It's time for an Australian republic

[Hairday]

It's hard to defend it rationally, really, but Queen Elizabeth always seemed better than some elected person, but King Charles doesn't. What do you think?

I'm in Australia and I'm not aware of any talk of a republic. There is sadness, and talk of seeing how Charles will go, but no republic talk. Albo has said " no referendum for a few years" and I'm sure that is right.

OP's opinion is as valid as anyone else's , but it isn't a prevalent one at the moment.

I'm Australian. The older generation like the monarchy because it's what they know & misinformation is rife. I was told by my 75 year old mother yesterday that I didn't know what I was asking for. Apparently we'll end up with a trump style government if we go republic!

I'm irritated by all monarchy as I feel they're outdated & pointless celebrities. I largely don't care, though. I only get angry when royals come here to swan about with no real benefit. It costs millions & we have families sleeping on the street, but apparently there's no money to help them.

I'd vote yes to a republic, but won't be picketing in the street to get that vote. It'll happen though. It just depends on when.

I suppose the main thing would be to update the constitution. It needs updating anyway.

For myself (and I have dual citizenship with the UK anyway) I feel that it's embarrassing. Australia is a multicultural country. We have strong ties with Asia especially and Pacific region countries. We don't really need our flag, for example, proclaiming our colonialist past. Australia day should not be the first day of occupation. Charles should not be head of state. The national anthem should not contain the line "britannia rules the waves". Cringe. I mean, sure, they're details, but also it might be better to change.

@CoolerThanIceCream NZ have already stated there is no plan to change the country's status to a republic at this point in time.

I don't know how common an opinion this is but I had an Australian tour guide who said they thought the most appropriate time to become a republic would be after the Australian WWII veterans have died. At the time they would have been fighting for "King and Country" so this person felt it would be more respectful to the sacrifices they made.

Right, and so many British accents sound so much better.

People replacing ‘th’ with ‘f’. Not even being able to speak English properly (I’ve never heard other English speakers come out with the ‘I seen…, ‘I done…’ atrocities.

They sound very ‘common’ to my ears, and they’re only the tip of the iceberg.

Well, us 'common' Aussies don't care what accent a person has or where they come from. It's the words that come out of their mouth that counts, and yours are extremely offensive. Please keep your rude comments to yourself.

I feel really mixed feelings about this. I don't want an American style republic at all. Having English, Irish and Scottish heritage, I feel a great affinity for the UK and greatly admired the Queen. And yet having listened to the thoughts and feelings of many First Nations people over these past few days, I'm starting to feel like a republic is the fresh start we need as a nation to truly come together and make up for some of the horrors of the past.

I agree, the remnants of British colonialism just don't fit well with what I see as the identity and culture of Australia, now and into the future. A change to the constitution and head of state won't change everything but it's part of what needs to change.

And I say that as a dual British citizen with a British parent and a British partner, I love the UK too but Australia's ties to it are outdated and obstructive to progress.

Are you Australian??

I agree with this sentiment entirely.

I don't care what accent a person has or where they come from either?? Just that this certain accent I don't like because I think it sounds common, to me personally.

He's only been king for 4 days! He's hardly slept and he's been here there and everywhere and you're condemning him already. Give the guy a break already.

He's far too busy to be reading threads on Mumsnet, don't worry!

No.

Haha. I hope so or he's going to have his spirit crushed.

@Keyansier

I don't care what accent a person has or where they come from either?? Just that this certain accent I don't like because I think it sounds common, to me personally.

But the fact you even mentioned negatively it on a thread that is not about accents shows you do care. You are certainly entitled to an opinion, but there really wasn't a need to share it here. Remember, too, that accents are born of circumstance: that is, the reason Australians sound they way they do is because of English colonialism.

Re: the thought of an Australian republic, this has been floated before in a referendum (25 years or so ago?) and failed. The answer might be different now. For me, I think the country is nearly ready for a new phase, but not just yet. I do believe there are some global structural changes occurring, so it would be best to wait these out at least.

@Getofftheladder, there's a lot of talk about it.....the prime minister, who was elected last year, is a huge supporter of Australia bring a republic. He wasn't pushing any agenda during his election but it's definitely building momentum. The queen's death will just fuel the discussion.

So you’ve changed your tune to just speaking for yourself now, instead of for all British people….

Which national anthem contains “Britannia rules the waves” @Hairday ?

I'm Australian and want nothing more than Australia to be a republic. I don't recognize either the queen or king as head of state.
I don't think they add anything to our way of life or represent who we are.

Luckily the national anthem doesn’t contain those words…..

The Australian PM was already asked this and he said he could never rule it out but it isn't in this term's agenda because they're concentrating on the economy.

Personally I love the Australian accent. We spent a few days down in Sidney and along the East Coast and everyone was super friendly. We had a great time there.

Not any more, but it used to. They keep watering it down. Most recently they replaced "we are young and free" with "we are one and free". It turns out "young" referred to the nation and we've been belting out racist lyrics all this time. (stupidly, that never occurred to me, I thought the song writers were referring to their own youth because before that it was "australian sons let us rejoice" that got replaced with "Australians all..." ).

Basically, an ode to the British empire keeps getting nerfed to the point of meaninglessness. What does "one and free" even mean? Nobody actually meant to say that, it was just the closest non-offensive alternative. The whole anthem is like that now.