The Queen (and God) was back with a vengeance at the swearing-in of the new Ministry in Canberra. PM Abbott swore on the bible and took the oath of allegiance: “I will be faithful an bear true allegiance to Queen Elizabeth the Second, the Queen of Australia”. Of his 41 strong Ministry (only six women), 39 did likewise. The other two, one of whom was Senator Marise Payne (Liberal NSW and strong republican over many years), took the affirmation of office as both Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd did when they were sworn in as PM. Stephanie Peatling of the Sydney Morning Herald (also a regular writer on republican themes) included some useful information about this topic on her daily election blog:
“In 2007 when Kevin Rudd and his ministry were sworn in they all used a new oath: ‘I [name] do swear that I will well and truly serve the Commonwealth of Australia, her land and her people, in the office of the [insert title].’
Until 1996 it had included the line – ‘I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second’.
Before 1993, the oath had included a pledge to serve the Queen. PM Paul Keating then removed any reference to theQueen between 1993 and 1996. When the Coalition assumed power in 1996, allegiance to the monarch was returned.”
