King's Birthday Ceremonial Parade
Saturday, 7 June 2025
Government House
Her Excellency the Honourable Margaret Beazley AC KC
Thank you, Uncle Chicka[1] for your warm Welcome to Country.
In acknowledging the Gadigal, traditional owners of these lands and waterways, I pay my respects to Gadigal Elders, past, present, and emerging, and extend that respect to the Elders of all parts of our State.
Welcome everyone to Government House, on this beautiful morning.
Today’s ceremony honouring the official birthday of our Sovereign, King Charles III, King of Australia, although not his birthdate,[2] brings to mind the institution of which he is head, the Commonwealth of Nations.
Like the story of Australia’s constitutional relationship with our Sovereign—integral in many ways to the stability of our nation, the story of the modern Commonwealth is one of tradition, change, and innovation.
Whilst the modern emanation of the Commonwealth began in 1949 at a meeting in London of Commonwealth Prime Ministers,[3] the groundwork had been laid in 1926 with the Balfour Declaration, later formalised as the Statute of Westminster of 1931, which stated that the United Kingdom and the British Dominions were of equal status “united by a common allegiance to the Crown”[4]. Notably, India, which did not attain Dominion status until independence in 1947, was not party to the Declaration.[5]
However, it was India’s stance at the 1949 London meeting[6] that paved the way for the future of the Commonwealth. Wanting to sever its constitutional ties with the British Crown and become a republic, nonetheless India did not want to lose its association with Commonwealth Nations.[7]
As Prime Minister Nehru explained to the Constituent Assembly of India[8]:
In the world today where there are so many disruptive forces at work, where we are often on the verge of war, I think it is not a safe thing to encourage the breaking up of any association that one has.[9]
The outcome of the 1949 meeting was the London Declaration,[10] which re-conceived membership of the Commonwealth in terms not of a shared allegiance to the Sovereign—but of shared ideals in which nations would be “free and equal members […] co-operating in the pursuit of peace, liberty and progress.”[11]
As noted by Queen Elizabeth upon becoming Head of the Commonwealth in 1953, “The Commonwealth [bore] […] no resemblance to the Empires of the past. It is an entirely new conception.”[12]
During her 70-year reign, much of which the late Queen dedicated to the Commonwealth, the original 8 nations in 1949—Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), South Africa, and the United Kingdom—grew to its current membership of 56 nations.[13]
Of these, 52 are former dependencies of the United Kingdom, of which 15—including Australia—are constitutional monarchies with King Charles as their Head of State;[14] 32 are republics;[15] and 5 are monarchies in their own right.[16] 4 nations—Mozambique, Rwanda, Gabon, and Togo—have no particular historical link to Britain or the other nations of the Commonwealth.[17]
The Commonwealth, as it is today, extends across every continent except Antarctica. Home to 2.7 billion people, 60% of whom are under 30,[18] it includes the largest populated country in the world, India, along with two of the smallest, Tuvalu and Nauru.[19]
In the 76 years since the London Declaration, the Commonwealth’s strengths, successes, and relevance remains manifold.
Of the World’s 42 ‘small states’, 33 are members of the Commonwealth.[20] Due to their size, geography, and/or isolation, small states are often vulnerable to the devastating influences of, for instance, climate change and food insecurity. The Commonwealth offers not only to these member states, but to its members across the globe an international forum in which their challenges are recognised and their voices heard, as well as providing mechanisms of support and advocacy, where that is needed. These are equal collaborations which are sustained by no agenda other than the pursuit of the common weal—the well-being of all.
It is an association empowering democracy, good governance, and the rule of law. Its work includes observing elections;[21] providing programs and agencies that promote and protect human rights,[22] and which help strengthen member states’ electoral, judicial, and governmental systems.[23]
The Commonwealth has not shied away from suspending members[24] should democratic institutions be overthrown or bypassed, as has happened in Fiji, Nigeria, and Pakistan.[25] Following reforms, all three have returned and continue to make invaluable contributions to this “family of nations”.[26]
King Charles, elected by the member states as Head of the Commonwealth,[27] succeeding his mother, said when addressing its Heads of Government Meeting last year in Samoa, in words redolent of the wisdom of Prime Minister Nehru, those 76 years ago:
At a time of heightened global tensions, of horrifying conflict and challenges of the greatest magnitude, it seems to me that these connections between us are more precious than ever. Together we are wiser, stronger and more able to respond to the demands of our time.[28]
Today, in honouring the King’s Birthday, we celebrate our sovereign connection with our Australian monarch in accordance with our national legislation, as well as the aspirations for a better world that we share with the member states of the Commonwealth of Nations.
