King Charles III’s visit rekindles Australia’s debate on ending ties to the British monarchy

king charles iii And Queen Camilla will arrive in Sydney on Friday (October 18) for the first Australian visit by a reigning monarch in more than a decade, a visit that has reignited debate about the country’s constitutional relationship with Britain.

The iconic sails of the Sydney Opera House will be illuminated with images from previous royal visits to welcome the couple, whose six-day visit will be brief by royal standards. 75-year-old King Charles is undergoing treatment for cancerDue to which the itinerary was shortened.

Also read: Commonwealth realm: Which countries will King Charles III be head of? Will that change?

He is only the second British monarch to visit Australia. His mother, Queen Elizabeth II, became the first queen 70 years ago.

While the welcome would be warm, Australia’s national and state leaders want the royals removed from their constitution.

Monarchists hope the visit will strengthen Australians’ connection with their sovereignty. Opponents hope to reject the concept that someone from the other side of the world is Australia’s premier.

Also read: Australia is removing the British monarchy from its banknotes

The Australian Republic Movement (ARM), which campaigns for an Australian citizen to replace the British monarch as head of state, compared the royal visit to a touring show in the entertainment industry.

ARM this week “Say goodbye to the royal reign with Monarchy: The Farewell Oz Tour!” Started a campaign called.

ARM co-chairwoman Esther Anatolitis said the royal visits to Australia were “like a show coming to town.” “Unfortunately, this is a reminder that Australia’s head of state is not full-time, is not Australian. This is a part-time person based abroad who is the head of state of several places,” Ms Anatolitis explained. AP.

‘We say to Charles and Camilla: You are welcome, we hope you are enjoying our country and in good health and good spirits.’ But we are also keen that this will be the last visit by the current Australian monarch and we look forward to welcoming him as visiting dignitaries when he returns to visit soon,” he said.

Philip Benwell, national president of the Australian Monarchist League, which campaigns to maintain Australia’s constitutional ties with Britain, expects the reaction to the royal couple to be overwhelmingly positive.

“Something like a royal visit brings the king closer in people’s minds because we have an absent monarchy,” Mr Benwell said.

“The king’s visit shows that Australia is a constitutional monarchy and it has a king,” he said.

Mr Benwell is critical of the prime ministers of all six states who have declined invitations to attend the reception for King Charles in the national capital Canberra.

Each prime minister reported that they had more engagements that day, such as cabinet meetings and foreign travel.

“It will be virtually an obligation for the Prime Ministers to meet them in Canberra and pay their respects,” Benwell said. “Not attending could be considered an insult as this is not a normal tour. This is the first visit by a monarch to Australia.” King Charles had become involved in the Australian republic debate months before his visit.

The Australian Republic Movement had written to Charles in December last year requesting him to hold a meeting in Australia and plead their cause to the King. Buckingham Palace politely wrote in March to say the king’s meetings would be decided by the Australian government. The meeting with the ARM does not appear in the official itinerary.

“Whether Australia becomes a republic is a matter for the Australian people to decide,” the letter from Buckingham Palace said.

The Associated Press Have seen copies of both the letters.

Australians decided to retain Queen Elizabeth II as head of state in a referendum in 1999. That outcome is widely believed to be the result of disagreement over how the president should be chosen, rather than majority support for a monarch.

After visiting Sydney and Canberra, which are 250 km (155 miles) apart, Charles will travel to Samoa to inaugurate the annual Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.

When his mother made the last of her 16 visits to Australia in 2011 at the age of 85, she visited Canberra, Brisbane and Melbourne on the east coast before opening the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in the west coast city of Perth.

At the age of 27, Elizabeth’s first arduous Australian tour took place in remote outback towns; An estimated 75% of the country’s population turned out to see him.

Australia then had a racially discriminatory policy that favored British immigrants. Immigration policy has been non-discriminatory since 1973.

Ms Anatolitis said Australia was now far more multicultural, with the majority of the population either born overseas or with foreign-born parents.

“In the ’50s we didn’t have the global interconnectedness that we have now,” he said.