Goodbye Ma'am

The things you learn reading London newspapers. Apparently, under the Rule Of Rudd, we're gearing up to get rid of the Queen, and Malcolm Turnbull's installment as head of the Liberals will make the shape of the Republic something of an election issue come 2010, or 2011.

You can go here to read the comments from the London Times, a few of which from the Old English are hilarious.

Apparently we are "ungrateful Aussies" who are "always whingeing" and "whining" because we want to dump the Queen. We should all be left to "roast on the beach" and are little more than "organic malcontent." Whatever that means.

Some of the Old English have never forgiven our convict forefathers for striking it somewhat lucky with deportation to Australia, at least as far as the weather goes, and then destroying British rule. More than a century later, we're still a pack of feisty anti-authoritarians. We've never been forgiven by the Etonian class for that, either.

It's a strange choice for the key issue of quite a large story in the London Times on the change of government. I don't think I heard any politician mentioning dumping the Queen at any time during the election. If they did, they didn't do it very loudly, or very often.

Becoming a Republic certainly wasn't an election issue. But it is very likely to be, come the end of Rudd's first term.