Acm publishes the following letter sent to Sydney’s Daily Telegraph:
" Dear Sir,
Your full front page feature on today’s ( 5 May, 2004)Daily Telegraph “Can’t Save the Queen”
tries to suggest that the Country Womens Association’s (CWA) vote to no longer
sing God Save the Queen is a push towards republicanism.
Nothing could be further from the truth and any attempts by republicans to pretend it is should be regarded as a desperate beat up by a movement fast losing support for its cause; a fact verified by recent opinion polls.
Australian protocol dictates we sing the national anthem unless the Queen herself is present. I understand the CWA still swears its oath of allegiance to “God, Throne and Country.” Those still trying to push republicanism in Australia must first come up with a model that measures up to the safeguards of our current constitutional arrangements which are the best in the world. After intense debate through the 1990’s and over $150 million of tax payers’ funds, they were not able to do so. Republican stunts such as we have seen today do nothing to advance their cause.
Yours sincerely,
Mrs Kerry Jones
Executive Director"