A favourite argument of republicans is The Queen is only concerned with the United Kingdom and is not interested in Australia. When The Queen demonstrates the untruth of this in various fields, the republican reaction is to ignore it.
In “The Queen did not ignore our forces,” in The Sydney Morning Herald of 29 December, 2009, Jerry Lattin of Narrabeen, NSW makes this point :
“You report that the Queen referred to ''the deaths of British troops in Afghanistan'' in her Christmas message (''Queen and Rudd salute the troops and battlers'', December 26-27). The Queen did no such thing. She acknowledged ''casualties'' in Afghanistan and their effects on families and friends. And she specifically noted the Commonwealth forces participating in the conflict: those of Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.”
Mr Lattin is absolutely correct. We reported the address on this site , "Christmas 2009: The Queen honours our soldiers." And when we said "Our" soldiers, we were referring to Australian soldiers. We fully expected republicans would ignore this.
So that there can be no doubt, let us note Her Majesty’s exact words. These were: “I am sure that we have all been affected by events in Afghanistan and saddened by the casualties suffered by our forces serving there. Our thoughts go out to their relations and friends who have shown immense dignity in the face of great personal loss. But, we can be proud of the positive contribution that our servicemen and women are making, in conjunction with our allies.
Well over 13,000 soldiers from the United Kingdom, and across the Commonwealth – Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore – are currently serving in Afghanistan. The debt of gratitude owed to these young men and women, and to their predecessors, is indeed profound.”
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