King Charles III with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Buckingham Palace in May.Credit:Getty
But in May he saidhis priority was on the Indigenous Voice referendum and stressed he did not want to be a “prime minister who presides over just constitutional debates”.
Division within the Australian Republic Movementemerged earlier this year over whether the outfit should campaign for the Voice. After agonising over the decision,it appointed No campaigner Warren Mundine to a broader Voice advisory body and chose not to back the referendum,partly to avoid alienating conservative republicans.
A referendum on becoming a republic was held in 1999,when Australians voted to stick with the monarchy with a No vote of 54.9 per cent. The question proposed replacing the Queen and governor-general with a president appointed by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Commonwealth parliament. As with the Voice referendum,no states had a majority in favour of the constitutional change.
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Multiple senior republic figures,who requested anonymity to speak frankly,said it was likely the push for independence was doomed for another “generation” after Saturday’s vote. “That is the clear takeout from this. It is tragic,” one said.
But Australian Republic Movement chief executive Isaac Jeffrey claimed he did not believe the Voice loss would have any influence on Labor’s appetite to pursue another referendum.
“It would take a few years for us to work through what the model looks like and for people to be ready to have a vote,” he said. “If it takes a bit longer[than being held in Labor’s second term],that is alright.”