More Australians approve of the job King Charles is doing as Australia’s head of state than the job Anthony Albanese is doing as prime minister.
The only reason reality is not entirely embarrassing for Albo, as he contemplates when to call the next federal election, is that the same is true when comparing satisfaction with the King with that of opposition leader Peter Dutton.
Who would have thought that support for the monarchy would still be so strong? Following the death of the Queen?
Republicans had long anticipated that as the moment when they could step up another campaign for Australia to sever its ties with Britain.
Malcolm Turnbull, former head of the Australian Republican Movement and later prime minister, long used the Queen’s then-future death as a way to avoid questions about whether he would hold another referendum on the issue.
It was a convenient excuse at the time, but also a guide to when exactly Republican advocates thought the time would come to achieve the goal of independence.
Peter Fitzsimons was long the face of the Australian Republican Movement, but he passed the role to Craig Foster and Nova Peris, who have since stepped down.
Some protesters unfurled a banner reading “DECOLONIZE,” in a message to King Charles and Queen Camilla.
Some were more polite than others in the face of Queen Elizabeth II’s immediate passing in calling for a period of mourning before escalating any such campaign.
But more than two years after his passing, even cautious Republicans would have hoped to gain more momentum toward their goal than is currently the case.
In truth, the way questions are asked plays a big role in what published polls suggest is the case when it comes to support for becoming a republic.
Generally speaking, the majority of Australians – like me – will respond to an opinion poll confirming that they are in favor of a republic.
But when polling agencies dig a little deeper, most Australians (like me) are in no rush to become a republic.
Republicans like myself support severing formal ties with Britain in the name of nation-building and as the next step on the path to Australia’s future as a middle power in a globalized world.
We do not support it because of a myopic view that colonialism was bad for this country. Or that British influence has had a negative impact on the political culture that our democratic system has developed.
This type of thinking is radical and misplaced, and certainly does not appeal to most Australians.
But many Australians are not even sure they trust in greater empowerment of the political class under a republican model.
And there is even a sense that change is so far down the order of priorities at the moment that it has practically faded from view.
Add to this the debacle that was the Indigenous Voice referendum process, led by an incompetent Prime Minister, and the number of Australians who want to go through some version of that to achieve constitutional change to a republic falls even further.
So why is support for Australia becoming a republic declining? The above factors are part of the explanation, but there is more to it than that.
The Republican cause has been hijacked by the kind of people you would never want to support.
Its advocates see the process as a form of activism for activism’s sake, rather than a considered goal for the next step in national growth.
I would be ashamed to join the Republican cause when I look around at those who have been advancing it unsuccessfully in recent years.
Lidia Thorpe made herself completely ridiculous shouting obscenities at the visiting king on Monday.
To them, it is essentially little more than a toy, along with dozens of other causes they hold dear, until they aren’t.
It has become a false republicanism, instead of a reform defended by experts and analysts.
And when you watch scenes like the ones we saw yesterday, when Senator Lidia Thorpe made herself completely ridiculous shouting obscenities at the visiting king, it’s hard not to think that if we become a republic, she will simply be used by people like her. as a way to provoke more divisive debates that most Australians do not want to have.
Which makes many think that perhaps the best way to avoid it is to maintain the status quo.
My American heritage has always made me a cynic when it comes to royal patronage. The idea that you can be born with that position like the British do seems silly.
But if supporting a king helps keep people like Thorpe in line, maybe I can embrace my inner royalty.
It’s the lesser of two evils when you look at the stupidity of modern activists like her.