The Prime Minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, Wednesday, appointed an ‘assistant minister for the republic”. The Prime Minister chose Sydney MP Matt Thistlethwaite for this new position. He is a senior party figure. The move has raised the possibility that the Queen will no longer be the country’s head of state. In other words, the country has come one step closer to removing the monarchy of the Queen. The Australian Republic Movement has welcomed the move. The group tweeted: “In a major historic first, Australia now has an Assistant Minister for the Republic. We congratulate the Government on making this important step towards the realization of an Australian republic and look forward to working with them over the next parliamentary term”.
Moreover, Peter FitzSimons, the prominent Republican tweeted, “Let the record show, for the first time in the history of the Commonwealth, Australia has a member of the Government singularly devoted to removing the Crown, and helping Australia become a Republic.”
Is this the first move towards removing the Queen?
There was no mention of Australia becoming a republic in Anthony’s manifesto. Though many labor leaders promised the same.
If we dive into the history, in 1999, 55% of the Australians voted against becoming a republic. However, things are not the same now. In a statement, Anthony has previously described Australia becoming a republic as ‘inevitable’.
The PM posted on his social media, “Won’t be a referendum just yet as they’re rightly committed to first recognizing aboriginal people as the original Australians in the constitution.”