would reflect “reflects the legal and political independence from the United Kingdom and its monarch”? Obviously the Attorney-General keeps ignoring the fact that he pushed aside not the Queen of the United Kingdom, but the Queen of Victoria and the Queen of Australia.

Could some one give repetitional lessons to the Attorney-General about OUR constitution, please?

"Referring to the Queen is outdated," Rob Hulls claimed. But Victorians may well have come to to the conclusion that the Brumby government is outdated and has passed its use by date long time ago.

It’s time to get rid of this failed government and its hypocritical methods of running this state.

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Queen Elizabeth II met Her Victorian Premier at Balmoral



The Queen of Australia received the Premier of Victoria in an audience at Balmoral Castle. On 5th October 2009 John Brumby informed Her Majesty on the Victorian bushfires in February 2009. He expressed his wishes, that Queen Elizabeth II may return to Australia in 2010.

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The Queen will meet Her Victorian Premier in October

On 5th October Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, will receive Her Victorian Premier at Buckingham Palace. Acting Premier, Attorney-General Rob Hulls, could not hide his pride. On Channel 7 he said: “I think it’s a coup for the Premier. I don’t think there has been too many premiers that had a personal audience with the, er, with the Queen.” It must have been difficult to say the Q-word, because he mumbled it and needed two attempts to say it. But he managed, he really managed well to announce that Victorian Premier John Brumby will meet the Sovereign on 5th October.

Channel 9 had this to say: “This is the first time an Australian Premier has been invited to a rare audience with the Queen. Buckingham Palace has contacted the government to request he visit her while in the U.K. next week.

“The Queen has taken great interest in the Black Saturday bush fires.

“She received daily updates throughout February and March and made a personal donation to the bush fire appeal.”

Princess Anne, the Princess Royal, was equally praised. Channel 7: “Princess Anne won fans visiting Melbourne for the National Day of Mourning.” And the Victorian Environment Minister Gavin Jennings added: “They were chuffed that in fact she was there. It made quite a big difference at that time of adversity.”

Even The Age printed a short notice on the forthcoming royal audience for the Victorian Premier.

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Keep Labour Day!

Yesterday Victoria enjoyed a public holiday. No, it was not Moomba Day, even if the TV coverage seems to suggest this. It was Labour Day, a special holiday for the working people – or as Kevin Rudd would say: the working families.

I did not notice any celebrations of members of the working class. All streets were quiet, well, except for the noise from the Moomba parade, which you could not avoid. One TV station briefly interviewed a worker, who is about to lose her job due to Pacific Brands closing all production plants in Australia. But even she was not in the mood to go out into the street and let the Victorians know about her anger and frustration. Could anyone spot an ALP march for the worker's rights?

Unlike our republicans friends I don’t propagate the abolition of Labour Day for lack of interest. The media did not even lead an attack against Labour Day, unlike their well-prepared though ill-written articles against Queen’s Birthday holiday or Australia Day. Last year The Canberra Times led the squadron: “The focus of the Queen’s Birthday long weekend was raised in Parliament in June 2000, where the relevance and significance were questioned by the Hon John Hatzistergos. An almost identical article to Ms Sherlock’s was run in today’s The Age. I’m not a die hard Monarchist, a Children’s Day (sorry I don’t raise goats) sounds plausible. I know this might sound kind of out there, but maybe we could incorporate ‘Children’s Day’ in the ‘Family Day’ we now celebrate in November?“

Emily Sherlock's article demanded: "Instead of honouring our monarch we could soon be honouring our children, with the minister calling for the Queen's Birthday break to be renamed the Kids' Day long weekend."

In The Age Michael Cooney favoured a “Kid’s Day” as well: "This year should be the last Queen's Birthday long weekend. It's time to replace a holiday based on the past with a holiday based on the future. So next year, the first Monday in June should be a new public holiday: Kids' Day." A reply to Sherlock's and Cooney's suggestions can be read here and here.

Of course we had a "Children's Day" in Victoria. It was part of the tradition of the Royal Show for over 120 years before it was abolished by the Kennett conservative government in the mid 1990s. The Age seems to have forgotten that.

The Age, of course, was more robust in its refusal of our Monarch’s birthday holiday: “Queen's birthday holiday gets to the heart of what it means to be Australian today, when only a minority of the population can relate to the redundant symbols and trappings of monarchy and colonialism … in 1958 Empire Day was renamed Commonwealth Day, and the official holiday was withdrawn due to lack of interest and relevance and has now rightly faded into obscurity”.

Who decided that Commonwealth Day was redundant or people did not care for a public holiday? Probably the same sort of politicians that decided we didn't want a Children's Day!

“Lack of interest and relevance” could be equally attributed to Labour Day. Should The Age’s criteria be used for the upholding of Labour Day, then it will might “rightly faded into obscurity”, as the editorialist had wished for Queen’s Birthday holiday. I could cite likeminded opinion pieces on Australia Day.

But contrary to the outspoken republicans I can assure the working class, that I fully support having Labour Day holiday here and elsewhere. I think that it serves honouring employees and those people who are self-employed, but depend on the goodwill of employers as well.

I don’t want it changed to a "work-relations day" or to the official Moomba Holiday. I want it as a reminder of the work of the people that is done quietly, but without which this country would not function. At the same time I claim Queen’s Birthday holiday not just for the Monarchists, but for our history and our future, because it reminds us of the overall good functioning democracy in Australia. Labour Day and Queen's Birthday holiday are two sides of the same coin.

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