Stephen Jones (Throsby, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Regional Development and Infrastructure) Share this | Hansard source

The moderated hostility of parliament's question time was briefly interrupted yesterday as the Prime Minister moved that the House reflect upon the fact that Queen Elizabeth II, the House of Windsor, the Queen of England and Australia had become our country's longest serving monarch. I pay tribute to the contribution of Queen Elizabeth II, a remarkable public servant, who for 63 years, seven months and four days, I am reliably informed, has out-reigned over all who have come before her.

The role of the English royalty in our Constitution and in our public fascination means that she has been a constant feature for all of my life. At school I faithfully sang the words, 'God save our gracious Queen,' as we fulfilled that morning ritual around the school's flagpole.

The song was our national anthem for most of my childhood. Although Gough Whitlam first proposed a change in 1972, it was not until 1984, just months before the Los Angeles Olympics, that Advance Australia Fair replaced the English tune as our national anthem. How strange it must seem today that after beating the British in the stadium we sang their national anthem while our sporting heroes stood there on the Olympic dais.

The path to independence has been a long one. The act of Federation 115 years ago was not an act of independence. For instance, the doctrine of repugnancy, whereby our laws of the Commonwealth parliament could be overruled by the British parliament, survived well into the 20th century. It was no dead letter. There were acts of parliament that were rejected. The Commonwealth parliament's Navigation Act of 1912 was held to be invalid in a 1925 High Court decision because it was inconsistent with an act of the British parliament, the Imperial Merchant Shipping Act of 1894. In 1931 the Statute of Westminster, again an act of the British parliament, finally freed the Commonwealth of Australia from the reach of the repugnancy doctrine. However, there continued to be some uncertainty in respect of the state parliaments. It was not until the 1986 Australia acts when the British and Australian parliaments consecutively legislated to bring an end to the paramount power of the British parliament in respect of Australia. It has been a long march indeed.

This year we celebrate the centenary of Anzac. One hundred years ago, in the name of king and country and on behalf of empire, we were rallied by our own Labor Prime Minister, Andrew Fisher, to fight to our last man and our last shilling in a European war. They fought in the name of the Australian Imperial Force. There were over 416,000 over them, of which 60,000 were killed and 156,000 wounded, gassed or taken prisoner in a foreign land.

Can I talk about citizenship? The acts of war and terrorism have caused us to contemplate of late the rights and responsibilities of Australian citizenship. It surprises many to learn that in the 115 years of Federation, Australian citizenship is a relatively new arrival. Under the Naturalisation Act of 1903, the Commonwealth government attained the great honour of being able to naturalise aliens, giving them the rights and privileges of British subjects. It was not until 1920 that federal government took effective control and responsibility of selecting who would come to Australia and the circumstances under which they would come, when it gained final control of its migration program. The Nationality Act of 1920 provided clarity by introducing a definition of who was a natural-born British subject.

Indeed it was nearly 50 years since Federation that the notion of Australian citizenship was created through the Nationality and Citizenship Act of 1948, which came into effect a year later. Prior to that date, Australians could only hold the status of British subjects, unless of course you were one of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who had lived continuously practising their culture in this country for over 40,000 years. It was not until 1967 when they were recognised as Australian citizens.

There has been a 20-year hiatus in the march to independence. Over those 20 years, the day-to-day reality of our imperial heritage has waned. In terms of trade we are more integrated into the economies of Asia. In defence and national security our immediate interests lie in the Asia-Pacific region and with those countries for whom that is their No. 1 defence and strategic interest. This is where our future lies. And as we limber up the heated debates about the China-Australia Free Trade Agreement, it is worth reflecting upon the observations of former Prime Minister Paul Keating, the architect of our status as an open trading nation and the man who has done more than most to reorientate our national focus with the nations of this region. In 1995 he observed, and I quote:

Australia will be taken more seriously as a player in regional affairs if we are clear about our identity and demonstrate that we really mean to stand on our own feet practically and psychologically.

It was true then. It is true today.

In the turn of the last century a new nation was born. It was crafted in the antipodes from the colonies of Britain. It was as inspired by the democracy in North America as it was loyal to the imperial sovereign. In the 115 years since, we have built one of the most successful, peaceful and wealthy nations on earth. It has not been without fault or cost. For too long we denied the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People. We have not always been good custodians of the land and we persisted with the notion of White Australia long after we knew it was wrong. I remain committed to the ideal of a prosperous, stable, outward-looking democracy reconciled with its Aboriginal people, confident as a new republic but proud of its British ancestry. We do have, within our grasp, the ability to build an economic powerhouse, an open-trading nation that is truly integrated with the nations of this region. But as a republic.

To those who oppose the dream of an Australian republic it is time for them to be honest. The unadorned core of their refusal is the firm belief that none of us—not one Australian—is good enough to be our Australian head of state. So today I pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth. I hope that she may continue to enjoy a long life and good health and be as well received in the nations of the world as she has been for the last 63 years. But I can no longer stare up at our flag and sing those words, 'Long may she reign over us.'

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