On 22 July 2021, Former Senator Rod Culleton wrote to the Attorney-General’s Department to request access to information regarding the Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Australia & its Termination.
Mr Culleton’s request under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 was as follows:
1. In light of the letter of Mr David Lewis, dated 16 August 2021, in response to my request for information, dated 22 July 2021, and my references above, regarding the authority to terminate the Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Australia, I request the instrument that overrides, suspends or terminates the “indissoluble Federal Commonwealth under the Crown of the United Kingdom…” as qualified by the second clause that binds the Crown and the fifth clause that binds the people, that ought to have been in place at the time of 1973 in making the change of authority to the Australian Government.
2. With reference to termination of the Commonwealth, by substitution of the jurisdiction taken to be solely under the authority of the Australian Government without the Crown, I request the acknowledgement of the Australian people, via the alteration by process of section 128, or otherwise for termination of the Commonwealth and substitution in current practice today.
3. With reference to termination of the Commonwealth, I request the publication of sufficient notice to the Australian people of that change, in light of the current text of the Constitution and prefacing clauses and in light of the celebration of the centenary of the Commonwealth held in 2001.
Ms Joanna Baker who is the departments Assistant Director of the Freedom of Information and Privacy Section has signed off and stated:
“Having regard to the above, I am satisfied that reasonable steps to locate the documents to which you have sought access were undertaken. I am also satisfied that the documents do not exist within the department’s records holdings. I have therefore decided to refuse access pursuant to section 24A of the FOI Act.”
Mr Culleton wanted to bring to the people’s attention, that even though the 1999 republican referendum failed, and that the people chose to stay under the protection of the Crown – contained within our constitution – the government continued to defy the people with the continuation of the defaced Great Seal of the Commonwealth of Australia.
Furthermore, the government deceived the people two years later by claiming to celebrate the Centenary of Federation, having full knowledge that ties to the Commonwealth had been severed.