Off the wire
• Interview: Best int'l norms are not Western ones: president-designate of AIIB  • Argentine wines on show at Hong Kong fair  • (Xi's Vietnam-Singapore Visit)China Focus: Belt and Road to boost China-ASEAN economic ties  • (Sports) Melbourne Park, home of tennis' Asia-Pacific Grand Slam, set for major facelift  • Identity crime targeted in New Zealand, Australia document accord  • China to become global leader in renewable technology: expert  • Urgent: UN chief slams killing of peacekeeper in Central African Republic  • Eco barriers to protect swimmers from sharks in wake of latest attack  • China Focus: JD.com to close C2C marketplace to curb fakes  • S. Korea's job growth hits 5-month high, unemployment rate down  
You are here: 　 Home

Prince Charles arrives in Canberra as new poll shows most Australians want republic

Xinhua, November 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

Australians remain ambivalent about the British monarchy, with a new poll suggesting that only 27 percent of voters would be in favor of retaining a royal head of state.

The findings coincide with the arrival on Wednesday of Prince Charles - heir to the throne - and wife Camilla, who are in Canberra representing the Queen of England on official business.

Attending a Remembrance Day commemoration with republican Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall mingled with a slew of Australian MPs who have, in recent months, revealed their support for a republican movement in Australia.

Fairfax Media published the results of the poll by the Australian Republican Movement, which showed the majority of Australians would support an Australian head of state (51 percent); just 27 percent of voters were in favor of retaining a King or Queen.

Twenty-two percent of the 1,008 people polled said they were "undecided."

Significantly, there has been a shift in the number of right-wing voters who support the republican ideal, with 50 percent of coalition voters - typically less inclined to support a republic - now preferring an Australian head of state, with just 34 percent opposed.

As expected, 62 percent of Labor voters support the republican movement.

Peter FitzSimons, Australian Republican Movement chairman and media personality, said on Wednesday that a new conversation about shifting to a republic had to be considered, as it was nearly a generation after the first referendum was quashed in 1999.

"As our future King and his wife touch down for their five-day tour, the Australian people are getting behind the idea of an Australian head of state in a big way. And that support is only going to increase, especially if Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull makes it a priority as we hope and expect he will," FitzSimons told Fairfax.

Also on Wednesday, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said that "both Malcolm Turnbull and I both support a republic, so why wait?"

As a part of the royal tour, Charles and Camilla are attending the National Museum of Australia and the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

Prince Charles is also scheduled to engage in discussions with Prime Minister Turnbull late Wednesday. Enditem