There will be mixed reactions, as King Charles will visit Australia amid cost-of-living crisis and a renewed debate on the republic.
On King Charles’s 17th visit to Australia,
Starting on October 18 to 26, 2024, the nation remains divided. For monarchists, the trip was a celebration of the Crown replete with regalia and pomp and circumstance. The University of Queensland Monarchist League’s annual ball was an event that drew excited crowds of people. Many Australians, however, could not be bothered about the trip as they are concerned with the cost-of-living crisis, among other everyday struggles that befall them.
His five-day tour across 10 time zones and 16,000 km
Marks a poignant moment in the life of the British king, with Charles then undergoing cancer treatment, underlining his strong relationship with Australia, where he spent some time for his education as a teenage prince. Some students and royalists like Eliza Kingston claim that he is still one of the biggest characters in Australian history and culture, though recent polls point to a waning enthusiasm for the monarchy.
A Roy Morgan Research survey after King Charles’
Coronation showed that 60% of Australians wanted to remain a constitutional monarchy. In contrast, YouGov’s poll in 2023 showed a slight decline in favor for the monarchy, with only 35% supporting it, whereas 32% believed that Australia should become a republic. For this reason, Australian Republic Movement has revived their call for independence from the monarchy and perceives King’s visit as nearly a “farewell tour.”
Well-known republican Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
Will welcome King Charles to Australia, but his government has shelved plans for a referendum on the republic amid more pressing issues, such as rising living costs. Last year’s unsuccessful referendum on constitutional recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people also complicated any future bid for constitutional reform, as many Indigenous Australians feel that unresolved issues from Australia’s colonial past still need attention.
Yet, despite the pomp and ceremony accorded the visit of King Charles, that visit really marks something much more largely representative of the changing face of Australia: seen as it is through the lenses of colonial history and modern-day multiculturalism.