Insight: Banking on royal pulling power
ROYAL visits to Queensland have a long and chequered history, but this latest stopover is sure to attract big crowds and ‘priceless’ tourism opportunities, writes Susan Johnson.
Opinion
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EVEN Australian Republic Movement chairman Peter FitzSimons has trouble disliking the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
The former Wallaby-turned-author told The Courier-Mail that ARM welcomed news of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s visit next month.
“They seem like good people and the whole idea of the Invictus Games is wonderful,” he said.
The main purpose of the royal couple’s visit to Australia is to open the Invictus Games, which Prince Harry founded in 2014 for wounded, injured or sick armed services personnel and veterans. The Games begin in Sydney on October 20.
But FitzSimons wouldn’t go as far as Australian Monarchist League National chairman Philip Benwell, who described himself as “delighted” by the royal visit.
FitzSimons said he wished the best of luck to “our monarchist friends”, who seemed “positively beside themselves” at the idea of the visit.
He said monarchists could rest assured that one royal or another would continue to visit Australia for years to come, “even long after we become a republic and are all equal beneath the Southern Cross”.
Next month will mark the sixth major royal visit to Queensland since Prince William in 2011 to the cyclone-ravaged state. The fact that Fraser Island has been chosen as the only site in Queensland the couple will visit is partly due to the enthusiasm of Prince Harry’s father, Prince Charles, a passionate conservationist.
It was during the heir to the throne’s visit to Queensland in April (his second visit accompanied by Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall) that the Prince of Wales announced World Heritage-listed Fraser Island was to be added to the Queen’s Commonwealth Canopy. The conservation program supports a network of forest conservation initiatives.
Prince Charles is known to be a fan of the project, which aims to conserve indigenous forests for future generations. The largest sand island in the world, Fraser Island’s now-protected Forest K’gari is the only place on Earth where rainforest grows on sand. Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the opportunity to show off Queensland to the world was “priceless”.
We can only hope the Duke and Duchess’ visit to Fraser Island goes more smoothly than Prince Charles’ 1994 visit, when the Butchulla people, the traditional owners of K’gari (Fraser Island), told the media they had been snubbed by not being invited to meet him during his visit.
John Jones, then Fraser Island Land Council chairman, told reporters: “The security people might be afraid one of our guys might throw a spear at him. But the Prince would be in no danger from our people. We have no grudge against the royal family.”
The mid-to-late ’90s coincided with the most heated days of Australia’s republican debate, which ended in the infamous 1999 referendum to amend Australia’s constitution (which was defeated).
In 1994, republican Paul Keating was prime minister, and in Prince Charles’ speech on Australia Day, the heir to the throne effectively endorsed the country’s republican debate by describing it as “the sign of a mature and self-confident nation”.
He also indicated he was prepared for constitutional change in Australia when he said of republicans who called for such change: “And perhaps they are right.”
During his 1994 visit, Prince Charles met with an overtly republican demonstration only once — a handful of protesters greeted his arrival at Chermside’s Prince Charles Hospital, one of them holding a placard reading, “Give the throne the royal flush”.
Tourism and Events Queensland chief executive Leanne Coddington said this latest royal visit was “fantastic news for Queensland tourism — it’s a ‘money can’t buy’ opportunity to showcase our state on the world stage”.
“Queenslanders are also known throughout the world for our warm hospitality, and I am sure everyone is keen to roll out the welcome mat for the world’s most famous couple.”
Dan Petrie from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland said: “Major state visits always attract large numbers of locals and again increase activity in local economy, which you don’t get from a celebrity visit. Let’s call it the royal pulling power factor.”
Although there are no official figures available on the economic impact of royal visits to Queensland, an estimated crowd of more than 50,000 attended the Queen’s 2011 visit to Brisbane, compared with only a few thousand for Prince Charles and Camilla’s April visit. And more people translates into more money for cafes, restaurants, taxis and hotels.
Still it remains to be seen whether the newest royal princess attracts the hundreds of thousands her mother-in-law Princess Diana did, who broke records for being the world’s — and Queensland’s — most popular royal.
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