Reports emerged today from Britain that Prince William, heir to the British throne, aspires to becoming Governor-General of Australia. Political reaction from Australian political leaders seemed strangely unimpressed with the idea.
Prime Minster Howard was quoted as saying “Although I remain a supporter of our current constitutional arrangements, I do think the practice of having a person who is an Australian in every way, and a long term and permanent resident of this country, is a practice I would not like to see altered.”
What? Deprive David Flint of serious royal schmoozing time? “The appointment of Prince William would be very popular, and attract international attention. Unfortunately, the disgraceful, appalling behaviour of some of our leading politicians – all republican - has ensured that it won’t happen. Imagine how they would behave if they controlled the presidency.�
Indeed sir, indeed.
Cross-posted at Bernice Balconey’s Baloney
If (as seems possible) Howard is going to be PM for another three years then at least it cheers me up, in a deathly sort of way, to see him saying something I agree with.
I actually think it would be brilliant to have the Prince as our GG - it would clarify in people’s minds that we actually ARE tied to the Monarchy, and maybe the Republic would actually get up, AND think how cheap it would be! The Prince is a multi-millionaire, we wouldn’t need to pay him a wage, and Britian would be so concerned for his safety that I’m sure we could hit them up for the security bill. Perfect.
Caroline Overington makes her usual considered and reasoned contribution to public debate:
http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/coverington/index.php/theaustralian/comments/a_handsome_opportunity_for_wills/
What the? English princes should stay in England, are they forgetting that the biggest minority in Australia is the Irish, from which the princes’ ancestors illegally and immorally stole land off and than sent to here in brutal imprisonment. English princes should stick to rugby union, calling soccer football, and coming over here once every blue moon to be adored by our decadent media.
Has anybody explained to Wills that the job would entail living in, well, Canberra?
Great if you like to spend your weekends hiking. Not so great if you want to spend the weekend swigging fancy cocktails in an ever-changing array of trendy bars, as Wills is reputed to enjoy.
Well given the British Royal Family has not had anything to do with Australia since the 1930s, I don;t like Wills’ chances. He’d be better off spending his youth nailing posh tottie and the occcasional bit of rough; just like his Uncle Andy and mother did
Laurie, having little Willy as GG will do bugger all for the republican movement if the same ridiculous constitutional model is put to referendum again.
Speaking of which, have Rudd Labor indicated anything at all about republican proposals?
Mark
Rudd Labor will never have the gravitas, legitimacy, charisma, or imagination to do anything of the sort. We might have to wait for PM Turnbull.
If you do a google search for “Rudd republic”, you get some newspaper articles which indicate:
a) he wants a republic at some point (duh)
b) it’s not a high first-term priority
c) he’s not opposed to a directly elected president.
I agree with John Howard (grin). It would not be suitable for him to be G-G, it is a job for an Australian.
I think a gig as Governor of a State would be fair enough. And it would avoid the need for him to live in Canberra which I wouldn’t even wish on Kevin Rudd.
In other words, Robert, it’s another example of a policy area where Beazley was more prepared to go on the front foot than Rudd.
No worries, he ain’t one of Howards mates(oxy moron) won’t happen.
I Love this from Rudd
I can’t help but have the following Mental Image.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUUGblNjK20
Lol, Frank. Great link, great mental image, but mine involves Rudd after he wins the election.
He says that like it’s a bad thing.
“GG for the Prince”.
Harry: You take the horse, I’ll cop the kingdom.
Not like the PMs job then?
Pollyanna,
“If (as seems possible) Howard is going to be PM for another three years then at least it cheers me up, in a deathly sort of way, to see him saying something I agree with.”
Yes, but was that a core or non-core statement?
I think Howard secretly would love to have Will’s as GG but that in the lead up to an election he can’t actually say that. I think most monarchists like an Aussie GG even if they do want to keep the queen.
I wonder which of Canberra’s nightspots would be the Prince’s favorite?
