Australia’s Anthony Albanese appoints ‘minister for republic’ as debate to remove Queen grows

New prime minister enjoys stronger grip on power with final election count confirming majority
Anthony Albanese has said that Australia becoming a republic was “inevitable”, but did not make it an issue during his successful campaign
Anthony Albanese has said that Australia becoming a republic was “inevitable”, but did not make it an issue during his successful campaign
LUKAS COCH/AAP IMAGE/AP

Australia’s new Labor prime minister has created an “assistant minister for the republic”, sparking celebrations among those who wish to end the Queen’s role as head of state.

Anthony Albanese announced that Matt Thistlethwaite, a Sydney MP, would take the role. Previous Labor leaders have promised a referendum on removing the Queen as Australia’s head of state but Albanese, a long-time republican, did not make the promise a feature of his election campaign before his victory in last week’s general election.

“We are on our way!” tweeted the author and former rugby international Peter FitzSimons, a prominent republican. “Let the record show, for the first time in the history of the Commonwealth, Australia has a member of the government singularly devoted to removing the Crown,