NorthOfNorth wrote on Jun 4
th, 2021 at 7:02pm:
I was listening to a story by an American journalist for the New York Times who was living in Australia (as the Times' Australian connection) for a few years and he made some very interesting comments on the issue of 'official' secrecy in Australia compared to the US.
His assessment was that Australian parliaments and politicians have almost a fetish with secrecy... In the US, reps of government are much more free to express an opinion than their Australian counterparts... Also FOI in Australia is a labyrinthine process compared to the US.
you should see the freedoms in China.
Anyway - the US is still the leading light because it was created for just that purpose. Australia has a lot of hang-overs from the UK, as does Canada, but our constitution being a hybrid, Australia can and does take a lot of clues from the US eve as we retain, very sensibly, the British way of thinking about and applying them.
The US has a pseudo-monarchical system, with the prez acting like George the Third - ie what as the way in 1776. Australia has nothing of that pseudo monarchical presidential system. Any move to a republic, however, would shift Australia towards that way of governance. It is a really bad idea - so all the idiots are agitating for it.
The absolute beauty of the Australian system is that it elects a bi-cameral legislature like the US, balancing States, as well as representative (lower house) based on electorates. It avoids the electoral college system but also avoids the pseudo-monarchical presidential system. No House of Lords either.
It's an absolute beauty. The Monarch has supreme authority but no executive power. Fccn GENIOUS. It has taken about 800 years to get to hiss genius level. No prick coming out of Sydney Uni can possibly improve it (No, Malcolm, you could not. Sit).
The 'republican' model is for the Chinese and the Irish and their hangers-on. Baaaad.