A Birthday Fit for a King

The Relevance of Modern Monarchy

P. P. Zhang

THERE’S JUST SOMETHING ABOUT SAYING THE WORDS “KING’S BIRTHDAY” THAT FEELS SLIGHTLY AMISS. Unless you were born before 1952, the year in which Queen Elizabeth II took the throne, for many Australians, last Monday marked our inaugural King’s Birthday long weekend. Despite the King’s actual birthday being on the 14 of November 1948, Australia, being the constitutional monarchy it is, follows the British tradition of celebrating on the second Monday of June each year. Historically, the tradition began with George II in 1748, who felt that his actual birth month, November, was too cold to have a celebration. For many of us, the long weekend is an excuse to simply have an extra day off school or work, with little thought given to the monarchical origins of the holiday. Unlike other public holidays such as Good Friday and Boxing Day, most businesses will still remain open, albeit some with reduced opening hours. The significance of the holiday is further diminished by its inconsistency across Australia: Queensland and Western Australia instead choose to celebrate in October and September, respectively. 

This again raises the extensively debated issue of whether Australia should sever its ties with the United Kingdom and become a republic. Currently, Australia, along with Canada, New Zealand and other countries across the Asia-Pacific and Caribbean, are all under the control of the British monarch. But what does the term constitutional monarchy exactly mean? 

Essentially, the King is still the Head of State, but not the Head of Government, meaning that he does not participate in making political decisions which are instead implemented by the Prime Minister. By contrast, the President of the United States, a federal republic, is responsible for both of these roles. The extent of constitutional duties end at the approval of new governments and, in some countries, approving legislation and appointing officials. But the monarch is not even directly responsible for this; instead, he or she elects a Governor – General to carry out these duties. Therefore, the monarch’s powers are, for the most part, symbolic. In the past, the monarchy has been seen as a foreign nonpartisan figurehead that ensured stability and unity within Australia. However, in the modern era, Australia’s ties to the United Kingdom have been dwindling. Economically, Australia’s largest trade partner by far is now China, which is also one of our largest sources of immigration and tourism. On the other side of the coin, Australia’s military dependence is primarily on the United States, however, we still have undeniable involvement with the motherland, such as through the AUKUS (Australia, United Kingdom, United States) partnership. 

If Australia were to become a republic, it would essentially remove the King’s power and dissolve the Governor-General’s office. We would then be obliged to either a bipartisan style of government, like the United States, continue with our prime minister and have a president as a powerless figurehead, akin to Ireland, or a combination of the two in a semi-presidential system, echoing countries like France and Russia. Barbados is the most recent country to sever ties with the United Kingdom, doing so in November 2021, making them the fourth Caribbean country to do so. The leaders of Jamaica, Belize, and Antigua and Barbuda have also signalled their intention to leave the monarchy. However, their position is slightly different to ours, with the primary reasoning being the desire to break the ongoing legacy of the transatlantic slave trade and the implications of the connection between the colonised and coloniser. 

Our Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, has been a longtime supporter of Australia becoming a republic, along with the rest of the Labor Party, the Greens, and some of the Liberal Party. A referendum on the issue was held in 1999, and despite early polls signifying strong support for Australia becoming a republic, 55% of voters voted against it. In recent years, poll results for the issue from a variety of sources have revealed vastly contrasting opinions, with support ranging from 40% to 62%. For the referendum to be passed, at least two-thirds of the population need to be in support of it. While these statistics are not conclusive by any means, it’s safe to say that many Australians simply are not affected enough to care, with the existence of more pressing issues in society consuming our attention.

Like the benefits of a republic, the harms are quite marginal, and most occur in the form of logistical changes such as currency reformation and other minor amendments. Losing an extra public holiday is never good news, but Australia will likely rectify it with an Independence Day of sorts. Even if we decide to become a republic, the constitutional change would still take up to two to three years to become active, so in the meantime, we may as well keep enjoying our time off on each second Monday of June.