My Will - Part 4

(4) WHAT IS PARLIAMENT, AND ITS FUNCTION?

Most of us use our words loosely, sometimes particularly so. Thus, we drift into a habit of using words and phrases, without stopping to think what they really mean and convey.

Take the word "Parliament"… We all say that "Parliament is meeting" or "sitting" or that "So and so is going to Parliament". At first sight it may seem a mere splitting of hairs to state that, except when both Houses of the parliament (Queensland has but one House) and the Queen, or Governor-General or State Governor, is present together, it is a physical and legal impossibility for a Parliament to meet.

This is because, in Constitutional law, Parliament both legally and physically consists of the Queen - or Her Representative, i.e., the Governor-General in the Commonwealth and State Governor in a State - and both Houses of the Parliament, in Queensland ONE House of Parliament.

Thus, Parliament, as such, does NOT debate anything. Parliament is solely and simply a law-making machine, and nothing else. The pivot of that machine is the institution of the Monarchy, or in Australia in the Monarch's absence the Governor-General in the Commonwealth and State Governors in the States. This will be explained further in the next Chapter.

It is common practice, when commenting on party political control over the operation of the parliamentary mechanism, to refer to the 'Westminister System'. Indeed, in the inter-party confrontations and power struggles, the phrase 'the Westminister System' is hurled, with explosive expletives, that the other side is destroying that 'democratic System'.

Critical analysis reveals that that phrase has no legal relationship whatever to strict Constitutional law, the law that actually binds each and every one of us in our daily lives. (Here the Reader is asked to refer back to the third last paragraph of the 'Introduction' to this Book.)
It is extremely doubtful if the users of the phrase 'the Westminister System: themselves, have any clear understanding of its true meaning. Simply put it means the practices and usages of the various British political parties in controlling, and using, the legal machinery of the British Parliament in the interests, and for the sole purposes, of party political ideologies and power struggles.

The phrase, the Westminister System' has nothing to do with the legal law of the Constitutions of the Commonwealth and six States of Australia. It is only sacrosanct to Australian politicians, and parties, where it can be publicly used to suit their propaganda purposes. Its use is completely hypocritical and must be exposed for the absolute legal falsehood that it is.

To operate Parliament we have four (4) distinct and separate areas of legal responsibility (in Queensland only three because it has only one House of Parliament):
1. The electors, who have a duty and obligation asset out in Chapter 1.
2. The so-called, and mistakenly-called, Lower House, i.e., the House of Representatives in the Commonwealth, the Legislative Assembly in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and the House of Assembly in Tasmania.
3. The mistakenly-called Upper House, i.e., the Senate, and the Legislative Council in each State, excepting Queensland.
4. The Queen, or Her Representative, as above mentioned.

What is the function and duty of each of these four areas of Constitutional and legal responsibility?

(a) As pointed out in Chapter 1, the electors have a specified legal duty and a lawful obligation.
The legal duty is to vote at election time.
The lawful obligation is to keep your State and Federal Members and your State Senators fully informed, at all times, about what is your WILL.
It has always been a fundamental principle of British and Australian law that, within the limits of statute and - where applicable - common law, YOU, and YOU ALONE, are solely responsible for the preservation of what you believe to be your lawful inherent freedoms and privileges; that if you are too lazy and indifferent to exercise the lawful avenues open to you to protect and retain those freedoms and privileges_provided always that you demonstrate your responsibilities with respect to those freedoms and privileges - then you have nobody but yourself to blame for your laziness and indifference.

(b) THE SO-CALLED "LOWER HOUSE"
IF the Members of the, so-called, Lower House strictly carry out their judicially defined function and duty, then that House is a place where the WILL of the people is given effect to in the form of "A Bill For An Act" to do so and so, and in the formulation of that Bill the Members of that House are constantly before the "bar of public Conviction" not mere opinion.

(c) THE HOUSES OF SECOND THOUGHTS
IF the Members of the, so called, Upper House strictly carry out their judicially defined function and duty, then that House performed its legal responsibility of also being a House of second thoughts; of being a counter-check to ensure that the clearly expressed written WILL of the electors is correctly translated into legislation.
In strict constitutional law both Houses act, or would act, if it were not for party interference, as a constant check upon each other as a safeguard against the misuse of the laid down Constitutional powers of each House.
(Of course, this rarely happens because of the constant party political control exerted over the voice and votes of the Members of each House. Where it does happen, it does so only because no party is in control of both Houses and, as practical experience demonstrates, in the final analysis opposing parties are primarily concerned in trying to destroy each other.)

(d) THE QUEEN
If the Australian People only knew it, the Queen is the final legal protector of the whole of the people, without regard to party, race, colour or creed; a final check against the peculiarities of the operation of party politics in the control over the machinery of Parliament, and of the voices and votes of politicians.

No Bill for an Act can become law without the Royal Assent being given; an assent that can be withdrawn within twelve months of its being given. This final Royal check enables the people, if they only knew it, to determine whether or not they wanted the Act and to ask the Queen to withdraw the Royal Assent if they did not, or to request that the legislation be amended, according to their WILL.

Even after 12 months, for there is no actual constitutional time limit, the electors have the legal power to ask Her Majesty to re-submit any Act of Parliament for amendment or repeal according to their WILL. It is also the legal privilege of the people to ask the Queen to have any legislation, that the People WILL, brought down and passed in both Houses of the Parliament.

PUT SIMPLY:
Whatever it is physically possible to do, and the people want, then the Queen has the final legal power to see that they get it, no matter how politicians may protest.

