When Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull met the Queen in July 2017, the country’s most famous Republican walked out of the audience in a daze. Speaking to reporters outside Buckingham Palace, Mr Turnbull said that while he did not yet support the monarchy, he was nevertheless a “very strong Elizabethan”. After the Queen’s death last week, many republicans in the Commonwealth realms, those 14 former colonies that retain the British monarch as head of state, echoed Mr Turnbull’s comments, praising the Queen’s long service and personal character and the deep connection of many people around the world felt with her. However, such a connection is not felt with King Charles. While his place in staunchly monarchical Britain is not in doubt, keeping the loyalty of the rest of the Commonwealth may be much more difficult. (The majority of its 56 members do not already have the British monarch as their head of state.) Polls in Australia consistently show strong support for republicanism, although voters rejected that option when it went to a referendum in 1999, largely because of disagreements over how an elected head of state would operate. Many Australian Republicans – including Mr Turnbull, who led the 1999 campaign – have held onto their dust ever since, happily waiting until the Queen dies to start a new push. And while they took care to show respect for the late monarch, that time arrived. Queen Elizabeth greets Malcolm Turnbull, then Prime Minister of Australia, at a 2018 Commonwealth Summit in London. Victoria Jones/Pool via REUTERS Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attends the 9/11 ceremony declaring Charles the new King of Australia. Tracey Nearmy/Getty Images After Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was elected in May, ending nearly a decade out of power for the Labor Party, he appointed an assistant minister for democracy, the first time the government has had such a role. But Mr Albanese, who supports abandoning the monarchy, has made it clear that a referendum on enshrining an indigenous voice in Australia’s constitution will take precedence over changing the country’s head of state. With the Queen’s death, however, he will be under pressure to deliver on both fronts. “Rest in peace Queen Elizabeth II,” Adam Budd, the leader of the Greens, the country’s third largest party, tweeted on Friday. “Now Australia has to step up. We need a treaty with the First Nations people and we need to become a Republic.” In a statement, the Australian Democracy Movement cited the Queen’s own statements in support of its cause. “Queen Elizabeth has respected the self-determination of the Australian people,” ARM said, adding that she “supported the right of Australians to become a fully independent nation in the 1999 referendum on an Australian republic, saying she had always made it clear that its future Monarchy in Australia is a matter for the Australian people and them alone to decide, by democratic and constitutional means.” Earlier this year, ARM presented a new proposal for how an elected head of state would operate, part of an effort to address any uncertainty ahead of a potential referendum. Under the group’s proposal, voters would choose from a list of candidates nominated by Canberra and Australia’s state and territory parliaments. ARM claims its poll shows 73 percent of voters would support such a system, giving it “a better chance of success in a referendum than any other model previously proposed.” Liberal MP Jason Falinski, who chairs a pro-democracy caucus, called it “significant progress” and called on his right-wing party, which is more divided on the issue than Labor or the Greens, to support the plan. An Aboriginal dancer performs in Canberra alongside Mr Albanese and Governor-General David Hurley, second from left. Mick Tsikas/AAP/The Associated Press The flag of the Solomon Islands flies at half-mast in Honiara, the capital, on September 9 in memory of its monarch. Charley Piringi/AFP via Getty Images Members of the Royal Bahamas Police Force take part in the ceremony to crown the new King in Nassau on September 11. Dante Carrer/Reuters Even before the Queen’s death, there was a growing movement towards republicanism in all spheres of the Commonwealth. Barbados voted to become a republic in 2021. This week, the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda said his country would hold a similar referendum. Jamaica is likely to follow. When William and Catherine, now the Prince and Princess of Wales, visited in March, Prime Minister Andrew Holness told the couple that his country intended “to fulfill our true ambition to be an independent, fully developed and prosperous country”. . Australia is the largest Commonwealth realm after Canada and one of the closest in terms of culture and politics to Britain itself. In the event of a break with the monarchy, many have predicted that the slow domino effect that began in Barbados will cascade. “It would be very strange to have Charles as our head of state while Australia has theirs,” Lewis Holden, the head of the New Zealand Republic campaign, told The Globe and Mail in January. One of the biggest complications with such a move in New Zealand would be the Crown’s relationship with the Maori population, as some indigenous people fear democracy could undermine the Treaty of Waitangi, the country’s founding document. But in February the Maori Party, which previously opposed such a move, called for the Queen to be removed as head of state. “Our vision is for constitutional transformation that will rebalance the scales of power in Aotearoa,” the party said, using the country’s indigenous name. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks in Wellington on September 9. Mark Mitchell/New Zealand Herald via AP Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is herself a Republican, but told a press conference on Monday that replacing the head of state was not a top priority. “I think it’s likely to happen in my lifetime, but I don’t see it as a short-term measure or something that’s on the agenda anytime soon,” he said. For his part, Mr Holden declined to comment further, issuing only a brief statement expressing his “sincere condolences”. In an e-mail to supporters on Sunday, the Republic of New Zealand reiterated its policy of not commenting until after the Queen’s funeral and asked members to “keep things respectful”. But after September 19, Mr. Holden wrote, “our campaign begins again in earnest.” With a report from the Associated Press
Map: Countries where King Charles is head of state
Saint Vincent and the grenadines MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: SOCIETY SECRETARIAT; BOARD OF DIRECTORS EXTERNAL RELATIONS Saint Vincent and the grenadines MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: SOCIETY SECRETARIAT; COUNCIL OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS KINSHIPS Saint Vincent and the grenadines MURAT YÜKSELIR / THE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: SOCIETY SECRETARIAT; COUNCIL ON FOREIGN RELATIONS
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