Jonathan Sriranganathan says Queen’s death a relief for some

Brisbane councillor Jonathan Sriranganathan has been called on to apologise for comments he made about the death of the Queen. LISTEN

Brisbane Deputy Lord Mayor Krista Adams has called on a controversial Greens councillor to apologise unreservedly after he made comments suggesting some Australians were relieved about the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

Speaking to the chamber on Tuesday, Greens councillor for Woolloongabba, Jonathan Sriranganathan, said elected representatives needed to remember that some people feel “monarchies are really unjust and we’d be better off without them”.

LISTEN TO JONATHAN SRIRANGANATHAN’S COMMENTS BELOW

“For some people, the death of the Queen is a cause of significant grief and for some people the death of the Queen is a cause of relief,” he said.

“I think it’s very important that the death of a Monarch is never used as a political weapon or a political tool to silence or discourage legitimate criticism of monarchies which are very oppressive and unjust institutions in and of themselves,” he said.

Greens Brisbane City Councillor Jonathan Sriranganathan. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

The comments, which were made by Councillor Sriranganathan in the council chamber on Tuesday, were met with swift condemnation from the Deputy Lord Mayor Krista Adams, who labelled them “disgraceful” on social media.

“In just the space of a few weeks, Greens Cr Jonathan Sriranganathan has advocated break-and-enter as a housing policy, supported shoplifting and suggest people should vandalise Council’s safety cameras,” she said in a statement to The Courier Mail.

“However, his claim some people are relieved at the death of Queen Elizabeth II is his lowest act yet.

“The Queen was one of the greatest female leaders in history and to attack her like this even before her funeral has occurred is utterly appalling.

“The Greens Councillor needs to unreservedly apologise immediately.”

Cr Krista Adams (Deputy Mayor, Holland Park, LNP) seen at Brisbane City Council meeting at King George Square, Brisbane City. (News Corp/Attila Csaszar)

Councillor Sriranganathan said it was important for elected political leaders to acknowledge that some members of their communities may hold different feelings, and that no one’s opinion should be invalidated.

He said he had been subjected to “really violent and awful abuse” since the Queen’s death “because I said I didn’t care much for the British Empire.”

“What has been disappointing about recent political discourse around the passing of the Queen has been the vitriol and racism that a lot of people have experienced simply because they dared to say ‘I’m not personally too fussed’, and that is how a lot of people feel,” he said.

“I just want to point out to the elected representatives in this chamber that different people do have different feelings about the Queen and the monarchy, and I don’t want to say that anyone else’s feelings are invalid, but I just want to remind people to be conscious of that.”

Councillor Sriranganathan was contacted on Tuesday night but declined to comment.