17 October 2018
“We can’t have this lingering deathwatch.”
The Queen has had her say. Australians should now have theirs.
Authoritative reports from senior royal reporter and author Robert Hardman
reveal that Queen Elizabeth II dismisses the idea Australia should wait until
after her death to become a republic with an Australian head of state.
Monarchists and others in Australia who say they want to wait out of respect
for the Queen are doing her no favours.
A majority of Australians have repeatedly said they support an Australian
republic.
The Parliament should now get on with preparing for a national vote in 2020
to get in principle agreement to change and to give Australians a say about
how a head of state is chosen, before a referendum in 2022.
The royal family itself has begun its preparations for succession with the
decision that a future King Charles will be Head of the Commonwealth – and
it is now a matter of record that the Queen herself finds the prospect of
Australia conducting a “lingering deathwatch” ridiculous and distasteful.
More importantly, so do the Australian people.
