Ten “everyday” Australian citizens from across all states and territories will travel with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and governor general, David Hurley, to attend the London funeral of Queen Elizabeth II next week.
Albanese announced on Tuesday that, in addition to the invitations extended to Australia’s heads of state, Buckingham Palace had wanted to invite 10 Australians who had made “extraordinary contributions to their communities, and who represent Australian culture and values”.
The invitees include the Australian of the Year, Dylan Alcott, Senior Australians of the Year from this year and last, Valmai Dempsey and Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr Baumann, “local heroes” Shanna Whan, Saba Abraham and Kim Smith, the Western Australian Australian of the year, Helen Milroy, the South Australian Young Australian of the Year, Trudy Lin, the i4give Day founder, Danny Abdallah, and the Australian Racing Hall of Fame’s Chris Waller.
Albanese said the invited Australians “embody an extraordinary contribution to our nation”, and dismissed questions on whether any of those attending the funeral supported Australia becoming a republic, saying they had not been asked.
“The Australians who have been invited, I think, embody an extraordinary contribution to our nation,” he said.
“We are paying respect here, and I think frankly what we did objectively at very short notice, was appoint people who objectively you can see, it wasn’t a political decision, it was people who had served their country and had been given significant recognition.”
Albanese said Waller, who had trained the Queen’s racehorses, was well known to the late monarch.
“We would like to think that Her Majesty would be particularly pleased that Chris Waller has been chosen,” he said.
The 10 invitees will leave Australia on Thursday on a private Royal Australian Air Force jet with Albanese, Hurley and their partners. The travelling party will then join with the acting high commissioner, Lynette Wood, in the UK to attend the funeral.
Albanese said he was not yet in a position to confirm which Pacific island leaders would also be travelling with the Australian delegation, with details still being finalised. He said all Pacific island leaders with a connection to the Commonwealth had been invited.
The prime minister confirmed that he would have an audience with Australia’s new head of state, King Charles III, while in the UK, and was also hopeful of a bilateral meeting with the UK’s new prime minister, Liz Truss, on Sunday.
“This is a moving feast with our diaries and getting all of the detail right, (but) at this stage there is a tentative agreement to meet with Prime Minister Truss.”
He said he was always available to meet with US President Joe Biden if logistics allowed, however the “primary reason for visiting” was to attend the memorial service for Queen Elizabeth II.
Albanese, who has been reluctant to countenance discussion about Australia becoming a republic in the wake of the Queen’s death, also shot down a question about whether King Charles should be featured on Australia’s $5 note.
“I’m speaking about a funeral that will take place of Queen Elizabeth II next Monday and I’m being asked a question about a replacement on the $5 note. I think this is a time where a bit of respect is required, and, you know, we will deal with these issues appropriately, and in an orderly way, in a way that is respectful, so I have not turned my attention towards that matter,” he said.
