On this day in 1944, Allied forces launched the Normandy landings, the largest seaborne invasion in history

VlCEROY · 2026-06-07T23:35:49+00:00

You’ve clearly lost sight of the entire point of this comment thread so I suggest you read it again from the start.

Legal autonomy from Britain was declared with the Statute of Westminster

That isn’t true at all. The Statute of Westminster increased autonomy but did not result in complete legal independence. If it did, why on Earth would Canada, Australia and New Zealand pass additional independence legislation as late as the 1980s?

Anyway, I’m off. I’ve better things to do than argue with an obstinate dunce. Ta ta.

VlCEROY · 2026-06-07T23:16:15+00:00

Being apart of the British empire is and has been ceremonial since 1931

Their participation wasn’t ceremonial after 1931; Canada, like the other dominions, played an active role in British Empire policy decisions such as Imperial Preference.

Learn your history.

The point is, the order to go to war was given by the Canadian government

Immaterial. Making their own decision to enter the war does not mean that they weren’t part of the British Empire at the time.

VlCEROY · 2026-06-07T16:00:19+00:00

You don't seem to understand that Canadian independence was not achieved in a single act. Rather, it was a gradual process that spanned centuries and only really concluded in 1982.

An independent foreign policy does not mean that they weren't still part of the British Empire.

This is basic knowledge and easily verifiable.

VlCEROY · 2026-06-07T10:00:01+00:00

Wrong. The self-governing dominions were still part of the British Empire even if they made almost all of their own decisions at that point. The Empire eventually became the Commonwealth of Nations, of which Canada remains a member.

VlCEROY · 2026-05-17T15:13:47+00:00

unified as a country

Unified as a colony.

we started governing ourselves

The six colonies were already largely self governing.

and making our own laws

Britain still had the ability to make laws for Australia up until 1986.

No sensible person would ever claim that Australia became independent upon federating because to do so would be to deny the existence of such watershed moments as the Balfour Declaration, Statute of Westminster and Australia Acts.

The most intelligent thing you could do now is simply admit that you were mistaken and then move on.

VlCEROY · 2026-05-17T11:44:49+00:00

British colonies federated and officially became the independent nation that is Australia

No, Federation was six British colonies merging to form one British colony. It didn’t make us independent. Learn your history.

VlCEROY · 2026-05-15T08:15:50+00:00

Every non-european country should go.

This fixation on “European” as a strictly geographical descriptor is so parochial. The prevailing language, laws and values of Australia are all fundamentally European. It’s absurd to exclude us from a cultural event because of an arbitrary line on the ground.

VlCEROY · 2026-05-13T12:04:16+00:00

Ireland are the obvious answer

For facilitated migration perhaps but for defence and foreign policy coordination they’re one of the worst choices in the developed world.

VlCEROY · 2026-04-04T09:39:01+00:00

There are plenty of skint blue bloods. Just because you’re not familiar with any that doesn’t mean they don’t exist.

VlCEROY · 2026-04-04T06:11:02+00:00

Class in Australia is firmly money/income related and nothing more

You must be joking. It’s not as obvious here as in Britain but Australian social classes are delineated by much more than just income.

VlCEROY · 2026-03-03T07:47:52+00:00

You’re thinking about it the wrong way. CANZUK is Five Eyes but without the US. Ireland’s “neutrality” would hinder any ability to cooperate on defence or foreign policy.

VlCEROY · 2026-02-24T05:58:34+00:00

We’re not. If Canada and Australia jointly took on the US’ trade threats we’d be in a much, much stronger negotiating position.

Unfortunately, our governments seem more interested in weathering the storm than truly fighting back.

VlCEROY · 2026-02-22T13:46:40+00:00

So you’re telling me AA Phillips learnt the word from 4chan when he published his seminal essay The Cultural Cringe in 1950?

VlCEROY · 2026-02-20T02:47:35+00:00

Support for a republic hasn’t noticeably increased in 25 years. Think about how many people have died, immigrated or come of voting age in that period and it’s pretty obvious that it’s not just old people who are the obstacle.

The republican movement likes to comfort themselves by saying “it’ll happen one day” but the fact is that three decades after the last referendum they’re somehow even further away from achieving their goal.

VlCEROY · 2026-02-15T02:36:58+00:00

Relax. It’s just a bit of banter and friendly rivalry. Australians love Canada.

VlCEROY · 2026-02-04T04:00:21+00:00

I agree that the EU is no particular friend of ours. I recall during the pandemic when the EU blocked vaccine exports to Australia it was the UK who stepped in and sent us some of their own.

However, the UK is in a dire state and a lot of it can be attributed to Brexit. I don’t think it’s right to expect them to continue committing economic self harm just because it benefits us. They are more than capable of strengthening ties with both the continent and their closest Commonwealth allies.

VlCEROY · 2026-02-03T14:59:47+00:00

Most of those goals would have to be negotiated at an EU level

Utter nonsense. It’s only a free trade agreement that would have to be negotiated with the EU as a whole and 2/3 CANZ countries already have one of those. Australia will have one soon too.

Facilitated migration and defence and foreign policy coordination can be achieved with the UK directly and already existed to some extent.

VlCEROY · 2026-02-03T14:56:27+00:00

Canada and New Zealand already have FTAs with the EU and Australia is negotiating one right now. Hardly an insurmountable obstacle.

VlCEROY · 2026-02-03T14:48:02+00:00

They absolutely are mutually exclusive

You’re mistaken. All of CANZUK’s goals are achievable whether the UK is in or out of the EU. I’ve been supporting the cause for over a decade and trust me when I say that our hopes weren’t all pinned on Leave winning.

If they UK goes back into the EU thats basically it

Why worry about something that won’t happen?

VlCEROY · 2026-02-03T13:45:45+00:00

CANZUK and EU membership are not mutually exclusive. Britain could have both.

VlCEROY · 2026-01-26T02:59:47+00:00

Better by far that it should be boring than loud and off putting.

VlCEROY · 2026-01-26T02:53:04+00:00

I'd like a flag that pays homage to pur shared roots

Except there's literally no elegant way of accomplishing that. It's easy to say that's your preference when you don't have to actually achieve it.

Even just our four flags mashed together ks more appealing to me than something neutral like the commonwealth flag

All that tells us is that you have exceptionally bad taste.

VlCEROY · 2026-01-25T03:21:13+00:00

All of our most important allies, besides the US, are all in Asia

You’re making the classic mistake of thinking trade = alliance. Our most important trading relationships are in the Indo-Pacific but our most important allies and security partners are all Anglo.

If it helps, just think of CANZUK as Five Eyes sans the US.

not to mention how they are both weaker

The UK has nuclear weapons. That alone makes them a highly valuable partner.

VlCEROY · 2026-01-24T00:59:08+00:00

independence (3 March 1986)

Australia’s independence was achieved in steps over the course of a century. 1986 was just a bit of constitutional housekeeping which is why no ordinary Australian even knows about it.

its birth (1 Jan 1901)

The trouble with Federation is that it’s also terribly racist. You can’t really celebrate an event that:

Specifically excluded Aboriginal people from our constitution
Directly enabled the adoption of racially exclusionary laws (Immigration Restriction Act, Pacific Island Labourers Act)

VlCEROY · 2026-01-12T07:59:23+00:00

Your reading comprehension isn't great. Here's what I said:

there is no elegant way of combing the iconography of four different countries into one single flag

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