King of Australia

Friday I finished up my souvenir shopping by stopping in a few local bookstores. I ended up upstairs at Adelaide Booksellers and asked for the Australian history section. The lady pointed me in the direction of the area but then I asked for a recommendation. She had tons of good information. She talked a lot about how Australia doesn't really have too much history - even comparing it to the US - another relatively young country - as compared to the old old cities in Europe and Asia. She talked about how there hasn't been a civil war here or even that many important leaders. They just don't have that much to talk about. And even until recently, the whole convict situation was kinda kept under wraps. It was interesting talking to her for sure.
She also pointed me to the Australian politics section where I was prompted to ask what she thought about Australia ever breaking away from the UK. She said she thought it would happen in the next few decades. She was probably around 50 years old herself and she felt that her generation and younger were not as tied to the UK as people who had participated in WW2. Those people had a real connection that they didn't want to break. She also talked about a referendum - which seems to be the same as a bill in Congress - that was attempted to be passed in 1999 getting the ball rolling for this break away. Unfortunately the prime minister of Australia at the time was very conservative and not very supportive of the referendum so he worded it in a way that would not be supported. There is currently still a party known as the Republicans who are continuously trying to work this angle and eventually hoping to break away. I bought a book about this so let me know if you're interested in borrowing it....