The Commonwealth of Australia is neither a Republic, Monarchy or a Dominion. Yet, purportedly we have a “Queen of Australia” even so the Commonwealth of Australia is neither a country! Australia is a continent, but the Commonwealth of Australia is more then the continent Australia.

Every person in the Commonwealth of Australia is all alike a “subject of the British Crown”. Yet, both the British parliament and the Australian pretend it not to be so.

We have a Prime Minister who purportedly authorized an armed invasion into a sovereign nation Iraq, just that only the Governor-General can declare war or peace (on behalf of the Monarch) and the Minister of Defense can only act upon it if the Declaration of War has first been published in the Gazette.
As such, the murderous invasion into the sovereign Iraq was unconstitutional/illegal.

We have people like Cornelia Rau and Vivian Solon and others kept in unconstitutional concentration camps called Commonwealth Detention Center and yet John Howard pretend we have a “DEMOCRACY”.
We have “natural born Australians” deported as Stateless because the Government unconstitutionally claims they have no right to be Australians. Yet, where is the constitutional powers to do so?

In a democracy, you must have first that you can identify those entitled to vote in elections as to be able to choose ones representatives. Even this we cannot manage in the Commonwealth of Australia, as not a single State had legislated for State citizenship, which is the one and only criteria to obtain Australian citizenship!
We have the illusion that “Australian citizenship” is “Australian nationality”, while the two have absolutely nothing to do with each other!
At time of federation, for example, Chinese nationals who had paid the Poll Tax became State citizens and so Australian citizens and were voting in Federal elections, even so they had no Australian nationality!

If the reader didn’t even know this, then you are conned to believe to live in a “DEMOCRACY”.

See also my website http://www.schorel-hlavka.com (takes some time to load, due to the volume on the website.

I agree with the last poster on the fact that Australia is not a republic (tried that and it didn't work) However, we are, I think a monarchist country (until we decide otherwise). Otherwise, why would the royals be on the cover of No Idea every week? Think it's a bit of a joke that the Downer is touting what a fantastic job we are doing on behalf of the yanks in a place where we should never have gone. But part of his portfolio is obviously try to keep justifying it and sex it up a bit. It's the Vietnam of the 21st century, regardless of the outcomes (which are many). Let's sit back and smell the napalm.

Bahnisch is right to proclaim that democracy does not guarantee equality of conditions - it only guarantees a sense of equality of opportunity and this 'sense' which is largely rhetorical and eurcentric in terms Downer's understandings of inter ethnic and religious differences - and has failed to fully explain the very basis for which freedom and democracy [ as an articulation of the minimum conditions of participation] can be achieved.

We can assume some of the people above rather than defining the benifits of Australian democracy would prefer another system of government. Bashing the democracy of free western nations is part of their jihad agenda.

As citizens of Australia we have democratically elected the representatives of Government we have, so let us respect the system even if we do not like the representatives. Could those of you that prefer another system be honest and reveal what type of system you really want.

Democracy cannot survive in ethnic tribal communities, because their tribal values conflict with other tribes values. Democracy for Iraq will be difficult because of their religious and tribal differences. When culture is based in religion and enforced as State law the system is totalitarianism, and is ruled by the religious Dictator.

The freedoms of a true democracy cannot coexist in a Muslim State like Iraq, as one tribe will rule the others.

Those proposing the Islamic nation of Australia as part of Asia, can well expect civil war when religion becomes the agenda of our secular democratic State. Though it is subtly happening in Australia at immigration, legal and multicultural levels as it abuses our democratic freedoms to finally remove our freedom to express a contrary view. Democracy is the freedom to hold and express a contrary view without threat of fear. This is happening in Victoria with the religious vilification law, and in Sydney at interfaith meetings, where Arabic speaking Christians ministers have been threatened with death unless they revert.