Queen Elizabeth II arrived in Brisbane yesterday, and did exactly what all tourists do upon arriving in town - went to meet the koalas from Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary. Except, if you're the Queen, the koalas come to you.
Unlike the United States, which roared for independence at the earliest opportunity, Australia has never completely cut ties with England. Like Canada, India, and many other former colonies, Australia remains part of the British Commonwealth, and is a constitutional monarchy under the system. So although Australian laws and governing practices are a neat combination of American and English systems, the country is still closely bound to the monarchy. In fact, the English monarch is still the Head of State in Australia, a role which comes with fun little perks, like being featured on all Aussie money.
As you would expect, this strange situation leads to lots of political musings down under. Aussies are pretty clearly split, according to the polls - many like the idea of having a Queen, and feel it honors the heritage of the country (after all, a generation ago it was not uncommon to hear Australians refer to England as "home," even if they hadn't ever set foot in the country). Others question why an independent country would allow the head of a different independent country to represent them - and we must admit that put that way, the system does sound silly. Overall, Aussies, like the rest of us, are a bit enamoured with the Royals, especially Lizzie. However, when Queen Elizabeth dies, calls for Australia to become an independent republic are sure to increase.
Despite all this, the Queen picked a lovely day to drop into the state that is named after her. Queensland has had a very rough ten months, betweens floods and cyclones, but has really made an amazing recovery - nearly everything is back to normal. The Queen and Prince Phillip took a boat ride up the now-tame Brisbane river, and walked through Southbank, the parklands that were completely under water nine months ago. Then, a mere four hours after she arrived, she waved goodbye to Brisie. After all, she is a very busy lady.
