Dear Nick,

You might want to look up the Pledge of Loyalty Act
2006, which removed all pledges of allegiance to the
Queen, her heirs and successors and put in place -
a pledge to Australia and to the people of NSW. This
was an amendment and the Act was asserted to by the
Queen on 3 April 2006.

From what I gather, Australia is a sovereign and
independent state and no one in Britain can
affect any changes in our country, including the Queen
who's role is symbolic and she acts only on the advice
of Australia's PM. Kevin Rudd pledged to Australia and
the people of Australia when he was made Prime Minister.

The Queen took an oath to serve the people of the
Commonwealth - according to their rules and wishes.
She has maintained that throughout her reign.

The following link may again help you to understand
things as they currently stand:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monarchy_of_Australia

Look up the chapter on the Australian Defence Forces in
that site.

erm..( cof cof ).

Foxy, the NSW parliament ministers don't carry artillery .
The head of brass is HM. The ships are hers. The RAR is ..well..royal.

Dear Nick,

And your point is?

cont'd ...

The Ministers don't have uniforms either and they
don't salute each other et cetera.
So what!

I tried to make it clear to you that Australia is
a Sovereign and Independent State - and the Queen's
role in it is symbolic - she does not act unless it
is on the advice of the Australian Ministers.

If the Loyalty Oath by our Defence forces bugs the
heck out of you - contact the Defence Minister and
make your feelings known - or better still contact
the new PM. I heard tell he's for a Republic,
I can't help you any further.

Calm down dear Foxy,
You were correcting me about HM being head of RAR. That is still the case. NSW acts are not the Constitution.

Dear Nick,

I am calm, but frustrated, because you still
don't get it. Still that's something over which
I have no control.

Let me again state for you -

Yes, the crown does have a place in the Australian
Defence Force - which as stated in the link given
earlier - consists of the Royal Australian Navy,
Australian Army, and Royal Australian Air-Force.

However, Section 68 of the Australian Constitution
says - The commander in Chief of the naval and
military forces of the Commonwealth is vested in
the Governor General as the Queen's representative.
In practice however, the Governor General does not
play any part in the Australian Defence Force's
command structure and the ADF is under the control
of the Minister for Defence and several subordinate
ministers.

The Minister advises the Governor General, who acts as
advised in the normal form of Executive Government.