Australia’s place under the crown has been called into question as King Charles III’s lands down under on Friday.
The previous referendum on the issue occurred in 1999, with 54.9 per cent of respondents voting against becoming a republic.
The Briefing spoke to Alexander Voltz of the Australian Monarchist League and Esther Anatolitis from the Australian Republic Movement to the case for and against becoming a republic.
The Briefing host Sacha Barbour Gatt hears the key arguments from a monarchist and a republican.
Alexander said the costs of holding a referendum far outweighed the costs of hosting royal visits, making the switch to a republic an unnecessary burden on taxpayers.
“Simply for the same price of having the referendum and asking the question, we could finance royal visits for the next 1204 years.”
He also criticised the Republic Movement’s ‘Monarchy: The Farewell Oz Tour’ campaign ahead of Charles’s visit as “juvenile.”
“I don’t know if it’s going to translate on the ground. And this is my point, you know, I don’t think Australian people want these cheap jibes, if you like. They want a long-form considered debate.”
Esther, meanwhile, said King Charles was a “part-time head of state” who was neither responsible nor accountable to Australians.
“We’re not a fully realised Australian democracy until we have a state who is elected by us and accountable only to us.”
She said the cost argument against a referendum was a “distraction” and that costs would be typical of governmental administration.
“The cost every single time a government changes, state, local, federal, every election… those are the basic administrative costs of the machinery of government.”
Anatolitis also said that Australia is one of few Commonwealth countries that hadn’t yet become a republic and that becoming a republic wouldn’t affect our relationship with the rest of the Commonwealth.
By Zack Goutzoulas, a Master of Journalism student at the University of Melbourne.
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