The Constitutional Amendment (Pledge of Loyalty) Bill to abolish the Oath of Allegiance has passed the NSW Legislative Assembly, but has not yet been brought on for a vote in the Legislative council.
Now a Legislative Councillor, Dr. Jon Jenkins from the Outdoor Recreation Party, has had the great idea of posting a citizen’s poll about this issue on his site, www.trac.org.au.
Quite independently of what has just happened in WA, Dr Jenkin believes there should be a choice. His father and his uncles fought in the WWII. If for no other reason than to honour them and their comrades, he says we should keep the Oath of Allegiance to The Queen, at least as an option.
So he offers four choices in his poll-Yes, No, Choice (his suggestion of a choice) and Don’t Care. At the time of writing, of the 69 votes returned ,the results are 37.7% Yes, 33.3% No, 17.7% Choice and 11.6% Don’t Care.
We would prefer to see the one Oath retained. But if this were a vote under preferential voting, we would vote Yes: 4, No:1, Choice: 2, and Don’t Care:3.
Congratulations to Dr Jenkins for giving electors this possibility, and for arguing that the Oath be retained.
PRINCE CHARLES AND MEDIA MALICE
You may have read reports that the visit of Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwallis perceived as boring.
For example see the nasty Fairfax report:
Why then did more than 200 journalists crowded on to the White House lawn to witness their visit, and photograph them with the President and Mrs Bush?
"There’s more here than when the Prime Minister visited," said one American journalist ( Daily Telegraph, London, 3 November, 2005)
The anwer is that some journalists ensure their reports on the news fit their personal agendas
Until next time,
David Flint