by CRYSTAL-ROSE JONES – PRO and anti-republicans have weighed in after the position of Assistant Minister for a Republic was axed by Anthony Albanese in a recent cabinet reshuffle.
Kingsford Smith MP Matt Thistlethwaite was removed from the portfolio during the July 28 announcement – signalling no further push for a republic referendum any time soon.
- The Prime Minister has simply failed to read the room.
- The Greens may still push for a republic if it is part of a minority government.
- The main emphasis is now on the King and Queen’s October visit.
A previous referendum to change Australia’s political system and constitution was held in 1999, but was unsuccessful.
“The decision to abolish the portfolio of the assistant minister for the republic and not proceed to hold a republic referendum is well overdue but welcomed,” said Australians for Constitutional Monarchy spokesman Daniel Lahood.
FAILED
“The Prime Minister had simply failed to read the room.”
Mr Lahood said Australians had far greater concerns than the Head of State.
“Australians across this country are not losing sleep over their Head of State,” he said.
“The focus should be on how people can afford to pay their rent or mortgage and put food on the table.”
National Chair of the Australian Monarchist League, Philip Benwell, also welcomed the decision to axe the role, but expressed the Australian Greens may still push for a republic if it is part of a minority government.
“Our main emphasis now is on the visit of the King and Queen in October and also on establishing an educational program for all Australians, particularly on the Australian Constitution and the role of the King and the Crown within it,” Mr Benwell said.
Polling suggests there’s a chance the Labor Government will fail to win enough seats at the next election to hold a majority government.
Australian Republican Movement (ARM) co-chairs Nathan Hansford and Esther Anatolitis, however, said they were determined to see the removal of the monarchy in Australia.
“We have long known that a referendum on an Australian republic was not on the cards in this term of government,” Mr Hansford said.
“Matt Thistlethwaite has been a long-time friend of the ARM and we thank him for the work he has done to bring the question of an Australian Republic back into public discourse.”
Mr Hansford said it was not appropriate for the group to comment on the internal machinations of the cabinet reshuffle and said it would be Australians, not the government, who eventually lead the push for a republic.
“At the ARM we continue to work tirelessly to raise awareness and have important discussions with Australians about what is needed to ensure that we are represented by an Australian, someone who can personify the unique and diverse cultures that underpin what it really means to be Australian,” he said.
“We also think that it will be a great time to start having these conversations in the workplace, at home, around a barbie, when the Australian King tours here in October.” PC
The monarch’s appointed representative (Australia’s so-called HoS) is inferior and subordinate to the monarch (the UK’s HoS) in every conceivable way.
Monarchy makes Australia inferior.
Why do monarchists want Australia’s head of state to be inferior to the UK’s head of state?
I can’t believe I’m getting in ahead of Noel Jones to comment first on this.
That aside, this is a smart move by Albo.
Ditching eKaren and the National ID as well would almost give him a fighting chance on election day.
Greg, do you want Australia’s head of state to be inferior to the UK’s head of state?
Noel, the problem is not with the monarchists. It’s with the pro republicans who can’t make a decent case for change. You’re parroting the same line Turnbull and co pushed in 1999 and it failed to make an impression. It continues to fail in 2024.
An Australian republic will probably come about eventually, but the republicans running the show today want it to happen overnight. Every now and then one of them stands up and declares that Australia will be invalid or cringey or something if it doesn’t become a republic within the next five years. They want their names in the history books. They want to be the ones who made it happen.
It’s going to be the work of decades. They’re not interested in passing the torch.
Maybe they don’t really want a republic at all. Maybe they just want to complain.
Australia will forever be a gutless little colony, and the outpost of another country’s empire, until we have an Australian as our head of state.
And hiding behind some pathetic dribble and bare faced constitutional lie that a foreign monarch’s appointed representative is our most senior office holder doesn’t change that.
The Australian Constitution does not contain the words Head of State …
https://www.ourconstitution.org/aust_head_of_state.php
And the Governor General is selected and nominated by the elected Federal Government.