Our present constitution reflects Australia's status as a self-governing colony within the British Empire. The constitution links us to the British parliament as a British Governor General (appointed by the Queen to represent herself in Australia) is our head of state and he has specific executive and reserve powers. After the Imperial Conference of 1926, our autonomy in internal and external affairs has been acknowledged and the Governor General has in effect abandoned these powers (choosing …showed first 75 words of 1047 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1047 total…Governor General and hence be different to the US President. Becoming a republic will change the way we see ourselves. Our head of state will be an Australian and represent Australia, our values of freedom, tolerance and a fair go. Every Australian child should be able to aspire to be our head of state. And, it will make more sense for our parliamentarians and judges to swear allegiance to Australia, not the Queen of Britain.