Monarch Discussion

[TigerMasochist]

Gawd we love to get excited n drool all over the pomp n ceremony of the *smile* royalty. Liz n Phil, Chucky n Di or the bulldog. Willy n Kate or Harry n her. Now we're even breathless over Freddy n Mary. Worth about three fifths of SFA the lot of them.

 

[K3]

I am constantly dismayed at the fact the "Royal Family" is still a thing anywhere.

I mean, the poms give them millions upon millions so that they can... ummm... *shrugs*... be rich...???

Absolute bloody disgrace the lot of them!

 

[Panthera Tigris]

General, I think the US comparison is a bit over drawn. The US system has more fundamental differences than just having a President. In the US the Executive Government is deliberately separated from the legislature. Without the jargon, what that means is that all of our ministers are members of parliament, in the US the ministers are not allowed to be members of congress. It is a hard division between legislature and executive which a Westminster system, like ours, does not have.

We don't have to go down the US road, we can look for a better way to do this.

DS

My favourite model is the Swiss system. Not perfect, but IMO a very good model for a Federation (which Australia obviously has in common with Switzerland).

One aspect that is interesting, no winner takes all Presidency. The Federal Council is the executive and a collective head of state, roughly with a similar proportional political make up as the main representative house. The President really has no more power than any other member of the Federal Council, apart from chairing Federal Council meetings and performing ceremonial duties on behalf of the Council. The presidency rotates around the Federal Council members annually.

 

[DjJazzyPete]

It seems that Scotland is on its way to becoming a republic sooner than Australia or NZ. I think the Botswana model of government might suit Australia well in the future. Botswana is a representative democracy with a president ( can only sit up 2 two 5 years terms . this is to prevent what has happened in Zim ) who is both the head of state and government, and a single-house parliament that elects the president. A single-house system is simpler than a two-house system, which has a separate upper and lower house, like in the US. Botswana is also one of the most stable and democratic countries in Africa and the system works.
By the way, I have two family members who work at the resort in the delta where Harry and William visit two or three times a year. They say Harry is very nice and friendly to the staff, but William is a bit demanding and selfish. He thinks he is great, but they think he is an *smile*. They don’t like him at all.

 

[DjJazzyPete]

looks like were getting Willaim soon ..see post above.

 

[TigerMasochist]

looks like were getting Willaim soon ..

yep. Poor old Chucky had to wait until he was a pensioner to even get a look in at the boss cocky hat n he might be out of it before he even gets a proper sweat line in the hat.