ABC thedrum or thedumb

Mr Ture Sjolander

PO Box 382

TOWNSVILLE QLD 4810

Dear Mr Sjolander

Thank you for your letter of 29 April 1993 to the Prime Minister in which you

request to be the first citizen of the Federal Republic of Australia. As the matter

of Australian citizenship falls within the responsibilities of the Minister for

Immigration and Ethnic Affairs, your letter was referred to Senator th Hon Nick

Bolkus. Senator Bolkus has asked me to reply to you on his behalf.

The Government's proposal to replace the current Oath/Affirmation of

Allegiance with a Pledge of Commitment as Citizen of the Commonwealth of

Australia was introduced into the Senate on 6 May 1993. On 19 May 1993,

the proposal was referred to the Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs

Committee which will report in August 1993. If the Bill is eventually passed by

Parliament, the new Pledge would be introduced for subsequent citizenship

ceremonies.

You should note that introduction of the new Pledge would not render Australia

a republic. As it is not known if the Bill will be passed by Parliament, we

cannot accept your application to be the first person to take the Pledge of

Commitment as a Citizen of the Commonwealth of Australia.

Thank you for your interest in this matter.

Yours sincerely

" I proposed the Prime Minister Paul Keating introduce this new Oath/Affirmation on a dinner during his visit in Townsville and put it in writing to him. So I find it very natural that I should be the first citizen of Australia, practising the new Pledge. The Government though, did not practice such "commitment", letting me be the first citizen on my very own condition and proposal presented. The Bill was passed by the Parliament, the same year." - Ture Sjolander

Canberra: Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has called a super talkfest to find answers to what he describes as the 20 critical problems facing the nation. One thousend people will be invited to Parliament House for a weekend summit in late April, where 'the best and brightest" will look for answers across a wide range of areas, including the skills crisis and national security. It would not be a talkfest for the sake of talkfest, he said. He descibed the summit, to be known as Australia 2020, a summit as a chance to "shake the tree" and see what suggestions fall to the ground.

The areas to be discussed are the economy, economic infrastructure, sustainability, rural industry, health, social inclusion, - indigenous people and services, the arts, governance

and national security.

The biggest two questions would of course be: 1. Who, are the people who is going to select the invited people ? 2. One Thousand invited people having a "talkfest" during approx. 30 hours, a weekend, how would that be possible, in the first place ? The whole tree would fall down.

Would there be any invited citizens/guests with a foreign accent or would the selection go on as usual, is a standing question in this country. - Ture Sjolander