Prince Charles marked Australia Day
26th January 2011

The Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall visited the Australian High Commission in London on 26h January to mark Australia Day and pay tribute to those who had lost their lives in the Queensland floods.



The event, attended by members of the Australian community, commemorated those killed in the natural disaster and recognised the efforts of the emergency services and the public who helped save lives, homes and businesses.

In a speech The Prince told the guests Australians had "shown such amazing ability to survive, endure and somehow make jokes about the horror that everybody's facing".

His Royal Highness also told the invited audience of leading Australians how in 1966 he spent around six months in their country and developed a "huge affection" for the nation.

The Prince spent two terms as an exchange student at Timbertop, a remote outpost of the Geelong Church of England Grammar School in Melbourne, Australia.

He then made them laugh when he said: "I've been through my fair share of being called a 'pommie bastard' - by God it was good for the character.

"If you want to develop character go to Australia."


The Prince went on to say how livestock farmers were showing "unbelievable courage and resilience in the face of all these disasters".

He added: "The emergency services - we know how incredible they are when these disasters occur.

"We know also, just how much people in communities are helping each other. Suddenly adversity produces extraordinary generosity of spirit and people working together in a way perhaps hadn't quite happened before."

Australia's flood crisis began with record rains in November that left huge parts of the state of Queensland under water, killing 30 people.

The natural disaster also damaged or destroyed 30,000 homes and businesses and caused at least £1.9 billion in damage to crops and lost coal exports.

The state capital and the country's third-largest city, Brisbane, was swamped for days. The flood waters are now affecting parts of Victoria.

The Duchess is greeted by Australian writer Kathy Lette at a reception held at Australia House, the Australian High Commission in London.

Hosting the evening was Australia's High Commissioner John Dauth, and among the guests was Australian writer Kathy Lette who shared a joke with The Duchess and said afterwards: "I warned her that she was in a room full of convicts - the 'creme de la crim'."

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The Age: This year's republican parrot talk

On Australia Day The Age put up a united front against the Constitution, the Australian flag and first of all against the Australian Monarchy. Actually, everything seems to be a repeat from previous years.

As a commentator remarked: These has-beens say the same thing every Australia Day and quite frankly it is boring. Most Australians don't care enough to change to bother talking about it. Do you just republish the same newspaper every Australia Day so you can have a day off too.

Peter Gebhardt asked for “independence from the regal pantomime in England”.

John Huxley collected quotes from a dozen former Australians of the Year, among them Harold Scruby, who founded Ausflag in 1981, who had said: “We believe the time has come to embrace a flag worthy of our sovereign, independent, mature, egalitarian nation; our own flag."

The most common, very, very common was Larissa Behrendt, professor of law at the University of Technology, Sydney, chairwoman of the Bangarra Dance Theatre and 2011 NSW Australian of the Year, who came up with this all too familiar slogan: “Becoming a republic is inevitable and it's time to rekindle the debate.” You wouldn’t believe the originality.

Worst of all is today's editorial in The Age: "The last national leader who accepted the challenge was Paul Keating, and when he left office, nearly 60 per cent of Australians supported a republic.” The Age might be the only one in Australia regretting Paul Keating has disappeared from the political arena.

In view of the recent opinion polls mentioned below The Age appears like an Australian version of The Pravda with its republican rants, that left no space for a single pro-Monarchist article on Australia Day. Don't they fear the Australians might get an overdose of the same old republican propaganda that was published on other occasions? May this empire of evil speaking collapse soon.

In 2010, 52 per cent favoured the Constitutional Monarchy for Australia rather than “a” republic. The Age on 22nd December 2010: A total of 52 per cent think the nation should remain a monarchy.

And on 28th August 2010:
Australian support for the country becoming a republic is at its lowest level since 1994.

The RadicalRoyalist’s previous responses to The Age’s republicanism on Australia Day reply to all the allegations published today and can be read here from 2007 and here from 2009.

