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Elizabeth to visit Australian Outback

CANBERRA (Australia): Britain's Queen Elizabeth II will visit some of Australia's remotest towns on her first visit since the country voted last year to keep her as its head of state, Prime Minister John Howard announced on Wednesday.

Her tour, with husband Prince Philip, will include trips to Alice Springs in the country's center and Bourke, one of its most remote Outback towns.

"Their program has been arranged so that the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh can meet people in remote areas of Australia as well as in the cities," Howard said in a statement. "And to enable them to see the many and varied contributions that people from all walks of life make to the nation."

The Queen will start her visit to Australia on March 17 with a ceremonial welcome at Sydney's landmark Opera House.

The Queen took no part in Australia's often bitter debate on whether the country should replace her as its head of state with a president under a republican constitution.

The proposal was overwhelmingly rejected in a nationwide referendum last Nov. 6. Prime Minister Howard was a staunch supporter of the monarchist cause.

Like many other members of the British Commonwealth, such as New Zealand and Papua New Guinea, Australia recognizes the queen as its formal head of state, even though her visits to this country are rare.

During her two-week visit, the queen also will visit the site for the Sydney Olympic Games, see a demonstration by volunteer firefighters who tackle bush fires and meet with Major-General Peter Cosgrove, the leader of the international peacekeeping force that restored order to East Timor.

The dusty cattle town of Bourke, on the Darling River, has become a by-word for isolation in Australia, with the phrase "the back of Bourke" commonly used to describe any extremely remote place. The town is about 600 kilometers (370 miles) northwest of Sydney.

As well as her trips to the Outback and Sydney, the queen will also visit the nation's capital of Canberra, and major cities Melbourne, Hobart and Perth. AP