Despite Kate and Meghan's charms there's strong calls for Australia to cut ties.
Despite Prince Harry and Meghan Markle charming the entire nation on their recent royal tour Labor has confirmed it will push ahead with plans for vote on a republic.
As Fairfax Media reports, opposition Leader Bill Shorten has reaffirmed that if Labor is elected he’ll approve a $160 million funding plan for a republic plebiscite—not a postal vote—in parliament&apos;s next term.
"We&apos;re not saying it&apos;s the most important issue but we are saying that if we are elected at the next election, it&apos;s one of the issues that Labor will attempt to deal with during our first term," Thistlethwaite told Fairfax.
The last time the nation was asked if they wanted to ditch the head of state was in the 1999 referendum; that vote resulted in 55% of the population favouring the current constitutional monarchy.
Despite meeting with Harry and Meghan in October, Bill Shorten has done little in the past to hide is preference for a republic.
"Let us declare that our head of state should be one of us,” he said in a 2015 speech. "Let us rally behind an Australian republic - a model that truly speaks for who we are, our modern identity, our place in our region and our world."
Following Labor’s announcement pro-republic group, Australian Republic Movement released a statement praising the plebiscite commitment, calling it “a huge step”.
The group’s national director, Michael Cooney also told whimn.com.au that a republic would mean “more Australians will have a say about our nation&apos;s future,” adding, “it is more democratic”.
But does the Australian public want a President over a Queen or King?
Maybe not. An Newspoll conducted for The Australian following last month’s royal visit by the Duke and Duchess of Sussex shows just 40% of Aussies are in favour of severing royal ties; a 10% decline from an April poll.
When asked about those results, young monarchist Abby Donaldson told The Australian young royals like Prince Harry and Meghan, as well as, Prince William, Kate and their children, presented alluring reasons to remain a nation with a British sovereign.
“We’ve grown up in a generation where that have been no scandals surrounding the royal family and so what we’ve been able to see is their ties to charity and how important is, for example, Will and Kate talking about mental health,” she said.