The Lounge 2

Prince Charlie is now King Charles.. Britain's oldest monarch at start of his reign. Australia has held off becoming a Republic for 20 years out of respect for Liz.. perhaps now a referendum will be held this time asking us citizens to vote for the President.. not bloody politicians.
Might be the thing to do in AUS but it would be a catastrophe over here.
 
I remember once when I was driving in London, the Queen and her entourage drove past me on the opposite side of the road, she was with Prince Philip, something I'll never forget.
All our news channels are devoted to the Queen, and our planned rail strike has been cancelled out of respect for her.
I've often thought that if the Queen and Prince Philip were the only 2 royals then I'd take an interest, what I don't like is the amount of royals we have now, swanning around and living life to the max on our taxes, and certain ones have brought nothing but shame on our country.
I hope now that we have a new king, he scales down the royal family and sends the traitor back to US.
Strong views, Jessica.
 
looker-on looker-on Zman Zman Ljp86 Ljp86 Richie Richie

Would you be interested in participating in a Continue The Story thread?

It will be fun, if we pick a theme that we all agree on then bring it to life! :p

Obviously anyone can join in too! 🤗
Explaining the concept. There is no set plot. Someone comes up with a story theme and posts the first para leaving it open ended for the next poster to continue the story. This way it can be fun as the story can take different tangents and ideas. If this does not appeal then we can go the set plot storyline route. Jessica and I have already played one of the latter ones about searching for a lost kingdom in the South American rain forests.
Jess and I are adding you to the invitees SomeblokecalledDave. SomeblokecalledDave.
 
Please elaborate.
I'm not in favour of plebiscites because I know my fellow-countrymen inside out and wouldn't trust them. Nor did our founding fathers which is why they opted for a representative democracy. The only party that calls for referenda because it wants to do away with our representative democracy and intends to establish a new regime is our populist party. With the exception of a referendum on smoking in pubs in Bavaria there hasn't been any positive example that I know of. Do you?
 
Explaining the concept. There is no set plot. Someone comes up with a story theme and posts the first para leaving it open ended for the next poster to continue the story. This way it can be fun as the story can take different tangents and ideas. If this does not appeal then we can go the set plot storyline route. Jessica and I have already played one of the latter ones about searching for a lost kingdom in the South American rain forests.
Jess and I are adding you to the invitees SomeblokecalledDave. SomeblokecalledDave.
The more the merrier 🤗

So when do we start?
 
looker-on looker-on

Are you and your country in mourning too Thomas? I haven't had time to catch any news today, I don't usually watch much news anyway.
I have the day of the Queens funeral off, it's a bank holiday here.
 
I'm not in favour of plebiscites because I know my fellow-countrymen inside out and wouldn't trust them. Nor did our founding fathers which is why they opted for a representative democracy. The only party that calls for referenda because it wants to do away with our representative democracy and intends to establish a new regime is our populist party. With the exception of a referendum on smoking in pubs in Bavaria there hasn't been any positive example that I know of. Do you?
But you are already a Republic with as I understand a PM and a President. That seems to be the norm in Europe. The President is no more than a figure head or titular appointment. Correct me if wrong. With us the Head of State, Commander in Chief will be the President, like America. Not sure if that is better than the Euro way, as long as our Head Of State is an Australian born and bred.
 
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This is what internationally noted Australian Human Rights barrister and author Geoffrey Robertson said yesterday. To my knowledge he has never belonged to the Australian Republican movement.

The crowning irony of the 1999 Republican referendum was that most voters wanted a republic. Forty per cent of those who voted against it did so because they could not stomach a president elected by politicians rather than by the people. The lesson is that any future republic, to pass at a referendum, must provide for a popularly elected head of state with candidates selected impartially and without previous political affiliation.
 
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I just heard that food banks here will be closed on Monday for the Queens funeral.
I think they should close permanently here because the benefits system is good enough so no one needs to go hungry, people just need to make lifestyle changes, like cutting out the cigarettes and alcohol. 👍
 
looker-on looker-on

Are you and your country in mourning too Thomas? I haven't had time to catch any news today, I don't usually watch much news anyway.
I have the day of the Queens funeral off, it's a bank holiday here.
I'd say we are given the full TV coverage each day at the expense of the normal schedule. A lot of Germans have always felt very close to the Windsors because of their German roots. ERII had always been "our" Queen as well to some extent and almost everybody had not seen another Royal on the British throne.
 
But you are already a Republic with as I understand a PM and a President. That seems to be the norm in Europe. The President is no more than a figure head or titular appointment. Correct me if wrong. With us the Head of State, Commander in Chief will be the President, like America. Not sure if that is better than the Euro way, as long as our Head Of State is an Australian born and bred.
That's all correct.

This is what internationally noted Australian Human Rights barrister and author Geoffrey Robertson said yesterday. To my knowledge he has never belonged to the Australian Republican movement.

The crowning irony of the 1999 Republican referendum was that most voters wanted a republic. Forty per cent of those who voted against it did so because they could not stomach a president elected by politicians rather than by the people. The lesson is that any future republic, to pass at a referendum, must provide for a popularly elected head of state with candidates selected impartially and without previous political affiliation.
That's probably the way to go for your country. I can't think of another procedure. As for Germany, the Allies made sure that there is no Commander in Chief again who can take the country to war but a parliamentary army which is why important decisions can't be made as fast as in other European countries.
Our president is not only elected by politicians, i.e. the parliament but by a national assembly that is twice as large as parliament and is composed of "normal" people from all walks of life.
What would be the major difference between the current state and a republic?
 
What would be the major difference between the current state and a republic?
Many differences. All outdated and frankly embarrassing colonial era appointments such as state governors, and the governor general (Fed) would be abolished. All reference to royal currently in our constitution such as in our military also abolished. Our state and federal flags will probably be redesigned, losing the Union Jack replaced by a symbol more in touch with modern Australia. Finally, the Westminster Parliamentary system will also likely be abolished.
 
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Many differences. All outdated and frankly embarrassing colonial era appointments such as state governors, and the governor general (Fed) would be abolished. All reference to royal currently in our constitution such as in our military also abolished. The Westminster Parliamentary system will also likely be abolished.
What is Westminster about your paliamentary system? The two-party system?
 
I woke up in the early hours and I was freezing 😍 our temps are dropping and it's more comfortable, it's hard to believe that we had a heatwave during the summer!
 
I woke up in the early hours and I was freezing 😍 our temps are dropping and it's more comfortable, it's hard to believe that we had a heatwave during the summer!
So did I. 14 deg outside which feels chilly right now after the warmth. Not very comfy inside either. Normally, I'd turn the heating on but now we're freezing for Putin already. What will it be like in winter?:thumbsd:
 
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