Australian PM plays down chance of referendum to remove British monarch as head of state

Sydney – Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Feb 20 played down the chance of a vote to remove the British monarch as Australia’s head of state following the

arrest of former prince Andrew

.

Mr Albanese, who favours changing his country to a republic, said Mr Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest and detention on suspicion of misconduct in public office represented “an extraordinary fall from grace”.

But he appeared to rule out holding a vote to remove King Charles, Mr Andrew’s brother, as Australian head of state, recalling a

failed 2023 referendum on indigenous people’s rights

that he supported during his first term in office.

“I’m a Republican, but we had a referendum during the last term. Referendums are hard to pass in Australia,” Mr Albanese said when asked in an interview with The Guardian if Australia should reassess its ties with the monarchy.

He said he had a good relationship with King Charles, who he said loved Australia.

“But that doesn’t change the fact that I think there should be an Australian head of state,” Mr Albanese said.

Australia was a British colony for more than 100 years and gained de facto independence in 1901, but it has never become a fully fledged republic.

In a 1999 referendum, Australians narrowly voted against removing Queen Elizabeth II after a row over whether MPs, rather than the public, would choose her replacement.

Twenty-five years later, a 2024 YouGov poll found that 37 per cent of respondents favoured Australia becoming a republic, 43 per cent were against, and 20 per cent were undecided.

Mr Andrew’s arrest on Feb 19 followed revelations last week that he

appeared to have sent the late US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein

potentially confidential documents while serving as a British trade envoy.

“These are very serious allegations,” Mr Albanese said.

“This appears to be about documents and whether they were inappropriately forwarded to someone who wasn’t eligible – classified documents,” he added.

“It’s quite an extraordinary fall from grace, I must say, from someone who had such an esteemed position and was in a position really of absolute privilege.” AFP