ARM MEDIA RELEASE - 25 February 2005

Too little, too late Prince Charles

The Australian Republican Movement (ARM) released the following statement to mark the pending arrival of His Royal Highness, Prince of Wales.

ARM Chair Professor John Warhurst stated that "Like any other international visitor, Australian republicans of course welcome the Prince of Wales, the future King Charles III of Australia, to our shores.

"Like other Australians we are proud of our British heritage and value our British institutions and parliamentary traditions. No matter what our opponents try to claim, we hold no ill will towards the Prince personally; we simply believe that it's time for Australia to move on and have our own Australian Head of State," said Professor Warhurst.

ARM National Director Allison Henry said that ARM members were curious about the visit: "We actually think the visit is well overdue. Prince Charles is our future King, but he hasn't bothered to visit us in over a decade. It's about time he came down under and checked out what twenty first century Australia is all about. A lot has happened in this country since 1994, when Prince Charles was last here. We think its high time our future King got to know us again, and that Australians had the opportunity to check out their future King at close range."

Noting that Prince Charles' whirlwind trip will include Perth, Alice Springs, Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra - but not Queensland - the ARM has invited comedian, actor and impersonator Gerry Connolly, one of Australia's foremost performers to fill in for the Prince at a public ceremony in the Queen Street Mall on Sunday 27th February, the day before the future King of Australia is due to arrive in the country.

The ARM was confident that the trip would give Australians an opportunity to evaluate their future Head of State more closely. "As with the recent announcement of his forthcoming marriage, Prince Charles's visit will prompt Australians to consider the fundamental question: 'Who should be our Head of State: a member of the British royal family or a fellow Australian?'" said Ms Henry.