Ian: When I was a youngster any citizen of any country member of the British Empire could go to one another's country and be treated as a local. Yes and even vote in that country.
Britain changed this not us and we ,in consequence, had to make changes.
One day I was a British Subject and an Australian citizen, the next I was an Australian only. My passport was blue not green and it had a crown on the front.
We did not leave the 'mother' country we were booted out, the common market countries took our place. Suddenly we had to find new customers for our butter and wool, wheat etc. As a member of the Empire our produce was previously favoured in Britain.
All we did to "deserve?" this was to ally ourselves in all Britain's wars and in doing so lose a lot of service men/women. Then after WW2 we sent "Bundles for Britain" for years to stop our kith and kin in Britain from starvation. These Bundles were free and all Australians contributed.
Yes had we as a Commonwealth remained united or one we would/could have been a force for good. Just as you commented in your letter. Regards, numbat

Regarding the earlier citizenship oath taken by Yuyutsu, the words are "Her Majesty, Her heirs and successors".

It is not in any way unfortunate for the proposals of the Copernican Republican Group that many citizens have taken this oath.

For those who are unfamiliar with our models, the new Head of State would be a successor to the Queen. This is entirely consistant with the oaths made by parliamentarians, commissioned officers and new citizens such as Yuyutsu.

I commend Yuyutsu for taking the oath seriously, but I can assure him that it's no barrier to supporting a republic.

Numbat, I agree that the decision made by the UK to join the European project put a severe kink in relationships between Commonwealth countries, but it hardly seems to have been a popular move among British citizens. Perhaps one day the majority will get their way and get out of the EU, perhaps not.

Regardless of that, I think Australia, New Zealand and Canada have nothing to lose and everything to gain by working towards a common citizenship. Our current governments have their differences, but our populations are extremely compatible. Together we would have a much more significant place in the world.

I am not mad keen on the royal family, by the way, I just think the shared monarchy provides a convenient link between countries that I would like to see moving closer together rather than further apart

"ANZAC day has now become the "Australia Day" for non hyphenated Australians, and it is becoming more important for us every year as the increasing crowds at cenotaphs bear witness."

I have mixed feelings about ANZAC day. I don't mean to be disrespectful, but the ANZACs were slaughtered like sheep at Gallipoli fighting for an ungrateful British Empire. If our national identity was forged from an act of blind subservience to the British, then is it really a day of nationalism?

Oligarch,

If you had asked the ANZACs what their relationship with the British Empire was, they would have said that they were part of it: they did not sign up to defend a foreign country, but to defend "their" British Empire. It is somewhat meaningless, therefore, to talk of the Empire as being "ungrateful", as if it was somehow external to what Australia meant at the time.

Look at WWI memorials: they will say that men fought for their country or that they fought for the Empire, but never both at once. Why? because "country" and "the Empire" were basically the same thing at the time, so there was no need to say it twice.