Re: [Sydney, Cityrail] Friday 17 March Chaos

[Jackson Harding <jaxsonjo@camtech.net.au>]

Brown Family wrote:
> 
> On 16 Mar 2000 22:55:15 GMT, matthew@mail.usyd.edu.au (Matthew Geier)
> wrote:
> 
> >In article <8aqdcn$l7d$1@bugstomper.ihug.com.au>,
> >Peter R K <peterrk@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >>I really don't know where you get the idea that the Queen will be at Stadium
> >>Australia on Friday. She doesn't arrive until Friday evening. However, her
> >>Australian representative, the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of
> >>Australia, His Excellency Sir William Deane will be attending - and he is a
> >>Catholic.
> >
> > Besides, the Queen is the head of the wrong church....
> >
> > Once apon a time (not all that long ago) Catholics couldn't hold goverment
> >positions in Britian. If those laws were still on the books, Sir William Deane
> >wouldn't have been accepted for the job I expect.
> >
> That hasn't been the case in Australia for a long time, at least since
> Federation. Two Jews have been GG long before Sir William Deane.

More than two.  Isaac Isaacs, Zelman Cohen and Ninian Stephens.

> 
> Australia's first Australian born Governor-General was a Jew - Isaac
> Isaacs and that was from 1931-1936. There was an objection by King
> George V to his appointment, but not because he was a Jew, but because
> he wasn't British. Now if a Jew could become GG, there would certainly
> be no problems for a Roman Catholic.
> 
People are all getting confused here with the British Act of Settlement,
which prevents a Catholic, or someone married to a Catholic from
becoming the monarch.  This was to remove the threat of another Stuart
grabbing the throne.  There was institutionalised discrimination against
Catholics in both Britain and Australia until relatively recently, and
although it didn't stop Catholics rising to high positions, it did make
it hard for them.

Of course all of this malarkey is specifically prohibited by s116 of the
Australian Constitution.

Jackson

-- 
==========================================================
Jackson & Jo Harding
email:  jaxsonjo@camtech.net.au
mobile: 0412 793 587 (Jackson)
mobile: 0412 172 372 (Jo)
fax:    (08) 8278 4443
==========================================================