Changes

|capital =Canberra

|capital =Canberra

|capital-raw =

|capital-raw =

|government =Unitary presidential republic

|government =Constitutional monarchy

|government-raw =

|government-raw =

|language =English  

|language =English  

In May 1927, the seat of government was transferred to Canberra, a planned city designed by American Walter Burley Griffin. Australia passed the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act on October 9, 1942 (with effect as of September 3, 1939), which officially established Australia's complete autonomy in both internal and external affairs and formalized a situation that had existed for years.<ref> The Australia Act (effective March 3, 1986) eliminated almost all remaining vestiges of British legal authority, including the ability to appeal to the British Privy Council.</ref>   

In May 1927, the seat of government was transferred to Canberra, a planned city designed by American Walter Burley Griffin. Australia passed the Statute of Westminster Adoption Act on October 9, 1942 (with effect as of September 3, 1939), which officially established Australia's complete autonomy in both internal and external affairs and formalized a situation that had existed for years.<ref> The Australia Act (effective March 3, 1986) eliminated almost all remaining vestiges of British legal authority, including the ability to appeal to the British Privy Council.</ref>   

In practice the monarch is only normally involved in the appointment and removal of the governor-general and governors. In 1998,republicans were givena free hand to choose the form of republic they wanted. This was put to the people in 1999, and enjoyed strong support among the politicans and in the mainstream media. But a campaign led by a group, [http://www.norepublic.com.au Australians for Constitutional Monarchy ] resulted in the defeat of the referendum in all states and 72% of electorates. Republicans remain unable to agree on how to replace the present system--whether with an elected president (not as in the U.S.) or with a  president chosen by the government and approved by the Parliament, the model which was rejected in 1999.

In practice the monarch is only normally involved in the appointment and removal of the governor-general and governors. In 1998,republicans were givena free hand to choose the form of republic they wanted. This was put to the people in 1999, and enjoyed strong support among the politicans and in the mainstream media. But a campaign led by a group, [http://www.norepublic.com.au Australians for Constitutional Monarchy ] resulted in the defeat of the referendum in all states and 72% of electorates. Republicans remain unable to agree on how to replace the present system--whether with a powerful elected president responsible directly to the people, or with a  weak president chosen by the government (as in Germany), the model which was rejected in 1999 because of distrust of politicians.

== See also ==

== See also ==