‘False sense of security’: Is a republic really dead after Labor’s apparent walkback?

KEY POINTS:Both sides of the republic debate are still planning for a referendum under this government.Assistant Minister for the Republic Matt Thistlethwaite says the issue is not a priority.The failure of the Indigenous Voice to Parliament is widely seen as denting the prospect of another referendum.

Both sides of the republic debate are still preparing for a referendum on replacing King Charles, despite claims the government has abandoned the idea following its failure to secure the nation’s approval for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.

Matt Thistlethwaite, the country’s

, on Monday confirmed Labor’s plan for a referendum on an

had been put on the back burner, with the government prioritising cost-of-living relief.

The monarchist movement has demanded Thistlethwaite’s portfolio be scrapped entirely, arguing Labor cannot justify a “promotional office” for the republic while simultaneously claiming it is now off the agenda.

Labor had flagged the idea of holding a referendum during its second term, though questions were raised about whether its appetite for constitutional reform would evaporate as support for the Voice plummeted.

But Thistlethwaite insisted that the government was not walking away from a republic completely, saying abolishing the monarchy would be part of a “discussion with Australians in the longer-term”.

Australian Republic Movement (ARM) national director Isaac Jeffrey rejected suggestions the comments were a “huge retreat” from its previous stance, or that an Australian republic had been “pushed off into the never-never”.

Matt Thistlethwaite (left) says the government will prioritise cost-of-living over a republic referendum. Source: AAP / Lukas Coch

Jeffrey stressed Thistlethwaite had only ruled out a republic referendum before the next election, which “[none] of us really thought would happen anyway”.

“He said that their focus in the short-term is on cost of living, which is quite appropriate, and that this is a longer-term thing,” he said.

“A week’s a long time in politics. Three years, which puts us somewhere midway [through the] next parliamentary term, could in fact be the long-term.”

When asked whether Labor had ruled out a vote on a republic in its second term, Thistlethwaite’s office referred SBS News to comments in which he refused to “put a timeline on it”.

Jeffrey said the ARM would hold a number of forums around Australia to develop a “people’s model” for the republic, which he hoped would be presented to parliament by the end of the year.

That could come around the time King Charles becomes the first British monarch to visit Australia since his mother, Queen Elizabeth, in 2011.

King Charles will visit Australia later this year, becoming the first British monarch to do so since 2011. Source: AAP / S Wood

Australian Monarchist League (AML) chairman Eric Abetz accused the government of speaking “out of both sides of its mouth” on the issue, by both maintaining a ministry while claiming it was not a priority.

But like Jeffrey, Abetz did not believe Thistlethwaite’s comments had taken a republic permanently off the table.

“All he’s done is to undertake what you might call a tactical retreat, only to attempt another assault at a later time … They will strike at what they consider to be an opportune time, and we will be ready,” he said.

“We will not be lulled into a false sense of security by a government which speaks out of both sides of its mouth.”

Abetz — a former Liberal senator — called for Thistlethwaite’s office to be abolished, saying ministries should be reserved for “general public policy and administration” like defence and social security.

“This is now off the government agenda, we are told. As a result, it will be a taxpayer-funded promotional office to promote a Labor Party policy,” he said.

“It should never have been established in the first place; it’s a highly politically charged issue, which is party-political.”

Has the Voice result sunk the republic?

On Monday, Treasurer Jim Chalmers rejected suggestions maintaining an assistant minister for the republic was a waste of taxpayer money.

“I haven’t said it’s not a priority … I think Matt Thistlethwaite is, like a number of us, very committed to constitutional change,” he said.

“The sequence of that, the form of that, is for the government to consider in the aftermath of the Voice referendum.”

Every state and more than 60 per cent of voters overall rejected the Voice in October, underlining the uphill struggle faced by governments seeking to alter the constitution.

It was the first referendum in a generation. The last time Australians voted on a proposed constitutional change was in 1999, when they rejected a republic.

Australians appear divided on the republic, with a YouGov poll held in September finding 35 per cent in favour of maintaining the monarchy and 32 per cent against it.

The Voice failed from far loftier heights; some polls showed support above 65 per cent a year from the vote, as the Coalition attacked what it claimed was a lack of detail.

Jeffrey accepted the result had made many sceptical of referendums as an avenue for change, but said the Voice was distinct from any debate on a republic.

That included the likely backing of a significant number of Coalition MPs as seen during the same-sex marriage debate, he said. Bipartisan political support is critical to a referendum’s success.

“[And] for the majority of Australians, they understand to some level what a republic is about. I’m not sure that that same understanding carried through with the Voice … there was a knowledge gap that was then able to be exploited,” Jeffrey said.

On the night of the Voice referendum, Prime Minister and long-term republican

over how the result would impact his plans for further constitutional reform.

“I made it very clear that this was the only referendum that I was proposing in this term,” he said.

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