[1] Uncle Charles (Chicka) Madden, Gadigal Elder
[2] The Sovereign’s Official Birthday is celebrated in most Australian States and Territories on the 2nd Monday in June; in the UK it is (usually) celebrated on the second Saturday in June. The King’s actual birthday is 14 November.
[3] The ‘Commonwealth Prime Ministers Meeting’, held 22-27 April 1949 in London. In attendance were “the Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan and Ceylon, and the Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs”: London Declaration, 1949, 26 April 1949, in Commonwealth Declarations, Commonwealth Secretariat, London, 2019, p.3, available here
[4] “[The Dominions] are autonomous Communities within the British Empire, equal in status, in no way subordinate one to another in any aspect of their domestic or external affairs, though united by a common allegiance to the Crown, and freely associated as members of the British Commonwealth of Nations”: Imperial Conference 1926: Inter-Imperial Relations Committee: Report, Proceedings, and Memoranda [Balfour Declaration of 1926],p.2, available here.
[5] Nor was India included in the formalisation of the Declaration as the 1931 Statute of Westminster, which defined the Dominions, and hence, with the addition of the United Kingdom, the British Commonwealth of Nations, as “the Dominion of Canada, the Commonwealth of Australia, the Dominion of New Zealand, the Union of South Africa, the Irish Free State and Newfoundland”: Statute of Westminster, 1931, s2, available here
[6] The ‘Commonwealth Prime Ministers Meeting’, held 22-27 April 1949 in London. In attendance were “the Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan and Ceylon, and the Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs”: London Declaration, 1949, 26 April 1949, in Commonwealth Declarations, Commonwealth Secretariat, London, 2019, p.3, available here
[7] By 1949, the Dominions included Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, and Ceylon. The latter three became Dominions following India’s independence from the British Government (but not the Crown) in 1947.
[8] The Constituent Assembly of India had been elected following India’s independence from the United Kingdom in 1947, tasked with drafting India’s new Constitution, which would come into effect on 1 January 1950
[9] from a speech to the Constituent Assembly on 16 May 1949, quoted in S. K. Pachuri, ‘India’s Decision to Remain in the Commonwealth-1949 a Major Landmark in Foreign Policy’, Proceedings of the Indian History of Congress, vol.70 (2009-2010), p.1141, available here
[11] London Declaration, 1949, 26 April 1949, in Commonwealth Declarations, Commonwealth Secretariat, London, 2019, p.4, available here
[12] Queen Elizabeth II, ‘Christmas Broadcast 1953’, Auckland, 25 December 1953, available here. The full quote is: “Thus formed, the Commonwealth bears no resemblance to the Empires of the past. It is an entirely new conception, built on the highest qualities of the spirit of man: friendship, loyalty and the desire for freedom and peace. To that new conception of an equal partnership of nations and races I shall give myself heart and soul every day of my life.
[13] London Declaration, 1949, 26 April 1949, in Commonwealth Declarations, Commonwealth Secretariat, London, 2019, pp.3-4, available here ‘About Us’, The Commonwealth website, available here
[14] Antigua and Barbuda; Australia; The Bahamas; Belize; Canada; Grenada; Jamaica; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Solomon Islands; Tuvalu; United Kingdom.
[15] South Africa, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Ghana, Nigeria, Cyprus, Sierra Leone, United Republic of Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Malta, Zambia, The Gambia, Guyana, Singapore, Botswana, Barbados, Mauritius, Nauru, Samoa, Fiji, Bangladesh, Seychelles, Dominica, Kiribati, Vanuatu, Maldives, Namibia, Cameroon
[16] Malaysia; Lesotho; Erswatini, Tonga; Brunei. Technically, Malaysia is a Federated Westminster monarchy; Lesotho a Unitary Westminster monarchy; Tonga a Unitary constitutional monarchy; and Brunei a Unitary Islamic absolute monarchy.
