Jubilee beacon joins Aust to Commonwealth

A monarch wasn’t the only thing Australia shared with Britain as the rain bucketed down while Prime Minister Julia Gillard lit a beacon to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

A hundred senior school students, scouts and girl guides passed the beacon’s torch around a terrace on top of Parliament House before the prime minister lit the beacon cauldron on Monday evening.

Unlike the warm English summer rain that dampened those in London watching the jubilee flotilla, the temperature dropped below zero in Canberra during the ceremony.

The beacon was one of more than 4200 lit across the globe in celebration of Queen Elizabeth II’s 60 years of reign.

Her Majesty will light one in London at 10.30pm local time (0730 AEST Tuesday).

“We hope that as she sees these beacons lit around the world she accepts them for what they are: lights in admiration of her service,” Ms Gillard told the gathering.

The beacons throughout the United Kingdom, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, the Commonwealth and other overseas territories symbolised the family of nations, she said.

“We are also reflecting on six decades that have passed and how much our nation has changed in that time.”

One of the Year 12 students involved in the ceremony, Alexandra McKinnon, said she had seen the Queen in Canada.

“The Queen is this figurehead; it’s nice to have someone personifying our connection with Britain,” she told AAP.

She was excited to be involved on Monday because “it’s not like there’s a Diamond Jubilee every year”.

Opposition leader Tony Abbott noted that Queen Elizabeth had been the reigning monarch for the entire lifetime of four in five Australians.

“In an ever-changing world the Queen has been a constant in our lives,” he said.

A beacon was fitting, he said, because “a good monarch should be an island in a sea of change, a comfort when so much is uncertain and, if needed, a point of light amidst darkness”.

A children’s choir sang We Are Australian, God Save The Queen and Advance Australia Fair as the beacon was lit.

Afterwards all rushed into the warmth of Parliament House for supper and photos with the political leaders.

“It’s more exciting than Brad Pitt!” one young photo-seeker said.

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