After the coronation of King Charles III. calls for Australia to become a republic grew louder on Saturday night.
Allegraspender, MP for Wentworth and a self-proclaimed Republican, drew the line between respect for the royal family and the need to celebrate Australia’s “full identity”.
“Like many people, I saw parts of the event with my children last night. While a Republican myself, I appreciate the stability and strength of our democracy and recognize the role that the royal family has played as our heads of state,” she shared on her Instagram on Sunday.
“I look forward to building on the institutions of Britain, 65,000 years of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and our multicultural present as Australia celebrates its full identity.”
The leader of Australia’s republic movement, Craig Foster, has said he hopes Anthony Albanese will be the “last prime minister to have to swear allegiance to a king”.
“Our head of state is supposed to represent us and swear allegiance to us,” he told Weekend Today on Sunday.
If Australia became a republic, King Charles would be deposed as our head of state, but Australia would still remain in the Commonwealth.
The change would require a referendum to enact a constitutional amendment.
Voters would then go to the ballot box again to elect the head of state.
Mr Foster said support for constitutional independence “rose significantly” following the death of Queen Elizabeth II in September last year. He also recognized the impact of colonialism, which could not be ignored in pomp and ceremony events like the coronation.
“There are also many aspects of this ceremony that are problematic for many people across the Commonwealth and we need to remember that,” he said.
“There are a lot of people in the Commonwealth, First Nations and Aboriginal people and descendants of slaves and the like that this is really, really painful for.
“It also represents a lot of suffering.”
Fronting the national channel’s coverage of the coronation, ABC presenter Stan Grant also spoke about the struggles Australian First Nation people are facing due to British colonisation.
“We don’t read history linearly. History lives in us. It’s not referential, it’s not footnotes,” he said.
“It’s scars, it’s broken bones and it’s too many damaged souls and we need to heal and bring love to ears.
“This conversation is so important, I’m so glad we can have this because it’s necessary.”
However, the chances of a referendum are slim.
While Prime Minister Anthony Albanese describes himself as a “lifelong Republican” and earlier this week in a Sky News interview with Piers Morgan reiterated his stance, saying a referendum is not a priority.
Although he believes Australia will eventually become a republic “sometime in the future”, his priority will be to add an indigenous vote in parliament to the constitution, with a referendum due later this year.
“My only priority that I have proposed for constitutional amendment is recognizing the Indigenous peoples of the Torres Strait Islanders in our constitution and listening to them through one voice,” he said.
“Beyond that, I don’t look. I think Australia should have an Australian as head of state, I have no qualms about it and haven’t changed my views, but my priority is constitutional recognition.
“I don’t want to be a prime minister who only leads constitutional debates.”
