Aussies are still girt by monarchy

So, KCIII has finally turned up. King Charles III has finally undertaken the Australian leg of his victory lap of the Commonwealth. Surely, it’s time for an Australian head of state to be not only one of us but also resident and present.

It’s been over two years since the then Prince Charles stepped into the top job. This all changes between 18^th and 26^th October 2024 and marks the first time Australians have had a royal audience with their own king.

After over ten years, four governors-general and two monarchs, a sitting Australian Head of State is headed Down Under!

Our absentee King’s 17,000km journey from the other side of the world will see Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla grace us with the presence of the British monarch on Australian soil for the first time as our Head of State (although the grace will be presented only in Sydney and Canberra).

Next Monday, King Charles III will be greeted in Canberra by the prime minister, but not a single state leader who have all declined their invitations, citing “other commitments” ranging from election campaigns to cabinet meetings.

 It was less than two weeks ago that Queensland had its second King’s Birthday Public Holiday, even though KCIII’s actual birthday is 19 November. Queenslanders took the day off work; not in recognition of their hard work, but to recognise the British Monarch who will most likely be sleeping through our public holiday.

The King’s Birthday Public Holiday doesn’t remind us of anything good about our country. At worst, it tells us Australia’s head of state gets the job by inheritance.

You would’ve thought it would have been better if the British monarch had turned up for his own birthday weekend? I suppose though it would have been awkward: public holiday in Queensland only at this time of year (with WA a week before) and Queensland not even on the visiting schedule. Oops.

The lack of any public activity around the King’s Birthday Public Holiday shows also how the concept of monarchy is out-of-step with contemporary Australia. 

Since his birth as Prince Charles, KCIII has known he would take over the top job. Then one morning in 2022, Australians simply woke up to hear news from Britain that has changed our country for decades to come.

Australians did not choose King Charles III as our Head of State. It is a disgraceful fact that without constitutional change, the citizens of Australia will never be consulted on our head of state.

It’s time for an Australian to be our head of state and do the job full-time, rather than working from home at Windsor Castle where they can’t even be bothered Zooming into the Australian office at least once a week.

We are a unique multicultural country and we need someone who understands how to embody us, to be the guardian of our Constitution, to be a unifying symbol at home and someone we are proud to see representing us abroad. They should be elected on merit, not gifted the position by birthright. They should have the skills and work experience to do the job.

The person should be one of us, responsible and accountable to us, and unwaveringly loyal to us and only us.

We have our own identity as Australians. The Royals represent Britain, but cannot represent us or unite us as Australians. Australians believe in freedom and equal opportunity, not that some are born to rule over others.

We come from all walks of life, from all corners of the globe and this ancient land. Our shared commitment to our common future is what binds us together. Standing against this is the elevation of Charles III.

I’ve argued previously, there is no place for princes and kings in modern Australia. The public repudiation of previous Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s knights and dames decision showed that Australia has moved on from the old colonial way of thinking.

We can have respect and affection for Britain and its celebrity royals but still question why we do not have our own head of state. The royals are welcome to visit as representatives of Britain, but I look forward to when the British people and their royal family will welcome a visit by the first Australian head of state.

In the words of Sammy J:

So to our King, we say g’day and we praise his DNA, his ever-loyal subjects across the sea.

We might have golden soil and a bit of wealth for toil, but us Aussies are still girt by monarchy.

For us in Australia, royalty only ever visits us from somewhere else, from across the seas. It’s not something that lives with us. Royalty comes and royalty goes, but it is never a part of us.

Thanks Charles, but we’ve got it from here.

Toodle pip.

14 years of independent journalism: Happy Birthday Independent Australia!

Yesterday was Independent Australia's 14th birthday. The anniversary of the establishment of IA on 24 June 2010 comes a few days after the winter solstice, a time of reflection at a quiet time of the year. However, 14 years ago the birth of Independent Australia certainly didn’t happen during a time of political quiet.

I can remember 14 years ago when the first article was published — the day after the “night of long knives” when Julia Gillard rolled Kevin Rudd for the prime ministership.

At the same time Rudd was being deposed, Independent Australia emerged as an independent Australian voice.

As such, it is a relief that in a volatile and changing online media landscape, Independent Australia has not only managed to stay afloat but has become a strong alternate voice to the mainstream media.

Since those first days, IA founded by former Australian Republic Movement vice chair David Donovan, has become the premier republican voice in Australia — the modern-day version of The Bulletin in its heyday of the 1880s and 1890s.

Australia has a long tradition of independent, republican journalism. This tradition was first established in newspapers such as the People’s Advocate and the Empire of the 1840s and 1850s, and supported by The Age in the 1870s and 1880s.

This prevalent theme in publications continued into the 1890s, such as in the Newcastle Radical, the Wagga Hummer, the Cairns Advocate, the Melbourne Tocsin, the Hobart Clipper and John Norton’s Truth. But it was in the pages of The Bulletin of the 1880s and 1890s that the flowering of republican ideals can mostly noticeably be seen to emerge.

Over the past 14 years, the task I have has taken on with Independent Australia is to document some of our shared republican history. For this reporter, this historical journey had begun much earlier with a 1988 James Cook University history honours thesis, The Australian Republican: a Charters Towers based radical journal, 1890-1891.

Coincidentally, the first edition of the Australian Republican was published on 21 June 1890 — 125 years, almost to the day, before Independent Australia.

But there is still a great deal more to document. Australia’s republican past has a rich and deep seam. It is important to remember that our future is inextricably linked to our shared past.

It has been a long time since Australia has had such a strong republican voice. Australia’s republican voice has been lost for a long time.

There have certainly been many writers, artists, academics, and politicians who have actively advocated for an Australian republic over the past century — however, they have not had a home where they can all shelter under the same roof.

IA has become that space — a republican space, a republican civic space where republicans and others can debate the issues that are important to our political and civic future.

Thanks to David Donovan and all the contributors to IA, the republican tribe can look around and see who they are.

So, Happy Birthday Independent Australia and here’s to a long, independent life — and remember, every tribe needs a home.

Crisis Averted