A resounding majority of Australians embrace the British monarchy and accept Royal governance in place of becoming a republic with an elected president, polling figures show, with a common sentiment from respondents embracing the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” model as a reason for their support.
The revelation comes in a survey carried out by the Roy Morgan company in the immediate wake of the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.
It revealed a clear majority of Australians, 60 percent (up five percentage points since November 2012) believe Australia should remain a monarchy while only 40 percent (down five percentage points) say Australia should become a republic with an elected president.
Previous results on this question show more Australians have been in favour of remaining as a monarchy than becoming a republic consistently since November 2010. Prior to that point, there was a consistent majority in favour of becoming a republic from 1994-2008.
Governor-General David Hurley and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attend the Proclamation of King Charles III, on the forecourt of Parliament House on September 11, 2022 in Canberra, Australia. (Mick Tsikas – Pool/Getty Images)
The survey was conducted entirely after Prince Charles took the oath on the weekend to become King Charles III.
Australians were asked: “In your opinion, should Australia remain a MONARCHY – or become a REPUBLIC with an elected President?”
Support for the Monarchy has increased from a decade ago after the passing of Queen Elizabeth II last week and the ascension of King Charles III to the throne over the weekend.
King Charles III was officially proclaimed as the new King of Australia on Sunday by Governor-General David Hurley who stated:
Because of the death of our blessed and glorious Queen Elizabeth II, the Crown has solely and rightfully come to Prince Charles Philip Arthur George.
May King Charles III have long and happy years to reign over us. With hearty and humble affection, we promise him faith and faithfulness.
There were several key themes that emerged for respondents who favoured retaining the British monarchy or moving to a republic with an elected president.
For the majority of Australians advocating the country remain with the monarchy, the key themes to emerge in the poll were those saying “Why change?,” “Why change what we have when it works?” alongside the stability and stable government through constitutional monarchy has brought Australia for many decades, and the sentiment that “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” remains dominant.
Alongside that theme there were those who relayed their distrust of elected representatives and that they don’t trust current politicians to deliver a republic because they “don’t want to end up like America.”
People take pictures of an electronic noticeboard displaying a portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II on September 10, 2022 in Melbourne, Australia.(Diego Fedele/Getty Images)
Roy Morgan manager Julian McCrann confirmed political turmoil in the United States played a part in turning poll respondents off the idea of an Australian president.
“They don’t want to go to a republic because they don’t want to end up like America. They don’t trust the politicians and ‘if it’s not broke, don’t fix it’ — that sort of attitude is very strong,” McCrann said.
Roy Morgan surveys found consistent majority support for a republic from 1994 until 2008, despite a 1999 referendum rejecting a proposed Australian head of state.
The latest polling result comes after Australia’s left-wing prime minister Anthony Albanese said he will not hold a referendum on abolishing the monarchy – in his first term, as Breitbart London reported.
This special Roy Morgan SMS Poll was conducted by SMS on Monday September 12, 2022, with an Australia-wide cross-section of 1,012 Australians. The survey was conducted entirely after Prince Charles took the oath on the weekend to become King Charles III.