Polling released by Essential Media today shows Australians overwhelmingly believe members of parliament should swear allegiance to serve Australia and its people instead of pledging allegiance to the Queen.
75% of Australians said that members of the Australian Parliament should pledge allegiance to Australia and the Australian people. Only 15% said members of parliament should pledge allegiance to Queen Elizabeth II. 10% were unsure.
During the first sitting week of the new Parliament, the ARM highlighted the absurdity of requiring Australian parliamentarians to pledge allegiance to the Queen. Those calls were backed by Assistant Minister for the Republic Matt Thistlethwaite MP, who called the pledge ‘archaic and ridiculous’. This was followed by Senator Lidia Thorpe’s protest while undertaking the pledge the following week.
ARM National Director Sandy Biar said the pledge to the Queen was a hangover from a time when Australia was still a British colony and change was long overdue.
“We elect representatives to serve us, the Australian people. That’s who they should pledge to serve, not a foreign Queen” Mr Biar said.
“Parliamentarians should pledge to serve Australia, the Australian people and to uphold our Constitution and laws. Not one of these important commitments is included in the current pledge.
“We need to change Australia’s Constitution to allow our parliamentarians to pledge to serve the people who elected them and to ensure our Head of State is an Australian elected by Australians too” Mr Biar said.
