Congratulations to the Victorian government for doing what is right by Australia’s oldest institution. The Herald Sun reports that the Premier, John Brumby, is under attack from republicans for refusing to remove the Queen from the oath of allegiance to be taken by members of parliament (“Republicans angry about oath to Queen”, Herald Sun, Thursday 23 October 2008).
A parliamentary committee in April had recommended a republican alternative, and on 7 June, 2008, ACM’s Victorian Division Convener, Brett Hogan, made a submission to the Premier on this.
In rejecting the Parliamentary Committee’s proposal, a spokesperson for the Brumby government said
"The oath has been amended to include recognition of an MP's duty to serve the people of Victoria, and is similar to wording used in other states.
"Victoria would not support changes to the oath of allegiance that removed reference to the Queen without there being change at a national level.
"We believe this is a commonsense approach that reflects the current situation, in which the Queen is Head of State”.
Let’s pass over the little slip on Head of State ( see “Quadrant: Head of State debate resolved”) – congratulations are due to the Brumby government for doing what is right by the Australian Crown and respecting the will of the people, which was clearly expressed in the 1999 referendum.