AN Australian MP has said she believes her country will eventually become a republic following King Charles’s ascension to the throne.
Fiona Patten, who sits in the upper house of the Parliament of Victoria, said even though there was a deep affection for Queen Elizabeth in Australia, there is now a realisation that to be a “grown-up country” it must have an elected head of state.
Queen Elizabeth was the first reigning British monarch to ever visit the Oceanic nation in 1954, when around 70% of the population turned out to see her and Prince Philip.
They visited almost 60 towns and cities at the time over a two-month period and she made the long journey more than 16 times in total during her 70-year-reign – the final time being in 2011 when she was 85.
Given her dedication, many Australians have always held her in high regard, but there is an acknowledgement Charles will not be as popular.
Former prime minister and republican Malcolm Turnbull once famously said many Australians are “Elizabethans” not monarchists, evoking the nation’s love of the late monarch but illustrating there would inevitably be calls for change once she passed.
Patten, who believes Australia should be a republic, said she would like to think a referendum on the issue could happen in around five years’ time.
She told the National: “I have no doubt we will become a republic.
“I can’t see Charles being as popular here. There is this idea that if we are to be a grown-up nation then we need to be a republic. I think there is a growing recognition of that.
“I don’t think right now is the time for that question, our prime minister rightly said that now is the time to be recognising the passing of an extraordinary woman.
“I would hope in five years, we would be looking at becoming a republic. The line from Malcolm Turnbull is one that many people have been using, that you can be an Elizabethan and a republican and they’re not exclusive.”
The last time the question of becoming a republic was put to Australians was in 1999, when the notion was rejected by 54.87% to 45.13%.
New republican Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has recently declined to address the question again as a mark of respect, but his Labor government – elected in May – has already flagged its intention to hold a referendum if voted in for a second term.
However, the Queen’s death has come at a tricky time constitutionally for the country.
Last month, Albanese released a proposed draft change to the constitution to recognise Indigenous Australians with a voice to parliament.
This would require a referendum, in which Australians would be asked whether they agree to a body being formed called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, which would allow Indigenous people to make representations to the Parliament of Australia and the executive government on matters that affect them.
While it has been widely acknowledged that that referendum should take precedence over any question of a republic, Patten insisted it has created some tension.
Patten, who is leader of the Reason Party, said: “It’s come at a very inopportune moment [the Queen’s death].
“We’re trying to recognise our Indigenous history so, in doing that, at the moment in Victoria we’re negotiating a treaty process with the Indigenous people of Victoria – 200 plus years late, but we’re starting that treaty process.
“At a federal level, we’re starting to think about how we can incorporate an Indigenous voice to parliament within our constitution, which will require a referendum.
“Of course, to become a republic also requires a referendum.
“So there’s this real tension in Australia at the moment where, there’s a lot of affection for the Queen, but possibly well over half of us would like to become a republic, and we’d like to feel like we’re a grown-up country and have our own head of state, but we’re also grappling with the colonialism of our past.
“The Queen was seen with affection in Australia, but I think it was always said that when she died we could have a proper conversation about becoming a republic.
“But now we’re going through the process of having a referendum on enshrining that indigenous voice in Parliament, we’re all acknowledging that that should take precedence.”
Not only has the Queen’s passing reignited the monarchy debate in Australia, but it’s also led to questions about what a republic would look like if that is the path the people eventually choose.
However, Patten said the reason the 1999 referendum was lost was due to it going into too much detail about how exactly a head of state would be elected. Many people took issue with the proposal the president would be appointed by parliament.
She said any future referendum should only pose the question of whether or not Australia should become a republic and go no further.
She said: “The minute we start talking about the detail is the minute we lose the argument.
“There are a number of processes that people are putting forward, but as a republican, I’m very careful about saying let’s stick to whether we want to become a republic or not and then we can work out how the process for electing a head of state will work [after that].”
