>Yeah but are you going to keep the pretty bit in the top LH corner? :-) I hear (esp. since prince Charles's visit) that it won't be too long before you go republic. What's the general feel?

My general feel is republic/monarchy - who cares ? I think that being part of the empire doesn't mean anything any more. Most people I know think the same but when we had a referendum (admittedly many years ago now) , it was about 50/50. As times passes there will be more and more support for being a republic I guess.

Australians feel very much that we are our own country anyway. As you said, we are so far away from Europe.. How can we feel part of a country that it takes 20 hours to fly to :)

>You could end up with "The All Wallablacks" or amalgamate the black and gold strips into a stripey "Tigers" get-up.

Yuck! I don't think so. You just can't not have the Wallabies and All Blacks in world rugby.