Editorial: Republic dream is slipping further away

Not so long ago, an Australian republic seemed an inevitability. Eventually, we would have to get our act together and become a proper, grown-up country with one of our own as head of state. Even our now-King himself thought so. “This is something which only you — the Australian people — can decide,” the then-prince Charles said in Sydney in 1994, acknowledging gathering republican sentiment. “Personally, I happen to think that it is the sign of a mature and self-confident nation to debate those issues and to use the democratic process to re-examine the way in which you want to face the future.” It was generally accepted that we would wait an appropriate, respectful amount of time after the death of Queen Elizabeth II and set the wheels in motion. But then Elizabeth did die after a 70-year reign. And nothing happened. Despite having a lifelong republican as prime minister in Anthony Albanese. Despite the fact that 29 per cent of Australians were born overseas and about half have a parent born overseas. Despite there being many Australians with zero ancestral ties to the United Kingdom. The appetite simply isn’t there. Instead of being an inevitability, an Australian republic now seems almost an impossibility. If we can’t get it together now, when will we? King Charles and Queen Camilla’s visit has reignited some republican rumblings but it’s been half-hearted at best. For the most part, Australians are fairly accepting of the strange anachronism that our head of state is a philandering toff from the opposite side of the world. If anything, the monarchy’s distance from our day-to-day affairs — both geographically and metaphorically — is seen as one of its strengths. One reason we’ve consistently failed to muster enough enthusiasm to go it alone is that our most high profile republicans are, generally speaking, pretty unlikeable. Craig Foster, Eddie McGuire and Peter FitzSimons aren’t the type to inspire Australians to action. More the type to irritate them into switching off. It’s not all the republic movement’s fault. There’s also the referendum fatigue left behind as a hangover of the failed Voice to Parliament push. Australians have always been constitutionally conservative and are now even more wary of change. Revolutionary zeal is for the French and Americans. Australians favour an “if it ain’t broke” mentality, which has been exploited to great effect by supporters of the monarchy. Their key argument — that the system we have functions well enough so why go to the bother of changing it — is difficult to counter. For most Australians, whether to sever ties with the British monarchy is not a pressing concern. Not when we’ve got dual housing and cost-of-living crises occupying our agenda. But if we wait for all our problems to resolve themselves before we set about making change, we might be waiting a few centuries more. Or we could be that mature and self-confident country Charles spoke about three decades ago and take control of our own national destiny. Responsibility for the editorial is taken by Editor-in-Chief Christopher Dore