Australian Monarchist League

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The Australian Monarchist League was founded in 1943 to support the role of the Crown in Australia's constitutional system. However the majority of their time and effort is now directed at opposing the move to replace the Queen with an Australian rather than supporting and enhancing the monarchy as an Australian institution. To this end the League recently established a Trust with a number of prominent Australian businessmen as Trustees. The purpose of the Trust is to raise and invest substantial contributions to be used to oppose any future republican plebiscite or referendum.

The Australian Monarchist League was originally a branch of the Monarchist League in London. However, due to the rising popularity and drive for a Republican Australia it was felt that the League in Sydney needed to be seen to be a wholly Australian body to defer criticisms that it was just an offshoot of a UK group, and it severed its affiliation with the London body in 1993. However the League fully supports the role of the Queen as a British Monarch, who lives in Britain, works in Britain and takes an active role in British affairs. In addition, the monarchs commitment to Britain should not be seen as a conflict of interest with her role as Australia's Sovereign. The fact that the Queen spends the majority of her time and efforts in Britain does not detract from her important role in Australia's public life.

The League has some 2,500 members across Australia with Branches in each State and the ACT, and is headquartered in Sydney. It is a not-for-profit organisation and all office bearers, including the National Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the League, Philip Benwell MBE are elected by the membership and serve on a voluntary basis. All moves to introduce a hereditary chairmanship along the lines of a true monarchy have been seen as eroding the Leagues commitment to freedom and democracy. The League receives no public or corporate funding and is financed solely by subscriptions and contributions from its members.

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[edit] 1998 Constitutional Convention

A number of League delegates attended the 1998 Constitutional Convention whear they actively opposed progress towards an Australian Republic. League member, Brigadier Alf Garland AM, recounted his family loyalty to the British crown tracing back to medieval times holding up debate for some time. Other members had less to contribute.

[edit] Australian republic referendum, 1999

The League then worked as part of the 'No Republic' campaign during the lead up to Australia's 1999 Republic Referendum which was defeated with 54.4% of electors voting 'NO' nationally. The Referendum also failed in all States. [1] It should be noted that a number of Republicans supported and worked as part of the No Case and that the No vote was higher because republican support was split.


[edit] Monarchist League vs. ACM

While Australians for Constitutional Monarchy simply campaigns to maintain Australia's constitutional status quo, the League's Chairman, an ardent champion of the Prince of Wales, has spoken out against what what he terms as the dangers to the British Crown by the European Union. He is a popular speaker at gatherings both in Australia and internationally [2] and has spoken on several occasions to meetings of the European Institute of Protestant Studies. [3] [4]

Benwell is also the author of In Defence of Australia's Constitutional Monarchy, (ISBN 0-7734-6696-7) [5] which was published by Mellen Press in 2003. He is one of the League's Patrons, the first of which was the late Dame Pattie Menzies GBE, wife of former Prime Minister, Sir Robert Menzies.[6]

[edit] Patrons

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Australian Electoral Commission
  2. ^ (SEE SOVEREIGNTY - THOUSAND RALLY IN TRAFALGAR SQUARE)
  3. ^ European Institute of Protestant Studies
  4. ^ Ensign Message
  5. ^ Mellen Press
  6. ^ List of Patrons