The controversy over the visit of King Charles III to Australia that revives the debate about whether the country should become a republic

King Charles III will visit Australia next week, on his longest trip since being diagnosed with cancer earlier this year.

The visit, which will take place between October 18 and 26, will end in Samoa, where King Charles and Queen Camilla will attend a meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government.

The planned arrival of the kings to Australia has generated controversy, since Australian monarchists They have accused state premiers of “insulting” King Charlessince they will not be present at the reception that will welcome you to the country.

It has also intensified the debate about the future of the monarchy, an issue that has always been present in the former British colony.

Charles III has confirmed that It is the Australian people who must decide whether the country remains a constitutional monarchy with him as head of state or becomes a republic.

This occurs at a time when it seems that the second option seems to have gained weight in Australian public opinion in relation to past times.

The visit of the British monarchs will include a reception in Canberra, but the six state premiers (from New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania) announced that they will not be able to attend.

“I find it insulting”Bev McArthur of the Australian Monarchist League told the media.

“They should take off their Republican hats, take a quick trip to Canberra, say ‘hello and thank you for coming to Australia’,” he added.

Buckingham Palace has not commented on the dispute.

The king will also be formally received by the country’s prime minister, Anthony Albanese.

Australia is part of the Commonwealth, an organization that brings together 56 countries, most of them former British colonies.

Although it has been an independent nation since 1901, continues to recognize the British monarch as its head of statecurrently King Charles III.

Its role, however, is rather symbolic, since the government of this country is a parliamentary democracy with an autonomous political system whose head of government is today Anthony Albanese, of the Australian Labor Party.

The debate over its status as a constitutional monarchy has been constant over the years.

In 1999 a referendum was held on this issue, in which the majority of Australians decided to maintain the status quo.

Since the accession of Charles III to the throne in September 2022, the debate has resurfaced, with some sectors that promote a new consultation to definitively break formal ties with the British monarchy.

Advocates of a republic argue that the Australian head of state should not be the monarch, but someone elected at the polls.

Earlier this year, Australia’s government said plans for another referendum were “not a priority.”

Referendums are the only way to change Australia’s Constitution and historically have an 80% failure rate.

Despite this debate, Australia and the United Kingdom maintain close relations in almost all areas, from commerce to defense and culture.

Still, Australia has recently sought to diversify its alliances, especially with countries in the Asia-Pacific region, and has strengthened its ties with the United States on regional security.

In the context of the upcoming visit, the Australian Republican Movement (ARM) exchanged correspondence with Buckingham Palace officials, who they wrote in the name of Charles III.

It was a friendly exchange, after the pro-republic organization requested a meeting with the king during the trip.

The palace letter, written in March and now revealed by the British newspaper Daily Mail, reaffirms the existing position of the monarchy.

“Please be assured that your views on this matter have been taken into account with great care,” Buckingham Palace tells ARM in its letter.

“Her Majesty, as a constitutional monarch, acts on the advice of her ministers, and whether Australia becomes a republic is therefore a matter for the Australian people to decide,” he concludes.

The letter adds that Charles III and Camilla have a “deep love and affection” for Australia and appreciate the “consideration” of Australian Republicans for addressing them.

The Australian Republican Movement has launched a campaign describing the king’s upcoming visit to the country as the “farewell tour” of the British monarchy.

According to its promoters, the campaign, which includes a product drive, seeks to generate debate about the role of the crown in modern Australia, but many monarchists consider it offensive.

On satirical posters, T-shirts, coasters and other items, the ARM campaign shows the King, Queen and Prince of Wales as aging rock stars and urges Australians “young and old” to “say goodbye to monarchical rule”.

“We expect a full-time, fully committed head of state whose only loyalty is to us, a unifying symbol at home and abroad,” Esther Anatolitis, co-president of the movement, declared in a statement on Monday.

Since the Republicans’ failure in the 1999 referendum, public support for the cause has increased.

The organization cited a survey that suggested 92% of Australians are either “supportive of a republic” or “open to it.”

And more than 40% of Australians surveyed They did not know that the head of state of their country was a foreign monarch.

The Australian Monarchist League (AML) called the ARM poll “inflated and called its new campaign “terribly disrespectful to Charles, given his ongoing battle with cancer.”

Another independent survey suggests that approximately e35% of the population prefers to continue living under a constitutional monarchy.

Although Australia’s prime minister is an avowed republican, his government earlier this year suspended any plans to hold a vote on separating from the British monarchy, saying it was no longer a priority issue.

Constitutional votes in Australia are rare and difficult to pass, requiring a “double majority”: the support of more than half of the nation as a whole and a majority in at least four of its six states.

Only 8 of a total of 44 referendums They have been successful and almost all of them had support from the two main parties in power.

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