Australian PM Albanese says former prince Andrew has suffered ‘extraordinary fall’ but that won’t prompt another republic referendum
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2026/feb/20/pm-anthony-albanese-australia-republic-comments-former-prince-andrew-arrest-ntwnfb
24 Comments
Of course not. That would take balls and a spine.
This is a perfect example of why nobody should be born into a position of power or prominence. I’ll never understand being a monarchist in the 21st century.
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Given the Voice referendum, I am not surprised.
Far be it from Albo to actually stick his neck out on something.
I don’t want a republic because I don’t want any possibility of ending up like America. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. It isn’t as if the royals have any real power over us that we need to rebel over.
I’m a republican but i care more about survivors right now.
Maybe we should be having a discussion about how we hold perpetrators of child sex abuse accountable and support survivors better.
It’s puzzling to me that a majority of Australians support retaining the monarchy. Especially on principle, that a person born to the right set of parents should be born into immense wealth and luxury and influence (anyone who thinks the royals don’t have immense influence is deluded).
What, because a republic could result in someone like Trump? What about Juan Carlos I? What about King Maha Vajiralongkorn of Thailand? There are several examples of monarchs that are just as bad as anything a republic has produced. At least in a Republic, people can be removed.
I mean sure because he isn’t the king nor a prince anymore. Just Andrew the Pedo
This isn’t the time whatever you think about a republic, this is the time to clean house on everyone who is part of the Epstein Israeli honey trap. Everything else is distraction.
The question for any future republic referendum should simply be: “Should Australia cut ties with the British monarchy, keep the existing political systems the exact same, and just make the Governor General the official head of state (which they already are in every practical sense)” Yes or no.
At this rate the UK itself will cast off the shackles of monarchy before we do.
Referendums need to be spot quizzes.
Push noting on AusGov with 3 days to respond.
No shit. Referendums fail most of the time (only 8/45 were successful), are expensive as hell and there is no large urgent push to become a republic. It’s all well and good to go “Australia should become a republic” which people may agree on but then dealing with the nitty gritty of how that republic would function and what benefit would be gained is what sunk the referendum in ’99. The idea of becoming a Republic is one that a fair few people like, but none I’ve spoken too have been able to settle on a model, most don’t have faith in the government to implement it, and a lot don’t see much tangible benefit for the average Australian right now.
There would never be problem with an Australian head of state. Just look at all the Governor Generals the Feds have nominated, no skeletons in their closet. Wait a minute..
He’s the perfect inconsequential high profile fall guy.
In truth I don’t want Australia to become a Republic, not because I don’t agree with the general idea of it but because if we become a Republic that means the politicians will get a say in changing our political system.
I quite like our current political system. I think it is fair, and generally speaking there are good checks and balances, and I do not trust our politicans to come up with a system that is as good as our current one.
The last thing I want is getting a political system as corrupt as America’s for instance, and you can bet many of our political leaders would push for such a system if it benefitted them.
As long as we dominate the Commonwealth Games, we ain’t leaving.
Albo is never going near another referendum.
Albo would be insane to attempt a referendum with this opposition. Referendums basically only succeed with cross-party support. This opposition have just shown (concerning the Bondi massacre) that they will try to make political capital out of *anything* no matter how vile. They would oppose a referendum granting a right to breathe if they thought it would hurt the government.
And if I’m being pessimistic, without a substantial change in political culture I am doubtful that any referendum will ever pass again. Opposition parties have learned that the Gingrich technique* works, and will use it forevermore.
[* *block* **everything** *when in opposition no matter how much it hurts the country because the dumbass voters will blame the government not you*]
Nor should it tbh.
As much as the monarchy might be unpopular due to its perceived sense of entitlement, it still looks a lot safer than a presidential system as used by the US at the moment.
I think most Australians are content with the idea of the Prime Minister being the face of the government, and the Governor-General and Chief Justice not really being a political entity in their own right.
So unless we had a way to maintain that balance, I don’t know how we would actually be able to realistically make an Australian Head of State work tbh.
Didn’t he promise a Republican referendum for his first term along with the voice?
This guy is an absolute snake.
Monarchism is a disease.
Good enough reason for Australia to become a Republic