[17] As historian W. David McIntyre described it in 1977, the Commonwealth is “a loose association of states whose relationship with Britain and each other often defied definition”: W. David McIntyre, The Commonwealth of Nations: Origins and Impact, 1869-1971, University of Minnesota Press, 1977, quoted in Amy McKeever, ‘How the Commonwealth Arose from a Crumbling British Empire’, National Geographic website, 13 September 2022, available here
[18] Indeed, across the world, 1-in-3 people aged 15–29 (About 640 million out of 1.8 billion) live in Commonwealth countries: ‘Facts’, The Commonwealth website, available here
[19] By population, Tuvalu and Nauru are the 3rd and 4th smallest countries in the world, following The Vatican City and the island of Niue: Statistica website, available here
[20] The Commonwealth Secretariat defines ‘small states’ as “countries with a population of 1.5 million people or less […] [or] countries with a bigger population but which share many of the same characteristics”: ‘Small States’, The Commonwealth website, available here. The 33 Commonwealth small states are: Botswana, Eswatini, Gabon, Lesotho, Mauritius, Namibia, Seychelles, The Gambia, Brunei Darussalam, Maldives, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent and Grenadines, Trinidad and Tobago, Cyprus, Malta, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu: ibid
[21] Through Commonwealth Observer Groups (COGs): see ‘Promoting Democracy’, The Commonwealth website, available here
[22] For instance, through the Commonwealth Secretariat Human Rights Unit; see ‘Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in the Commonwealth’, The Commonwealth website, available here
[23] For instance, in regard to electoral reforms, the Commonwealth Electoral Network (CEN), which develops guides and handbooks for election administrators, the Australian-funded Commonwealth Election Professionals (CEP) launched in 2013, which has facilitated over 200 election professionals holding regional training events, and the Commonwealth Secretariat’s provision of bespoke technical assistance to member countries on a range of issues including voter education and youth engagement, electoral cybersecurity, electoral and constitutional reform, and women’s participation: ‘Promoting Democracy’, The Commonwealth website, available here. On Commonwealth’s role in judicial reform, through the Office of Civil and Criminal Justice Reform and other mechanisms, see ‘Office of Civil and Criminal Justice Reform’, The Commonwealth website, available here and ‘Promoting the Rule of Law’, The Commonwealth website, available here
[24] Through the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG). See ‘Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group’, The Commonwealth website, available here
[25] Fiji has been suspended three times (1987-1997, 2000-2001, and 2006-2014), Nigeria once (1995-1999), and Pakistan twice (1999-2004 and 2007-2008). Gabon, which joined the Commonwealth in 2022, was ‘partially suspended’ following the 2023 coup d’etat, with consideration given to ‘full suspension’ if ‘credible elections’ were not held before 30 August 2023: Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), ‘Concluding Statement of the Sixty-Third Meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group’, 18 September 2023, available here. A COG monitored elections in Gabon in April 2025, its interim assessment being “this election appeared to be largely transparent, was peaceful, and conducted in accordance with the established legislative framework of Gabon, and that citizens were able to freely exercise their franchise”: His Excellency Danny Faure, former President of the Seychelles and Head of the Commonwealth Observer Group to Gabon, press conference in Libreville, 14 April 2025, quoted in ‘Commonwealth Observer Group Commends Gabon’s Peaceful Polls’, The Commonwealth website, available here
[26] A term used to describe the Commonwealth, for instance during the late Queen’s Commonwealth Day Message 2022: “Our family of nations continues to be a point of connection, cooperation and friendship. It is a place to come together to pursue common goals and the common good, providing everyone with the opportunity to serve and benefit”: ‘The Queen’s Commonwealth Day Message 2022’, available here
[27] King Charles was voted to succeed the Queen at a 2-day summit of 46 heads of Commonwealth governments in 2018: ‘Prince Charles to be Next Commonwealth Head’, BBC online, 21 April 2018, available here
[28] ‘His Majesty The King’s Opening Speech for CHOGM 2024’, 25 October 2024, available here