After the death of the Queen: does the royal family still belong in Australia?

Australia’s cities still wear mourning ribbons after the Queen’s death. However, the debate is already raging as to whether the country should remain loyal to the British crown. But Australia will not become a republic that quickly.

Lola Forester is a presenter at an Aboriginal radio station in Sydney. She has little use for the funeral ceremonies in distant London. Racism and police violence are her themes today. The monarchy is a symbol of colonialism for many Aboriginal people in Australia.

And they are still suffering from the consequences, says the presenter. “We have mixed feelings. We finally want to be recognized as sovereign here. We want the same rights as everyone else in this country, and so far we haven’t had them.”

The first vote failed in 1999

In addition to the official flag, the native flag has only recently been permanently flying on the famous Harbor Bridge. Australia is at half mast. The death of the Queen has brought many across the country to pause. Also Ben Siderowitz. He’s just opening the London Pub. Despite his British ancestry, he would like a head of state with an Australian passport.

“Traditions are great and they’ve been around long enough. But we’re a new, different country,” he says. “We’ve developed our own identity. So it’s fitting that we take the Queen’s death as an opportunity to become a republic.”

In front of the Governor’s House, people lay flowers in memory of the Queen, with whom entire generations grew up. In order for Australia to become a republic, the constitution would have to be changed. By referendum. Such a vote failed in 1999.

Albanese does not want a debate for the time being

Royalists like Alessando Rossini of the Australian Monarchists League hope that the majority of Australians will continue to rely on a king – as a neutral figure beyond party cliques. The majority of Australians don’t trust their politicians, he says. “If you take that into account, the question arises why we should give politicians even more power with a republic. If that doesn’t work with the tasks that have been entrusted to us.”

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has traveled to London for the big funeral. During the mourning phase, he doesn’t want any debates about the republic. It is known that he wants her. The Prime Minister had already appointed a Secretary of State for Republican Affairs before the Queen’s death. But he doesn’t want to vote until a second term in three years at the earliest.

Historian McCreery: Many royal visitors

According to historian Cindy McCreery from the University of Sydney, there will often be royal visits in the meantime. Post-Brexit, Britain is looking to be close to allies around the world, and large, prosperous Australia is a prestigious partner. “From a British perspective, Australia ideally remains loyal to the British monarch. But if Australia does become a republic, it is in London’s interests that Australia remain part of the Commonwealth and remain a friend and ally.”

Sydney still wears a black ribbon every night. The Queen’s black-and-white portrait is projected onto the Opera’s white sails after sunset. But after Elizabeth’s funeral. II the debate should really start as to how much of the British royal family still fits to Australia.