Wednesday, April 14, 2010

God Save the Queen?
The Victorian RSL’s decision to no longer play the ‘royal anthem’ at this year’s Anzac Day Dawn Service was long overdue and the RSL is to be congratulated

On 15 April 2010, the monarchist leader Professor David Flint made the following comment on the issue - http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2872124.htm It was very misleading for David Flint to claim that the National Anthem was changed in 1984 "without any vote by the people". The vote had been in 1977, when the Fraser government asked the people to vote on which song should be played on "other than Regal or Vice-Regal occasions". The results were:

Advance Australia Fair 43.3%
Waltzing Matilda 28.3%
God Save the Queen 18.8%
Song of Australia 9.6%

Flint is fond of telling Australians that we had our chance to vote for a Republic in 1999, but we lost (in a highly manipulated referendum) and we should get over it. The vote in 1977 was far more emphatic than the vote against the "politicians' republic" in 1999. Flint should take his own advice.

Barry Everingham's reply to Flint is published on the Drum - http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/stories/s2872905.htm

Three cheers for the coming republic!

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