Do I need my Aussie passport to travel ?

[Dave Noble]

Re: And the moral of the story is ...

Her website implies it, but such an indirect reference can hardly be taken as a definitive constitutional declaration.

Which bit of "A Commonwealth realm is a country where The Queen is the Head of State" is an indirect reference

and which bit of "The executive power of the Commonwealth of Australia is vested in the Queen ", which is in the Constitution is ambiguous?

Whether she delegates to the Governor General is irrelevant

Anyways, this issue hardly has any bearing on the original question and there are more appropriate places for this sort of discussion

Dave

 

[Skyring]

Re: And the moral of the story is ...

Her website implies it, but such an indirect reference can hardly be taken as a definitive constitutional declaration.

Which bit of "A Commonwealth realm is a country where The Queen is the Head of State" is an indirect reference

It doesn't directly say that the Queen is the Australian head of state.

and which bit of "The executive power of the Commonwealth of Australia is vested in the Queen ", which is in the Constitution is ambiguous?

Whether she delegates to the Governor General is irrelevant.

She doesn't delegate any powers to the Governor-General. His executive powers are given to him directly in the Constitution and may only be exercised by him or his delegate (such as an Administrator when he is overseas). The Queen cannot change the wording of the Constitution that gives him his powers. Only we the people can do that in a referendum.

Anyways, this issue hardly has any bearing on the original question and there are more appropriate places for this sort of discussion

Oh, I quite agree. I'm just saying that it's a debatable issue. We don't actually have to hold the debate here.

A glass in fellowship with you, sir!

 

[Mahtoh]

You are not related to Alan Skyring, bush lawyer extraordinaire?

 

[Skyring]

You are not related to Alan Skyring, bush lawyer extraordinaire?

I've heard the name. I'd been in San Francisco about an hour and was quietly having a sub on the seawall admiring the view at Fort Mason when two Aussies wandered up and asked much the same question (after first seeking directions to the GG Bridge). They'd noticed the name on my Day-Timer, you see.

But no. It's my BookCrossing.com "screen-name" and my real name is quite different. Back when I was a kid my father was keen to buy a dairy farm at Skyring Creek in Queensland (luckily that deal fell through and I got to spend my teenage mornings snoozing instead wrapping my hands around a lot of cow cough) and I thought it was a lovely name for a lovely place.

 

[markis10]

The first page of your passport tend to clarify things, the Governor-General of the Commonweatlh of Australia, being the representative in Australia of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second.........

As for the oath: the wording of the Oath of Allegiance taken by newly naturalising Australian citizens has changed over time. In 1973 the Oath's wording was:

I, A. B., renouncing all other allegiance, swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Australia, Her heirs and successors according to law, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Australia and fulfil my duties as an Australian citizen.
Australia, however, never required new citizens to formally renounce their former citizenship under the law of that country. An equivalent wording was available in the form of a non-religious Affirmation for those who preferred.

In 1986 the wording was changed to:

I swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Australia, Her heirs and successors according to law, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Australia and fulfil my duties as an Australian citizen.

In 1994 the Oath was replaced with a Pledge of Commitment to Australia:

From this time forward, under God,
I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people,
whose democratic beliefs I share,
whose rights and liberties I respect, and
whose laws I will uphold and obey.
All new citizens have the choice of making the pledge with or without the words 'under God'.