The sole and only legal limit to the power and authority of the Queen is the unknowable extent of what Her people, at any time of their choosing, may directly request of Her.

This would also explain the reason for the campaign to replace the monarchy with an Australian republic. Forgetting their judicially defined function and duty, many politicians, as well as political parties and others, like to believe that their party shall have the final determination of political power and what the people shall have.

TO SUM UP THIS CHAPTER:
• Parliament is only a machine to make laws in accordance with the written WILL of the people on the subject matter of the law.
• The Houses of Parliament are both complementary to, as well as being a check on, each other in their legal functioning.
• The Queen is the final check and will, at all times, give assent to the clearly expressed written WILL of the people, irrespective of parties and politicians.
• The function of the electors, apart from voting, is constantly and clearly to inform their Parliamentarians of their WILL on any subject or issue.
• If the Houses of Parliament disregard the written WILL of the people on any matter, then the people have the legal power, and responsibility, to directly inform the Queen that THAT legislation is NOT in accordance with their written WILL, and request Her to have it annulled or amended accordingly.
• With respect to the so-called Lower House of Parliament it is the legal privilege of the people to directly ask the Queen, through Her Vice Regal Representative concerned, to dissolve that House so that they, the people, may proceed to the election of a fresh set of Parliamentarians.

Government Creation of a new Constitution

Balfour Declaration 1926
This Declaration accepted the growing political and diplomatic independence of the Dominions, in the years after WWI.
It also recommended that the governors-general, the representatives of the King who acted for the Crown as de facto head of state in each dominion, should no longer also serve automatically as the representative of the British government in diplomatic relations between the countries.
In following years, High Commissioners were gradually appointed, whose duties were soon recognised to be virtually identical to those of an ambassador.
Labor PM James Scullin, acted within its precepts and insisted on picking the new Governor-General rather than taking the person chosen by King GeorgeV. George was forced to agree by the Imperial Conference 1930.

Royal & Parliamentary Titles Act 1927
This act modified the King’s title, proclaiming that he was no longer King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Ireland & of the British Dominions, but rather of Great Britain, Ireland and the British Dominions.
This meant that the unified Crown that had been the centre point of the Empire was replaced by multiple crowns worn by a “shared monarch.”
Before 1927, King George V reigned as King in Australia, NZ, Canada and etc, with them all being dominions of the United Kingdom. After 1927, he reigned as King of Australia and etc.

While the King did not seem to grasp the significance, the Irish did, and immediately separated themselves from the new UK monarch.
On the 19th October, 1973, Gough Whitlam, used the Royal Styles Act to create the Queen of Australia, this act being reprinted on 22 April 2002.

Monarch of Australia
Her current Australian title is Elizabeth the Second, by the Grace of God, Queen of Australia and Her other Realms and territories, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.
She is regarded as a legal personality of the Australian State, and is referred to as her Majesty the Queen in Right of Australia or Regina in law cases.
As such all state lands are called Crown land, state owned buildings and equipment are called Crown held property, copyright for all government publications are called Crown
copyright.
Employees of the Crown may be required to recite an oath to the Crown. Parliamentarians, members of the judiciary must do so as well.
The Queen of Australia cannot be sued in foreign courts without her express consent.

Symbols
State Coat of Arms are now replacing the Sovereign’s Coat of Arms in the courts of Australia.
The Commonwealth Coat of Arms is now known as the Coat of Arms of Australia.
In 2004, an Australian barrister, David Fitzgibbon established in the High Court of London, that the Queen had used the wrong stamp to approve the appointment of the new governor-General. The court agreed. The Queen had used the Great Seal of Australia instead of the Great Seal of Britain.

Westminster System
Although four Prime Minister’s had refused to ratify the Westminster Statute, in 1942 John Curtin was forced to, by the entry of the Japanese into WWII, when it became obvious the British could not protect Australia.
In order to seek an alliance with the US, the Australian
Parliament formally adopted the Statute of Westminster 1931, a statute which allowed our Parliament to act independently of the British Parliament and Government.
This act demonstrated to the international community that Australia was an independent nation.
It also meant that any laws the parliament made which were repugnant to British laws would no longer be invalid.
The Governor-General now assents to all bills with the Great Seal of Australia.

Changes under the Westminster System
* The Westminster system is a series of procedures for operating a legislature.
* The Prime Minister is recognized as the presiding and actual head of the government and head of the executive branch.
* The Queen / Governor-General holds a ceremonial position only.
* A cabinet executes executive authority.
* A multi-party system
* Parliament can be dissolved and elections called at any time.
* Parliamentary Privilege allows the legislature to discuss any issue it feels is relevant, with no fear of consequences
* Government or legislature interpret the results of Plebiscites and may ignore them if desired.
* The Governor-General ceased to be the representative of the British government and a British High Commissioner was from then on appointed.
* The Governor-General now has the responsibility of appointing a prime minister.
* Westminster governments usually do not have a very strong tradition of Separation of Powers.

Australia Act 1986
The power of the Westminster Statute allowed the Australian Parliament to request that the British Parliament enact the Australia act 1986.
This effectively terminated the ability of the British Parliament and government to make laws for Australia, even at their request, and meant that any law previously passed on behalf of Australia could now be done so by the new Australian Parliament and government.
It removed the right of the monarch to exercise their power in Australia unless personally present.
In Sue v Hill 1999, the High Court declared that the UK is a “foreign power”.
This means that such laws as the Magna Carta, Bill of Rights 1689 and etc are the laws of a foreign country and no longer able to be accessed by Australians.

Royal Coat of Arms & Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain

Great Seal of Australia & the Queen of Australia