King Charles just a sideshow in Oz

The national mood in Australia seems to have got a little more excited about the visit by King Charles III and Queen Camilla… although many Aussies still couldn’t care less about old colonial ties.

As monarch in the United Kingdom, Charles is also the figurehead Head of State for the former British colony – although in practice both he and the UK government do not interfere at all in the affairs of Australia… though in theory he could, as a constitutional monarch.

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The royal visit will again ignite the debate about whether Australia should become a republic.

Yet, while there are vocal supporters of the idea – who argue that a monarchy is an anachronism this deep into the 21st century – they have yet to offer a cogent picture of what a republic would look like. More importantly, how will a republic differ from the current arrangement?

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This is still a democracy with regular elections. Australians, according to opinion polls, have other things which concern them – from the wars in the Ukraine and Middle East, to the cost of living and even the influence of a superpower, China, in Asia and the Pacific.

Charles and Camilla are a quaint sideshow for many of them.

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