Republicans criticise Albanese over refusal to call new referendum
Anthony Albanese’s firm rejection of a republic referendum sparks backlash as he extends royal invitation to Prince William’s family.
The Australian Republic Movement has criticised Anthony Albanese for ruling out a referendum on replacing the British monarch as Australia’s head of state while he is in office.
The Prime Minister said there would be no more referendums under a government he leads, talking up his “very respectful” relationship with the British monarchy after meeting King Charles in Balmoral over the weekend.
Mr Albanese used the wide-ranging meeting with the King to invite Prince William and Princess Catherine, along with their three children, on a royal visit to Australia.
“I have no intention of holding any referendums,” Mr Albanese told The Australian outside Cathie Kirk, the church the King regularly visits alongside Scottish locals when he is in residence at Balmoral.
“It was very good of the King to invite me here to Balmoral Castle, I regard it as a great personal honour and also an honour for Australia. It is a sign of respect His Majesty is interested in Australia as well as the state of the world, and it is always engaging and insightful to have discussions with him.”
ARM co-chair Nathan Hansford said Mr Albanese should keep the republic on the national agenda.
“Australia is a different country to 1999, when we last considered an Australian head of state,” Mr Hansford said. Millions of Australians have never had a say – including younger voters and people who have made Australia home in recent years – and many views have shifted over time. It’s reasonable to ask the question again.”
After he was elected Prime Minister in 2022, Mr Albanese appointed NSW MP Matt Thistlethwaite as a minister in charge of progressing a republic if Labor won a second term.
But the failure of the voice referendum saw Mr Thistlethwaite downgrade the issue and the portfolio was dumped in a pre-election reshuffle.
Sussan Ley is also a republican, but the Coalition does not support a referendum on the issue.
The 90-minute discussion with King Charles was held, unusually, behind closed doors inside the remote castle in Aberdeenshire, with even the Prime Minister’s aides being seen outside.
Charles continues to receive treatment for cancer and he came to Balmoral, one of his favourite residences, to recover from a busy schedule that included the lavish state banquet and visit by US President Donald Trump 10 days ago.
One of the key points on the King’s agenda in the fireside chat with the Prime Minister was the next visit by the royal family to Australia, but it was always unlikely that the King, with his health woes, and Queen Camilla, who struggles with long-haul jet lag, would return so soon after last year’s quick trip to Canberra and Sydney en route to the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Apia, Samoa in October.
Instead, the Prince and Princess of Wales, both 43, have been keen to bring their children to Australia, with the timing expected to coincide with British school holidays next year.
“We are hopeful that the Prince and Princess of Wales are able to visit as well and we are hopeful it might occur in the coming period,” Mr Albanese said.
Prince George, now 12, was nine months old when William and Catherine last came to Australia in 2014.
Princess Charlotte, 10, has been on overseas tours to Canada in 2016 and Poland and Germany in 2017, while Prince Louis, 7, has not been on a royal overseas tour.
A royal tour Down Under has been on Prince William’s radar for at least six years, but the Covid pandemic, then the death of Queen Elizabeth II – and the protocol that the King should visit each realm before other senior royals – came into play.
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