Australia-Canada Relations - Comparison of Australia and Canada

Comparison of Australia and Canada

There are a great many similarities between the countries of Canada and Australia. They are both independent former settler colonies of Britain from which they have inherited many political traditions. Both nations are large, relatively isolated, and sparsely inhabited, and both use federal systems of government and both have Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. At the federal level, the Queen is represented in Canada by the Governor General (no hyphen), and in Australia by the Governor-General (hyphenated).

Canada, being the first of the British colonies to peacefully gain independence, became a model that was followed first by Australia, and then the other Commonwealth Dominions. Both were also affected by the same events in Britain and around the world: World War I, the creation of the shared monarchy in 1927, the Statute of Westminster in 1931, World War II, and the Cold War had similar effects on both nations. Both nations have been influenced strongly first by the United Kingdom and then United States, both culturally and politically.

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