On Thursday, the Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, said that the removal of the queen from her position as head of state is not his top priority but rather the holding of a referendum on the political rights of Indigenous people.
Despite the fact that he is an outspoken republican, the leader of the center-left Labor Party has steadfastly refused to engage in that discussion in the wake of Queen Elizabeth II’s passing.
Instead, Mr. Albanese has said that he is concentrating his efforts on the scheduled referendum to provide indigenous people the right to have a “Voice to Parliament,” which is the ability to be consulted by parliamentarians on subjects that are relevant to them.
When asked by the national broadcaster ABC why the nation could not also consider its future under the monarchy during his initial three-year term, he responded by saying that he wanted Australians to focus on the Voice to Parliament. “I want Australians to concentrate on the Voice to Parliament,” he said.
We have every reason to be proud of the fact that we are on the same continent as the civilisation that has existed without interruption for at least 65,000 years.
Before moving on to discuss other issues, “That is something that has to be rectified as soon as possible.”
For almost a century and a half, the United Kingdom maintained control over Australia as a colony. Independence was achieved in 1901, but the king was allowed to continue serving as head of state.
In 1999, the people of Australia narrowly rejected the idea of removing their queen from her position.
However, there are proponents of a republic who voted against having the queen removed from her position because they were opposed to the planned new model in which Members of Parliament would pick her successor rather than the general population.
The majority of Australians supported transitioning to a republic, according to polls taken in the run-up to the referendum in 1999 and before the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
With reference to the referendum that took place in 1999, Mr. Albanese said, “Getting constitutional reform in our nation is really tough.” “The notion that you would participate in many arguments at the same time is, in my opinion, not conceivable, and I have made it quite clear what my priorities are.”
Since Mr. Albanese was elected prime minister earlier this year, replacing a conservative administration that was more supportive of a monarchy, the republican question has been reignited. This contrasts with the previous government, which was more supportive of a monarchy.
He moved fast to designate the country’s first “minister of the republic” and mentioned the possibility of holding another referendum in the future.