Liberals quietly go monarchist under Abbott (Crikey, 18/8/10)
Yesterday Julia Gillard declared her republican aspirations for Australia, saying that Australia should be a republic after the end of the Queen’s reign.
Meanwhile, the Liberal Party under Tony Abbott appears to have quietly thrown its support behind the monarchy, according to a letter published on a monarchist website, said to be from the Liberals federal campaign director Brian Loughnane.
The text of the letter, published on the official “Australians for Constitutional Monarchy” Facebook page, states that the Liberal Party supports the continued role of the monarchy in the Australian system. The first two sentences of the letter are:
“We support the role of the Crown in Australia’s constitutional system. The Coalition has no plans to make any changes to Australia’s existing constitutional framework.”