The republic movement in Australia aims to end the country’s official links to the British monarchy. Australians rejoiced over Mary Donaldson’s proclamation as Queen of Denmark, yet one unintended consequence emerged: the joyous occasion, and interest in not one, but two royal families that dealt a likely final blow to the “politicians’ republic.” The landslide defeat of The Voice referendum made it clear that any referendum is well and truly for the never-never. The Australians for Constitutional Monarchy’s (ACM) referendum No case argued that the republican model offered was a “politicians’ republic.” As there is no indication that the government will take this up, and the opposition under monarchist Peter Dutton forms the next government, they certainly will not.
Republicanism has been in disarray since ACM led the No case in 1999. Despite the wealth of the Yes case, and the fact it was supported by most of the politicians and the mainstream media, the No case prevailed. ACM argued from the beginning that what was being offered then, and subsequently, is inconsistent with a republic. Since the 1999 defeat, Labor governments and some Liberal politicians have threatened a second referendum, but none has ever introduced one. The present federal Labor government actually appointed, in accordance with the party platform, a constitutionally questionable assistant minister for the republic. However, priority was given to the 2023 referendum for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, indicating that if this were passed, a republic referendum would follow in their second term. The general view among commentators is that a republic referendum is, at best, off the agenda for a generation.
The republic movement was officially put on the national agenda early in the 1990s when centre-left Labor Prime Minister Paul Keating appointed a Liberal, not yet an MP, Malcolm Turnbull, to hold an inquiry into how to advance the movement. The Danish accession became the final nail in the coffin of the politicians’ republic. Not only is the Danish accession the final nail in the coffin of the politicians’ republic, but it is a stake through the very heart of fake republicanism. It delivered the coup de grâce, with an enormous media and public interest in the Danish monarchy, which will not stop with the accession. This has led the general view among commentators to be that a republic referendum is, at best, off the agenda for a generation.