Liz Windsor, Britain’s hereditary head of state, has “made clear” that “Australians must decide for themselves” whether their country should become a republic. The generous concession to the democratic rights of the people of Australia was reported in an editorial in the Daily Telegraph newspaper, a strong supporter of feudalism, following the Labour Party success in the Australian general election.
Despite Ms. Windsor’s concession the British newspaper advised Australians not to opt for a democratic alternative to monarchy. Referring to Windsor as the “sovereign” of Australians it claimed that Britain valued their country for putting a foreign monarchy before the rights of the people.
New Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has disappointed fellow republicans by saying that a referendum on a republic is not likely in his party’s first term of office. But in New Zealand republicans were pleased that Prime Minister Helen Clark was seen showing a lack of deference to a monarch by sending a text message during Windsor’s opening speech at a meeting of Commonwealth governments. And in Barbados the Deputy Prime Minister has announced that there will be a referendum next August on ditching the British monarchy.