A state will not send anyone from a senior parliamentary leadership position to welcome King Charles III on his first visit to Australia as monarch.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and even Deputy Premier Ben Carroll will not attend the King’s welcome event in Canberra on Monday 21 October.
Allan’s parliamentary secretary, Nick Staikos, and the state’s governor, Margaret Gardner, an avowed Republican, will represent Victoria at the event.
However, Allan, who said she will attend a cabinet meeting that day, is not alone among state leaders in disdaining the event, as it is understood no prime minister plans to attend.
Australian Monarchist League Victorian spokesperson Bev McArthur called this apparent snub a “slap in the face” to the royal family.
“All the prime ministers and ministers have sworn loyalty to our monarch, Charles III, and it is a monumental insult that they now spit on his outstretched hand as a sign of friendship,” he told the Herald of the sun.
‘This is a historic opportunity to unite Australia, focus on charitable work and give back to communities. However, our immature politicians are clearly choosing to play politics.”
Opposition spokesman Brad Rowswell said he wrote to Allan in May urging her not to downplay the importance of the King’s visit.
King Charles III (pictured left) and Queen Camilla pose for a portrait on their official visit to Australia.
“Sometimes leadership requires putting aside personal prejudices for the greater good,” Rowswell said Saturday.
Last year, Victoria shockingly reneged on its commitment to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games, despite having to pay a considerable amount to have the event held in Glasgow.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said he cannot attend the Canberra welcome also due to a cabinet meeting, but will reportedly attend other events with the King.
Queensland Premier Steven Miles said he will be busy campaigning for re-election and Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff is on a trade mission with the United States.
South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas also has a regional cabinet meeting, while a spokesman for Western Australian Premier Roger Cook would only say he has “other commitments”.
King Charles will give a speech at the Canberra event, which will be attended by prominent Australians from various fields such as health, arts, culture and sport.
Neither Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan (pictured left) nor her deputy Ben Carroll will attend the king’s welcome in Canberra.
It will be Chales’s 17th visit to Australia, but his first as monarch (pictured as Charles in Longreach, Queensland in 20170).
It will be the 75-year-old’s 17th visit to Australia and his first foray into a Commonwealth nation since becoming King.
The importance of the trip is underlined by the fact that King Charles will be stopping his cancer treatment to make the trip.
He and Queen Camilla have committed to a busy schedule during the 11-day trip, which will include going to Samoa, where the King will attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting.
The couple will have around 10 commitments a day between them with only one “down day” of rest.