Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has stymied calls for a referendum or even debate on whether Australia should become a republic with a piss-weak “now is not the time” response. But if after the death of our head of state is not the right time to at least discuss their role in Australia’s future, when is?
“Now is not a time to talk about our system of government, now is a time for us to pay tribute to the life of Queen Elizabeth,” he told the ABC on Sunday.
Albanese reiterated on Monday morning the only referendum he wanted to see during this term of parliament was the referendum on the Indigenous Voice to parliament, which is already in the works. So what about the rest of the three-year term?
“The Labor Party’s position is clear. We don’t have a timetable,” he said.
“I made it clear before the last election what our intention was during this term. That is the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait people in our constitution.
“I said at the time I couldn’t envisage a circumstance where we changed our head of state to an Australian head of state but still didn’t recognise First Nations people in our constitution. And the fact that we live with the oldest continuous culture on earth. So that’s our priorities this term. I made that very clear before the election.”
Albanese has been famously pro-republic for much of his long political career. Two years ago he talked about “the need for us to have an Australian head of state … the need for us to stand on our own two feet”.
A year earlier he called Australia becoming a republic as an idea “as simple as that” for a mature state like ours.
He even created the new Assistant Minister for the Republic role when he was elected, which is held by Matt Thistlethwaite
Our thoughts are with her family and all who loved her.
Now Australia must move forward.
We need Treaty with First Nations people, and we need to become a Republic.
— Adam Bandt (@AdamBandt) September 8, 2022
