ARM Media Statement - 23 September 1999

To the Queen! PM's department says Queen is Head of State and should be toasted as such

Claims by the No republic side that the President of China goofed earlier this month during his Australian visit by toasting the Queen as Australia's Head of State and instead, should have toasted the Governor General as Head of State, have been dismissed by the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.

No case monarchist Kerry Jones raged earlier this month that the Prime Minister's Department had provided "incorrect" advice to the Chinese President when he toasted Queen Elizabeth II as Australia's Head of State at a state function in Canberra.

She made her comments as part of a curious campaign by the monarchists to treat Australians as idiots by telling us that the Governor General, not the Queen, is the nation's Head of State.

A letter from A G Henderson, executive coordinator, Government and Corporate, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to the Australian Republican Movement states:

"The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet believes that the toast used by the President of the People's Republic of China was entirely appropriate."

This further cuts down - along with the fact that members of parliament and new citizens swear allegiance to the Queen, the Queen's image is on all our coins, the High Court has ruled that the Queen is Head of State, the Queen thinks she is our Head of State and the government, in all its publications, acknowledges the Queen as Head of State - silly claims by the No case that the Governor General is our Head of State.

This claim has also been slammed by all credible constitutional academics and experts.

The Prime Minister's own department even acknowledges that the Queen is our Head of State. It advises visiting Heads of State to toast her as such.

The US President, Bill Clinton, also toasted the Queen as Head of State during his visit here a few years ago.

The No side should now desist with this silly charade that the Queen is not our Head of State, and explain why they think it is wrong that Australia stands on its own two feet by becoming a republic.

They also need to tell us why they think an English Queen is more relevant to Australia as Head of State in 1999 than an Australian - an Australian who is happy to live here and not 20,000 kilometres away, and who can proudly be the face of our nation to the world.

Authorised by Malcolm Turnbull, Australian Republican Movement, 60 Park Street, Sydney NSW 2000