Britain and Australia share so much history together; it would be disgraceful just to ditch them. If we were to become a republic, what will change? If that was to happen, only our head of state wouldn’t be a monarch but a president and we wouldn’t have a governor general. Now that’s not much, and there would be so many things affected from this. Maybe if we did become a republic, our national flag might change because of the Union Jack on the top-left hand corner.
By adopting Australian voting laws, and laws similar to Australia, America would benefit from having fair elections, having the right candidate being chosen for office and creating a better overall nation. Australia is its own island and country. Australia is a country that takes national office and elections very seriously. Galligan states that “voting rights are at the heart of Australian federal constitutionalism and government.” The Australian constitution does not have laws about citizenship, but rather the parliament takes care of these matters. It does state, however, that voting for every adult “is compulsory and widely supported” (Galligan 50).
Australia, it is time for a new flag. We, as the people of Australia, need to change the flag of this beautiful nation, as it only represents the doctrines and aspects set by the British. Not only does the flag show that we are still apart of the British, but marginalises the many people of this land. Australia now being a fully self-governed country is blooming with multiculturalism and individualism, which is not shown on the flag. Why do we need a new flag?
Source 15 fully agrees with the fact that it was India’s fault that they were not achieving ‘purna swaraj.’ It states that Britain ‘ could not contemplate transfer of their present responsibilities to any system of government whose authority is directly denied by large and powerful elements in India’s national life. This statement is made by Viceroy Linlithgow, a month after the August Offer had been made, whilst in discussion with Jinnah. The August Offer highlights that there are huge amounts of division between Congress and the Muslim League. The Offer was a clear message that the Muslims would need to be accounted for. Source 17 supports this by saying, ‘the wishes and needs of the Muslim community would have to be taken into account in any settlement.’ The source shows a discussion between Linlithgow and Jinnah, concerning arrangements for the wartime administration.
In the recent election Tony Abbot became Prime minister, this is by far the most blatant example of people being blind to the past and regressing due to unwillingness to see. In 1982 the White Australia Policy was abolished, the intention was that Australia would be a country anyone of any nationality could call home, now we have asylum seekers trying to land on our shores, a prime minister determined to turn them back at any cost and a majority of the population who elected him, how is this showing progress and lowering levels of racism? It’s not just those who are trying to gain access, it’s the people already here who still feel segregated. Randa Abdel-Fattah wrote a short story titled “Of Middle Eastern Appearance” that was published in the anthology “True Blue”, it is an account of her life in Australia and the difficulties she faced being someone with a Middle Eastern background. She recounts how she was once asked by a teenage girl “Do you ever wish you were fully Aussie… like Anglo?” this is a view shared by far too many and the fact that it was asked at a school highlights the acceptance of it amongst the public almost to the point of encouragement.
“While distance and remoteness were defining features of Australia in years gone by, today technology has annihilated distance” Before the 1950’s there was no telephones, televisions, cars or air travel. Since the invention of these items communication and travel have changed from what it once was. It used to be just writing letters or going to see the person you wanted to talk to or see. Not many people knew much about the other side of the world or different cultures, except in books, radios and stories. Technology has ruined distance and remoteness as there is no distance in communication anymore; you pick up the phone and call someone, go to the internet and use a social networking site, get in the car and drive at fast speeds in less time than what it used to be.
From the history of Australia, we can know that it has many connections with Britain. Australia is still a nation of the British Commonwealth of Nations and the independence of this country makes some citizens realize that Australia needs to change its national flag; however, the attitude of the other citizens tells us actually that most of them do not
She doesn't use the word ''class'' much, but then Australians generally don't, now less than ever. Class politics grates against the egalitarian idea we have of ourselves. And that others, apparently, have of us too. Reflecting on the differences between the countries battling for the Ashes this winter, English sportswriter Simon Barnes wrote: ''If you think social snobberies are a thing of the past in Britain, then go to Australia and understand how class penetrates every aspect of English life. In Australia, you can be free, not from your social class, but from the feeling that it matters.''
Australians should join together in disagreement of the proposed bill to cut all funding and political support for religious organisations under the premise that there is “no evidence that religions make a significant contribution to the individual or to Australian society”. It is in every Australian citizen’s best interest, religious or not, to disagree with this bill as the practice of religious beliefs and support from Monotheistic religious organisations contribute to individuals and society. These organisations act as a guideline to life through the characteristics of religion and furthermore, religions incorporate the supernatural element to form a belief system to impact individuals and society in an optimistic manner. Contributions
a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act to outlaw workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.” Unfortunately like many others, this promise is bound to broken. It has been introduced to Congress often since the early 1990’s. Recently, two bills have been designed to be passed for this issue, one by Representative Barney Frank and another by Senator Jeff Merkley. Both bills are still in the committee showing no means of progressing any further. Another factor keeping the probability of this bill being passed minimal is the Republican Party’s control over the United States House of Representatives and that this bill is not one of the Republican Party’s priorities at the moment.