By Patrick Avenell

This weekend is the Queen’s Birthday long weekend. Although Elizabeth II’s actual birthday is 21 April (same day as Tony Danza’s), the Commonwealth of Australia recognises our Head of State on the second Monday in June.

This coming Monday (11 June 2011) is a public holiday in all states and territories except Western Australia, which has a public holiday on the first Monday in June.

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Queensland is not actually celebrating the Queen’s Birthday on Monday, but rather it is staging a one-off holiday to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee. Queensland's Queen’s Birthday public holiday has been moved to October, presumably to give the state a day off after the NRL Grand Final, as in New South Wales.

There are no trading restrictions on Monday anywhere in Australia, with stores able to open at their leisure. Companies in the West should note that offices in all other states will be closed or manned with skeleton crews, so any interstate commerce should be completed today.

This weekend also marks the start of Euro 2012, sponsored by Sharp. The first set of games is on tonight at 2am and 4:30am (Saturday morning) on Setanta Sports. A good idea over the next three weeks is to deck out the TV section in a retail outlet with flags, jerseys and other team paraphernalia to encourage interest in the competition.

Patrick’s Euro 2012 tip:

1. Denmark
2. Germany
3. Poland