The latest visit to Australia by celebrity members of the Windsor clan has caused an increase in discussion about an Australian republic.
The Sydney Morning Herald greeted the Windsor couple with a 700-word opinion piece with the title “Royal Tour: It’s Time to Break the Habit”, by the national director of the Australian Republican Movement. He wrote that anglophile Prime Minister Tony Abbot had “a habit of colonial thinking” and predicted he would be the last to swear allegiance to the British monarch.
The Western Advocate also predicted that the visit would not have a lasting effect on opinion. It said that the Windsor couple had given a boost to supporters of the feudal institution. But the scornful reaction of Australians to their prime minister’s decision to bring back knighthoods showed that monarchy was losing its relevance for most Australians.
The newspaper concluded that “a move to a republic remains a question of when, not if, in Australia. And no amount of smiling TV clips will change that.”
In New Zealand a new opinion poll shows that support for a republic has risen to 44%. Among those age 18 to 30 support is now at 66%