{"id":14986,"date":"2024-12-31T20:41:17","date_gmt":"2024-12-31T20:41:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xislblogs.xtreamlab.net\/slwoods\/?p=14986"},"modified":"2024-12-31T20:41:17","modified_gmt":"2024-12-31T20:41:17","slug":"english-imperialism-alive-and-well-in-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.slwoods.co.uk\/?p=14986","title":{"rendered":"English imperialism alive and well in Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

I’m currently in Australia for my niece’s wedding (which was wonderful, by the way. Ed.<\/em>).<\/p>\r\n\r\n

This is the first time your ‘umble scribe has been to abroad an Anglophone country. Australia has sensibly adopted the metric system of weights and measures, something the Untied Kingdom has yet to do. In the lengthy deliberations about metrication, it was mooted that conversion of the currency to a decimal system was an essential first step. The UK did adopt decimal currency in 1971<\/a>, a long time after it had first been proposed in 1824 (separately from the introduction of metrication. Ed.<\/em>).<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Australia shares an alleged head of state, an unelected monarch, with the UK and this is reflected in currency, with coins showing the head of the Mountbatten-Windsor family, as can be seen from an Australian 50 cents piece.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

\"Australian
Elizabeth the what?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\r\n\r\n

Readers will note that Elizabeth is described as the second of that name by the Roman numerals.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

Your correspondent can’t help asking when were the dates for the reign of Elizabeth the first of Australia (hint: there are none<\/a>. Ed.<\/em>).<\/p>\r\n\r\n

On social media, your ‘umble scribe has also had it pointed out to him that within the UK, coins also bore the inscription Elizabeth II<\/em>, even though someone called Elizabeth has never been crowned as ruler of Scotland<\/a>, which can be regarded as equally insensitive to Scots and their history.<\/p>\r\n\r\n

But whether in Australia or the small group of islands off the western coast of Europe, it is apparent to all with open eyes – and an open mind – that English imperialism<\/a> – i.e. a system in which a country rules other countries – is alive and well and likely to continue despite the efforts of the likes of Senator Lidia Thorpe<\/a>.<\/p>\r\n\r\n