Australia does not want to become republic under King Charles, poll suggests
Australia does not want to become a republic under the King, a new poll has suggested.
The survey found that one in four respondents had a more favourable view of the monarch now than they did before he was crowned in 2023.
One in five said that they also had a more favourable view of the Queen, while 40 per cent said they would prefer a royal visit from the Prince and Princess of Wales over Charles and Camilla.
Next week, His Majesty will become the first British King to visit Australia when he and the Queen arrive for their landmark six-day tour of the country.
The visit will also be the royal couple’s first trip Down Under since 2018, when they opened the Commonwealth Games on the Queensland Gold Coast.
Of the 1,049 Australians who responded to the survey by NewsCorp’s Pulse of Australia platform, one in three (33 per cent) were of the view that Australia should become a republic.
This contrasted with 45 per cent who said Australia should remain a monarchy, and 22 per cent said they were unsure. The 1999 referendum saw Australians vote against becoming a republic by a margin of 55 per cent to 45 per cent.
The poll results were at odds with earlier predictions that republican sentiment would flourish after the reign of the late Queen, Elizabeth II.
It comes after it emerged that the King told republican campaigners that he would not stand in the way if the Australian public decided to ditch the monarchy.
In a letter to the Australian Republic Movement (ARM), Dr Nathan Ross, the monarch’s assistant private secretary wrote: “Please be assured that your views on this matter have been noted very carefully.
“His Majesty, as a constitutional monarch, acts on the advice of his ministers and whether Australia becomes a republic is, therefore, a matter for the Australian public to decide.”
The Daily Mail reported that the ARM had written to Buckingham Palace requesting a meeting with the King when he lands in Australia, but that this was “politely declined”.
Esther Anatolitis, ARM’s chairman, said the King’s response had shown he was a “progressive, contemporary kind of leader”.
“It just doesn’t make sense for the role of head of state to be something that’s inherited by birthright,” she added.
