Former PM Paul Keating believes King Charles will ‘renounce his claim on Australia’
Former Prime Minister Paul Keating has claimed that King Charles and the Royal Family would be happy for Australia to move away from the Monarchy and become a Republic.
While speaking during a public lecture at LaTrobe University on Wednesday, October 12, Keating spoke of meeting with the Queen during his time as Prime Minister where he discussed his desire for Australia to become a Republic while claiming that he believes the Royal Family would have been happy for Australia to embrace a Republic.
“I think the royal family would have been so glad for the referendum to have passed, to be honest,” he said.
Keating then revealed his belief that King Charles will drop his title as King of Australia and “renounce his claim” on the nation.
“I wouldn’t be at all surprised if King Charles III, the King of Australia, volunteers to renounce his claim on Australia,” he said.
Although it remains to be seen whether Australia will become a Republic, Keating feels that the argument to move away from the Monarchy is an obvious one.
“Who in their right mind could believe that the monarch of Great Britain has our best aspirations here?” he said.
“We occupy one of the oldest land masses, the oldest continents on Earth, perhaps the oldest societies on Earth – it’s so pathetic. It barely needs an argument.
“And there was [Scott] Morrison running off to Cornwall with that other fruitcake, what’s his name, Boris Johnson.
“Look at the French. The French had a revolution for their republic. The Americans had a revolution for their republic. We couldn’t even pinch ours off Queen Elizabeth II — who didn’t want it. We couldn’t take the title, even if the monarch was happy to give it.”
Did you miss the former Prime Minister Paul Keating sharing candid insights and analysis on the current state of international affairs and post-Cold War geopolitics? Catch up here on-demand ???? https://t.co/MV3cf34QoF https://t.co/Y9uDaG6DbM
— La Trobe University (@latrobe) October 13, 2022
Keating’s comments come after it was revealed that the bulk of Australia’s population wants the nation to remain under the Commonwealth, as new data shows support for the Monarchy has grown in the last 10 years.
In a poll conducted by Roy Morgan, 60 per cent of Australians are in support of remaining a Monarchy, up 5 per cent since the last poll on the matter in November 2012, while support for a Republic dropped 5 per cent to 40 per cent.
The independent researcher sent out 1,012 texts across the country on September 12 and asked: “In your opinion, should Australia remain a MONARCHY – or become a REPUBLIC with an elected President?”
While both genders and all ages support the Commonwealth, the results showed more women than men were in favour of Australia remaining.
“Analysis of the results by gender shows that nearly two-thirds of women (66 per cent) favour the Monarchy compared to only 34 per cent that favour a Republic with an elected President. However, the results for men are far evenly split with 54 per cent in favour of the Monarchy compared to 46 per cent that would prefer a Republic,” a statement by Roy Morgan said.
“A look at the results by age shows young Australians under 35 are the most evenly split – 52 per cent favour the Monarchy compared to 48 per cent that favour a Republic with an elected President.
“Support for the Monarchy is higher among older age groups with 58 per cent of people aged 35-49, 67 per cent of those aged 50-64 and 61 per cent of Australians aged 65+ in favour of remaining with the Monarchy.”
The increasing support comes after King Charles’ ascension to the throne following the death of his mother on September 8, Queen Elizabeth II.
Explore More
Book Confidently With Us
Pay safely with us
Proudly Australian owned and operated