Queen's Birthday Long Weekend

We've just had a long weekend as Monday is an official holiday to mark the Queen's Birthday and it turned out much like a traditional UK 'bank' holiday - wet! The reason for the day off is one reminder of the history of the country and the Commonwealth link, but there are still underlying currents within Australia to become a republic. The new Labour PM, Kevin Rudd, is a Republican but at a major conference several months ago he indicated that although another referendum is on the list of things to do, it's not a priority.

The last referendum about Australia becoming a republic was held in 1999 and 55% of people voted 'no'. Although there are no doubt strong views, particularly from the older generations and the rural population to keep the Monarch as Head of State, the increasingly cosmopolitan population and the wish to become a more 'independent' country would probably sway the vote the other way next time, or at least be very close. There is also supposedly more loyalty to the Queen than there might be to Charles when he becomes king.

The weekend was a quiet one for us, although Saturday was a lovely sunny day after a week of cloud and rain and I managed to get out for a reasonably long bike ride. After a very wet April, May was supposed to be driest in Sydney on record, whereas June is also expected to be a wet one. Rebecca's soccer team had a 'bye' on Sunday, but all matches were postponed anyway due to the recent rain.