The Shadow King

The second in line to the title 'King of Australia', Prince William, is in Australia for only the second time, the other being when he was 10 months old.

After a week in New Zealand representing his grandmother, William will be three days in Australia to "get to know Australia", although he will visit only Sydney and Melbourne.

Last year, William launched England's bid to host the 2018 World Cup football tournament, and since that time has been lobbying extensively for the English bid. Australia also has an excellent bid for the 2018 hosting rights but, to date, William has not issued a word of support or even acknowledged Australia's bid. To have a future head of state who lobbies against Australian interests in favour of his own country is unacceptable for any sovereign nation. It offends the independence and aspirations of the Australian people.

The most recent polling shows that 59% of Australians are republicans and want an Aussie as head of state. The monarchy has little relevance to Australia because it no longer represents the nation's values or sense of itself.

If William wants to develop a belated meaningful relationship with us, he could start with acknowledging the aspirations of the majority of Australians.

Three cheers for the coming republic!

More links at:
David Donovan, 19 January 2010 at http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/prince-williams-australia-tour-who-cares/
Rory Gibson, 'What does the Queen have against Queensland?", 19 January 2010 at http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,,26603940-3102,00.html