Definitely the Pheonix. For the second hand smoke. Works for me.
Never going to happen.
This whole thing was a beat up for the sole purpose of giving Women’s Weekly and A Current Affair something to talk about.
To be polite,some days of my life are lived wondering when will this all end!? I can handle the Flints of the world after all they may of watched the Flintstones on teev and recognised a more British name than their own!? The problem I have is Abbott,….I cannot remember seeing him in all those cartoon series!?
Be quite a change from all the Governor’s-General we have had before.
This one would be mobbed by the breeding age girls of Australia, in screaming hordes!
What Howard said:
“Although I remain a supporter of our current constitutional arrangements, I do think the practice of having a person who is an Australian in every way, and a long term and permanent resident of this country, is a practice I would not like to see altered.�
What Howard thought:
“Although I remain a supporter of our current constitutional arrangements, I do think the practice of having a person whom I can upstage in every way, and a long term and permanent resident of this country, is a practice I would not like to see altered.�
“Reports emerged today from Britain that Prince William, heir to the British throne, aspires to becoming Governor-General of Australia”
But……there’s absolutely no evidence from those “reports” that the thought has ever crossed his mind let alone that he “aspires” to it. It’s a publisher beat-up around the release of Tina Brown’s pot boiler about Diana.
“Tina Brown, former editor of Vanity Fair has said in “The Diana Chronicles” that Prince William is keen to swap his lifestyle in the U.K. to take up the position.
She said in the book that “Charles really wanted the job because he saw it as a way to get the hell out of the grip of Prince Philip and the Queen,” and told The Australian Women’s Weekly, “You might like to know… it has been thought up in regard to William, too. Yes, they would very much like that and he would like that very much.”
Brown is to biography as Victoria Beckham is to artistic achievement. Given her less than forensic research skills, she’s probably unaware that Australia hasn’t had a non-Australian GG for forty years. Nor would she be aware that Canada and NZ, similarly, abandoned the practice of Brit aristos in the GG role, decades ago. But I’m sure that Wills is.
Here’s a thought: how would monarchists and republicans alike react to the idea that the (eventually) heir to the throne might be taking, like, an interest in Australia, and maybe even other parts of the Commonwealth. The shock! The horror! The repercussions! Just as well it isn’t likely to happen, eh?
Yeah, I think what probably happened is that someone asked the prince, “Hey, if you were offered a nice cushy job (ie, the GG) in Australia where the sun shines, would you take it?” and like most Brits would, he said “yes” and this response has been turned into some great “aspiration” of his.
Oh pish … buy him Skype and a webcam.
The left power elites broke the nation’s heart and revealed their hand the day they decided they would never agree to allow democracy into this country. By rejecting the right of the Australian people to elect their President, the authoritarian left and reactionary right joined forces.
“Yeah, I think what probably happened is that someone asked the prince,”
Beppie, I think it’s more probable that nobody asked the prince anything. But, courtesy of lazy Aussie journos, Tina Brown’s publisher has managed to ensure that a few thousand more units are flogged in Oz……
Mark, are you another one of the crazies who couldn’t tell that Caroline’s piece in the Oz was a spoof? What is this nation coming to?
Or ” We shall decide who comes to this country and the terms on which they come”.
Are all Caroline’s pieces spoofs? Is she a spoof?
“The left power elites broke the nation’s heart and revealed their hand the day they decided they would never agree to allow democracy into this country. By rejecting the right of the Australian people to elect their President, the authoritarian left and reactionary right joined forces.”
Wah wah wah.
Representative democracy is about elected delegates making decisions on our behalf. We don’t exactly elect our Prime Minister either. Anything to avoid it turning into the US presidential farce, which can hardly claim to be an ideal democracy.
Yes. She’s a very clever hoax, perpetrated by Age funster, Jim Schembri. I’ve heard Catherine Deveny is in on it too. The Wills piece sounds more like one of Jim’s though.