Support for the monarchy in Australia has risen over the last decade, with up to 60 percent of Australians stating that the country should remain as a monarchy, a recent Roy Morgan poll shows.
The result came after the death of Queen Elizabeth II reignited the debate about whether Australia should become a republic with an elected president or stay under the British monarchy and be one of the Commonwealth realms.
According to a Roy Morgan survey conducted on Sep. 12 with 1,012 Australians, only 40 percent believe Australia should remove the monarch as head of state, down five percentage points since Nov. 2012, while those backing the monarchy were up five percentage point.
Australians in favour of the monarchy make up 58 percent of centre-left Australian Labor party voters (up 18 percent points since Nov. 2012) and 68 percent of centre-right Coalition voters (down 3 percent points).
However, voters of the left-wing Australian Greens Party are staunch supporters of a Republic, with only a third in favour of the current political system, a four percentage points increase in a decade.
Meanwhile, nearly three-quarters of those voting for Independents and Other parties—who make up an increasingly larger portion of the electorate, endorse the monarchy.
Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levin said in a press release on Tuesday that Labor voters have been “the biggest driver” of the increased support for the monarchy.
“During the past 15 years, the popularity of the Royal Family has strengthened as the Queen celebrated a Diamond Jubilee in 2012 (60th Anniversary of accession to the throne) and an unprecedented Platinum Jubilee earlier this year (70th Anniversary of accession to the throne),” Levin said.
“During the past decade, the growing prominence of younger Royals such as the new heir to the throne, Prince William, and his wife Catherine, the Princess of Wales, as well as Prince Harry, and his American-born wife Meghan Markle, appear to have brought the Royals new fans amongst a younger audience.
“Although there has been plenty of drama surrounding Prince Harry and Meghan Markle, that has at times proved frustrating for supporters of the Royal Family, it has not dented the popularity of the Monarchy in Australia as shown by the results of this special Roy Morgan SMS Poll.”
Australian Politicians Argue Over Republican Movement
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, a Republican, who’s on his way back to Australia after attending the Queen’s funeral in Westminster Abbey, said it’s not the right time to draw on republican issues and rejected the idea of a referendum on a republic.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton accused the Australian Republic Movement of seeking “political advantage from the Queen’s death.”
“I don’t agree with a republic, and frankly, I think, what we’re seeing at the moment highlights the stability, the transition, that you get in a monarchy, and it’s hard to imagine how that would happen if we were a republic,” he told 2Gb radio on Sep. 15.
Meanwhile, Greens Leader Adam Bandt was criticised for calling for Australia to become a republic after sending a condolence message to the Royal family.
“Rest In Peace, Queen Elizabeth II. Our thoughts are with her family and all who loved her,” Bandt tweeted on Sep. 9.
“Now Australia must move forward. We need Treaty with First Nations people, and we need to become a Republic.”