It seems far more appropriate for migrants becoming citizens of Australia to swear allegiance to Australia and its people that to the Queen of Australia who live half way accross the world and whose loyalties are first to Britain and then to the Commonwealth countries. Cabinet’s decision last week to change the Citizenship Act to reflect this is therefore welcome. The new oath will be: “”From thsi time forward, (under God) I pledge my loyalty to Australia and its people, whose democratic beliefs I share, whose rights and liberties I respect, and whose laws I will uphold and obey.” The existing oath is: “”I swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Elizabeth the Second, Queen of Australia, her heirs and successors according to law, and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Australia and fulfil my duties as an Australian citizen.”
It must seem especially silly for migrants from Commonwealth countries to unswear their allegiance to Queen Elizabeth as the Queen of whatever country they come from and to reswear it as Queen Elizabeth of Australia. Moreover, it seems sensible to allow the words “”under God” to be omitted if the new citizen so chooses. Many people are not theists and the present insistence on an oath might lessen its value among non-theists.
The reaction was predictably mixed and took fairly standard forms. The Leader of the Opposition, John Hewson, said: “”This won’t do much to help the one million unemployed get jobs in the this recession.” Very true, but irrelevant. Getting unemployed Australians to work is important; indeed it is the most important task of government right now. But it is not the only task. Surely, the Australian community is intelligent enough and mature enough to think about more than one issue at a time.
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