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What international organizations is Australia involved in?

Can Australia make a unilateral decision to stay out of a war that the UK is involved in?

  • Or, since Australia has Queen Elizabeth II as head of state, must Australia always join the UK in war to fight for "Queen and Country"? I know Australia would want to support the UK in a war effort as a member of the Commonwealth, but, if Australians were opposed to the particular war, does Australia have the autonomy under the Queen to choose NOT to fight alongside the UK? Can the Queen order the Australians into a war as Commander in Chief?

  • Answer:

    Australia makes her own decisions completely independently of the UK. The only reason Australia (and the other commonwealth countries) entered into WW1 and WW2 was because Britain had full control over their foreign affairs powers at the time. When Britain declared war against Germany, the entire commonwealth automatically followed suit. After the war Canada, Australia and New Zealand demanded control of these powers and received them. Britain no longer has any say in anything to do with Australian affairs. The Queen is a figure head. While she is technically the commander in chief, under the Australian constitution she does not have the authority to use this power. Uniquely the Australian constitution leaves the Queens duties completely uncodified. She operates under a set of rules called constitutional conventions. She works on the instructions of her ministers. In practice this means she remains a figurehead and has no control of the Australian Defence Force. This power remains in the hands of the Prime Minister. Australia can completely disregard the Queens wishes and refuse to help the UK if they so chose. The Queen cannot order Australians to do anything. Where there is a conflict of interest between her twin roles as queen of the UK and Australia, the governor-general of Australia is required by the constitution to act completely independently of the Queen in the interests of Australia. The governor-general is always an Australian citizen.

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How many more silly questions of this type are you going to ask? Was Australia involved in the Falklands War? No. Was the UK involved in the Vietnam War? No. Australia chooses its own wars and is not required to follow any other country. We do have treaties where we will come to the aid of other countries but we have no allegiance to the UK. The Queen is the Queen of Australia, represented here by the Governor General and neither the Queen nor the GG have the power to declare war on anyone or to take the country to war. That right disappeared with the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660.

tentofield

The fact we weren't involved in the Falklands, Northern Ireland or the former Yugoslavia proves Betty Windsor has no say in Australia's military commitments. George W Bush on the other hand ............

The Russ

Sure can mate ! We fight our own battles....

Aussie

JamieB, I am going to ask you now, what is your point? You have been asking these questions, have you got some beef with Australia. You know very well that Australia makes it's own decision. get this right, the Queen is not Commander and Chief of the Australian Armed Forces, nor is she of the Canadian Armed Forces. @The Russ, when Bush Called your Prime Minister, and the English Prime Minister, they did not have to accept. Nor did those Prime Minsters make that decision alone, there was no special act legislated, correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't the decision made by your Parliament?

C.M. C

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