AUSTRALIAN LEADERS UNITE FOR A REPUBLIC
Australian state leaders threw their support behind motion that the nation should not have to wait for the end of Queen Elizabeth II’s reign to cut ties with the British monarchy. Seven of the nation’s eight state and territory leaders have signed a declaration calling for an Australian head of state to replace the reigning royal in London. The only state leader not to sign up, Western Australia Premier Colin Barnett, said he also supported a republic but just did not think “the time is right.” Federal Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is already a noted republican, having passionately led the cause ahead of a failed referendum in 1999, as is opposition Labor leader Bill Shorten.
South Australia Premier Jay Weatherill said it would be “the ultimate act of respect” if the Queen presided over the transfer of Australia from a monarchy to a republic. “I think that’s something that she could preside over and do it in the elegant and expert way in which she has handled her relationship as head of Australia,” he told the ABC. Seven of the nation’s eight state and territory leaders have signed a declaration calling for an Australian head of state to replace the reigning royal in London. “I mean if you think about it, what are we waiting for? Are we waiting for her to die? I would have thought that it’s much more respectful to have her supervise this transition.” The British crown’s power in Australia is seen as largely symbolic, and while Queen Elizabeth II is hugely popular Down Under the monarchy is viewed by some as an anachronistic colonial relic. Support for a republic has wavered over the years, with a Fairfax-Nielsen poll in 2014 finding that 51 percent of people surveyed favoured the status quo compared to 42 percent supporting a republic.
Australian Republican Movement chairman Peter FitzSimons seized on the new enthusiasm.
“All of Australia’s political leaders now support an Australian head of state,” he told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
FitzSimons, who wants the process on a referendum over becoming a republic to start by 2020, said the declaration sent a message to the prime minister however Turnbull has previously said that he has more pressing priorities than turning the nation into a republic.
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SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS • APRIL 2016
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