So we’ve ditched the 2026 Commonwealth Games claiming that that we Aussies can no longer afford to prop up a sporting contest when we need the cash for homes and hospitals.
Are we genuinely too skint to stump up for the bowls and badminton?
Or – the question that lingers – is this the touch paper for Australia’s final push towards republicanism?
With the royals already jettisoned in such former realms of the Commonwealth as Barbados, with not-so-glossy Charles and Camilla at the helm plus some generalised disenchantment with the Poms over the cricket, it’s reasonable to speculate.
The late Queen Elizabeth was popular in Australia despite a burgeoning republican movement She is seen here greeting crowds in Sydney in 2006
King Charles and Queen Camilla after their Coronation. Charles was never going to be as popular in Australia as his mother had been
The Australian netball team celebrates silver at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games in 2018, the last time they were held in Australia. The state of Victoria has just pulled out of hosting 2026, leaving some to doubt the future of the games
Australian supermarket shelves groan with magazines covering the British Royal Family. Younger Australians love ‘the tears and the tantrums,’ says Angela Mollard
According to the Australian Monarchist League’s Philip Benwell, ‘We’re seeing a lot of republicanism by stealth by the Prime Minister.’
Benwell cites not just the dumping of the Commonwealth Games, but the scrapping of King Charles from our $5 note and the lacklustre political engagement with the recent Coronation as evidence of our leaders are distancing themselves from the Mother Country.
And writing in The Australian newspaper this weekend columnist Nikki Gemmell challenged King Charles to dig into his own ‘enormous wealth’ if he is so wedded to the concept of the Games.
The Commonwealth Fames, she suggested, are ‘rooted in old certainties of empire and monarchy and colonies; certainties that are breaking down, and seemingly rapidly in this post-Elizabethan era.’
According to Gemmell, moreover, we’re not particularly taken with the new-look Carolean era.
‘Recent balcony appearances of the royals show the incredible disappearing family. Physically, and in our minds too.’
‘Charles doesn’t have the sparkle of his mother, and the endurance of the monarchy relies on enchantment; or in other words, mass delusion.
‘We’re just not getting it with the new bloke, and the cancellation of the games feels like a symptom of this.’
All this is typical enough.
But I beg to differ. I do not think dumping the Games suggest we’re about to cut our apron strings with the United Kingdom,
The good news for Charles is that, right now, we’re too consumed with domestic issues to give it all much thought.
In particular, we’re tied up with a different – and highly controversial – referendum to enshrine indigenous Voice to Parliament in our constitution.
With the nation polarised, the republican movement have wisely put their ambitions aside until it is well out of the way later this year.
Australian dollars feature a portrait of Queen Elizabeth. New editions will not feature King Charles, however – another sign of growing detachment from the Crown
There were moments of acrimony in the recent Ashes series, not least when Jonny Bairstow was controversially dismissed when he thought the ball was dead
Besides, post-Covid and with interest rates zooming ever higher we’re more concerned with the prosaic business of paying our mortgages than questions about sovereignty and governance.
Bear in mind, too, that the nation is all in for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics. Having ushered in the new millennium with a corking event in Sydney in 2000 we’re hoping for more of the same.
The poor old Commonwealth Games pale in comparison.
But even without all these distractions, I don’t think Australia is planning a divorce anytime soon.
Yes, a few would have us believe we’re about to do a Barbados. That a republican conspiracy is afoot to jilt the royals.
Yet we are captivated by the tantrums and tiaras.
We might not have quite the reverence we afforded the late Queen Elizabeth, but Megxit, Spare and The Crown have repositioned the royals as light entertainment for a generation who engage more with the drama and less the history.
However disrespectful it might sound, the royal family are the Kardashians with crowns for many younger Australians.
Our tabloid magazine industry certainly still sees them as a money-spinner – just look at the supermarket shelves – and as a royal commentator on two of our popular TV networks I’m routinely stopped by members of the public asking about some royal story or another.
‘What do you think will happen with Meghan and Harry?’ has replaced house prices as a staple barbecue conversation starter, particularly as Sydney enjoys unseasonably warm midwinter temperatures of 25 degrees.
Besides, it’s questionable whether the numbers for a republic stack up.
A poll taken after the Queen’s death indicated just 43 per cent supported Australia becoming a republic, less than the 45.13 percent who voted in favour when the last great referendum was held in 1999.
Part of the issue was the presidential model on offer.
When we scan the world for working republics we’re hardly encouraged by the likes of China, Iran, Russia or even the United States.
Prince Harry is a continuing source of interest to young Australians following his memoir, Spare
Harry and Meghan appear on the Oprah show in 2021. The royals are increasingly seen as ‘Kardashians with Crowns’ says Angela Mollard
A ‘crumpled and careworn King’? But better than the alternative, perhaps
A despot, or even a Trump, isn’t easy to get rid of once they’ve tasted power.
And we’d struggle to find someone we’d be willing to elevate.
As a nation committed to ‘tall poppy syndrome’ – compelled to cut down anyone we think is too big for their boots – the only candidate I can think of thanks to his lifelong ability to drive the Poms mad, is Shane Warne, sadly no longer with us.
In his absence I suspect we’d continue with a rather crumpled and careworn King.