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King’s visit Down Under labelled ‘farewell tour’

'The Farewell Monarchy Tour'

Source: Australian Republican Movement

Australia will welcome the royal head of state for the first time in 13 years on Friday, but a republic campaign says this should be the last time.

After touching down, the King and Queen will embark on a six-day visit that the Australian Republic Movement has labelled a “farewell tour”.

Telling Australians to “wave goodbye to royal reign”, ARM emphasised the royal visit will be paid for by Australian taxpayers, and has even released merchandise for the Monarchy: The Farewell Oz Tour.

Previous official visits from the British royal family have cost between hundreds of thousands to more than $1 million.

‘Not fully democratic’

ARM co-chair Esther Anatolitis told The New Daily while the King and Queen were welcome in Australia, the royals were like a band whose heyday was behind but they kept coming back.

She pointed out the majority of Commonwealth member states are republics, and said the visit was an opportunity for Australians to ask themselves why this democratic country still has a king.

“When we think of ourselves as a people who value fairness, equality … it just does not make any sense to have a head of state who inherits that role by birthright,”Anatolitis said.

“We have democratic institutions that the whole world admires and that Australians should be proud of … [but] having a monarch at the apex of Australian democracy means that we’re, in fact, not fully democratic.

“It’s an anachronism that really has to go.”

‘System works well’

Australian Monarchist League spokesperson Alexander Voltz said ARM’s campaign was juvenile rather than playful, and republicans had provided no reason for Australia to make a change to its constitution.

He said even under a monarchy, Australia was “completely democratic”.

His personal calculations based on figures from ARM found royal visits cost the Australian taxpayer 3.8 cents on average a year.

“I know that our system of government works well because it’s empirically evidenced by history; Australia has done a lot for the small population that it has,” Voltz said.

“I’m waiting for the republicans to give me an argument for why their system would be better than what we currently have … and they’ve not been able to do that.

“Constitutional monarchy is the best system of government that we have, and to divorce ourselves from that would be a fatal error in our national journey.”

Aussies still split on republic debate

Fresh off the UK agreeing to cede sovereignty of the Chagos Archipelago to the Republic of Mauritius earlier this month, a representative of the King said it was up to the Australian people whether the country moves from being a constitutional monarchy to a republic.

“His Majesty, as a constitutional monarch, acts on the advice of his ministers, and whether Australia becomes a republic is therefore a matter for the Australian public to decide,” secretary Dr Nathan Ross wrote in a letter to ARM.

A YouGov survey released in September revealed 32 per cent of Australians want the country to become a republic as soon as possible and 35 per cent want to remain a constitutional monarchy.

Meanwhile, 12 per cent of Australians said the country should only become a republic once the King has died.

Assistant Immigration Minister Matt Thistlethwaite, who was Assistant Minister for the Republic until July, said in January although the government was not “giving up” on Australia getting its own head of state, it was more focused on matters such as cost-of-living relief.

Referendum delayed

The republic movement has suffered from a growing lack of awareness about “all things British” in the years since the last referendum, John Warhurst, Australian National University Emeritus Professor in political science, former ARM chair and life-long ARM member, said.

“While we haven’t changed the constitution, we’ve drifted away from taking the monarchy seriously,” he said.

“It’s just not part of our education system in the way it used to be. It’s not part of our culture in the way it used to be.”

But the death of Queen Elizabeth II, who enjoyed affection from Australians partially due to her lengthy tenure, means the King is “starting from scratch”.

As he attempts to build a stronger connection with Australia, Warhurst said it will never be as strong as the past.

But another possible republic referendum is still years away.

Warhurst said the major defeat of the Indigenous Voice, which marked a one-year anniversary on Monday, would have a negative impact on a campaign for a republic.

“The Republic movement agreed that the Voice was the first priority, and clearly the outcome of the Voice referendum means that another referendum on any subject in the short term is not a possibility,” he said.

“There is that level of disappointment, but at the same time, I think republicans know that Australia has to have a referendum process.

“We can’t allow our constitution just to exist forever as it did in 1901 … there has to be the possibility of courteous community debate about major issues, of which the republic is one.”

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