Snipping Old Ties

Friendship, tradition, history and language still unite Australia with the British Crown and Commonwealth. The big question for Australians these days is how long the old ties will last under the independence-minded Labor government of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam. Arriving in London last week. Lionel Murphy, the Attorney General of Australia ("You will notice we no longer say the Commonwealth of Australia," announced his press aide), demanded the removal of "all the residual legislative, executive and judicial authority over Australia." These ties, he said, were demeaning "relics of colonialism." Murphy was referring specifically to two archaic legal technicalities: the right of the British Parliament to pass laws affecting Australia (which it has not done for years anyway) and the use of the judicial committee of the Privy Council, the Queen's advisory body, to appeal cases from the Australian High Court or from Australia's various state supreme courts.

There has also been talk in Canberra that Australia might eventually declare itself a republic. Whitlam has let it be known that he considers the Queen something of a constitutional anachronism. "The monarch is usually resident overseas," he noted dryly. Presumably his affections for Queen Elizabeth were not increased by the fact that he received a Christmas card from Buckingham Palace addressed simply to "The Prime Minister of Australia." No name was attached to the card.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.