It speculated by Australia and former prime minister, Paul Keating, that the new king, 73, would renounce the UK monarch’s claim to Australia after the 1999 referendum. The royal family was hoping that after the referendum, Australia would become a republic.
Former Australian foreign minister Julie Bishop, however, has claimed that Australia will not become a republic under King Charles II.
Bishop, who served as the Liberal Party’s deputy leader from 2007 to 2018, explained that Australians were unable to agree on a replacement for the monarchy.
Issue of Australia
“I don’t actually think the issue of Australia being a republic has anything to do with the monarchy in particular, it’s more about the political system (a constitutional monarchy), and the Australian people have demonstrated that they are reluctant to change if no good reason is provided – if it ain’t broke, keep it the same.”
During the last referendum on this topic in 1998/99, I quite involved, and there was a great deal of disagreement over what would replace a constitutional monarchy – a direct-elected president or a parliament-elected president – there was just no agreement,” she explained.
Bishop went on to say, “Until a model is develop that is accept by the majority of Australians and the majority of states, we will continue to use the system we have.”
