 SYDNEY, Aug 17: Australian prime minister Julia Gillard (right) wants Australia to become a republic when the Queen dies and plans to lead a national debate on the form the republic would take.
Ms Gillard said today that despite being a republican, she understood that Australians had a “deep affection” for the British monarch, who is 84.
“What I would like to see as prime minister is that we can work our way through to an agreement for the model of a republic,” she said while campaigning in the north Queensland city of Townsville, ahead of Saturday's election.
“But I would think the appropriate time for this nation to move to being a republic is when we see the monarch change.”
Her comments put her absolutely at odds with Tony Abbott, who is a staunch monarchist and was at the centre of the anti-republican cause in the 1999 referendum, which rejected the notion of change.
Campaigning with Wayne Swan in the crucial marginal seat of Herbert, Ms Gillard said she wished the Queen a long and happy life.
“Having watched her mother I think there's every chance that she will live a long and happy life,” she said.
Tony Abbott said later it was “far from certain” that Australia will become a republic in his lifetime and he saw no reason to change the existing constitutional arrangements.
“I think the first person who wanted Australia to become a republic was John Dunmore Lang back in the 1850s,” the Opposition Leader told the National Press Club in Canberra.
“This republican cause has been with us for a long time but the Australian people have demonstrated themselves to be remarkably attached to institutions that work.
“I think that our existing constitutional arrangements have worked well in the past. I see no reason whatsoever why they can’t continue to work well in the future.
"So while there may very well be further episodes of republicanism in this country, I am far from certain that at least in our lifetimes that there’s likely to be any significant change.” |
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