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Prince William's Australia Day speech at Government House in Melbourne

On 21st January 2010 Prince William spoke at Government House in Melbourne to address the people at the state of Victoria's Australia Day celebrations .

I would like to begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land, the Kulin Nation, and pay my respects to their elders, both past and present. Being in Australia is the realisation of a dream.

As far back as I can remember, I have heard from my family about the wonders of Australia and the hospitality and friendship of the Australian people.

My father had such a great time here at school - and is still misty-eyed about an immortal moment on Bondi, when an Australian beauty planted a smacker on his cheek. It's good to see this tradition is continuing!

I also remember my mother coming back from her time here in 1996, telling me what a profound impression this country had made on her and how much she loved Australia. Three days here and now I know why. And of course, there's that other guy with the ginger hair, who just never ever stops banging on about you and how I haven't lived because I haven't been to Australia - blah, blah, blah.

Because of this, and because of the respect the world has for your unique way of life, your vibrancy, your straightforward ways, your classic sense of humour, I have been longing to return.

The last time I was here I was nine months old and seeing the world from a very low level; certainly not one from which to appreciate this awesome place.

What has struck me during this visit to the southern hemisphere is what "shared heritage" actually means.

It really is about core values and our way of life. It really is about humour and decency.

And it is also about courage and an ability to face down adversity. Today, on the outskirts of Melbourne, I was privileged to see the spirit of Australia in its purest, most magnificent form.

My family, along with millions around the world, followed the events of last February with a sense of horror which slowly, as the days passed, turned to one of deep, deep admiration for the steadfastness of the Australian people.

The stories of suffering I have heard today inevitably made me think about the ongoing tragedy of Haiti. Our thoughts and prayers remain with everyone there.

What an exciting place Australia is, though! This truly is a country for the 21st century. I only wish I had a little longer to see a bit more of Melbourne, this legendary city of sport and culture.

But if I may, I'll be back!

So, coming to Australia is the realisation of this long-held dream.

To be standing here, in beautiful Melbourne, on a glorious summer's afternoon, is one thing. But to be asked to address you at the state of Victoria's Australia Day celebrations is a great honour for me.

Thank you for asking me to be here and making me feel so very welcome.

Happy Australia Day.

More reports on the Prince of Wales' website.

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Keep Labour Day!

Yesterday Victoria enjoyed a public holiday. No, it was not Moomba Day, even if the TV coverage seems to suggest this. It was Labour Day, a special holiday for the working people – or as Kevin Rudd would say: the working families.

I did not notice any celebrations of members of the working class. All streets were quiet, well, except for the noise from the Moomba parade, which you could not avoid. One TV station briefly interviewed a worker, who is about to lose her job due to Pacific Brands closing all production plants in Australia. But even she was not in the mood to go out into the street and let the Victorians know about her anger and frustration. Could anyone spot an ALP march for the worker's rights?

Unlike our republicans friends I don’t propagate the abolition of Labour Day for lack of interest. The media did not even lead an attack against Labour Day, unlike their well-prepared though ill-written articles against Queen’s Birthday holiday or Australia Day. Last year The Canberra Times led the squadron: “The focus of the Queen’s Birthday long weekend was raised in Parliament in June 2000, where the relevance and significance were questioned by the Hon John Hatzistergos. An almost identical article to Ms Sherlock’s was run in today’s The Age. I’m not a die hard Monarchist, a Children’s Day (sorry I don’t raise goats) sounds plausible. I know this might sound kind of out there, but maybe we could incorporate ‘Children’s Day’ in the ‘Family Day’ we now celebrate in November?“

Emily Sherlock's article demanded: "Instead of honouring our monarch we could soon be honouring our children, with the minister calling for the Queen's Birthday break to be renamed the Kids' Day long weekend."

In The Age Michael Cooney favoured a “Kid’s Day” as well: "This year should be the last Queen's Birthday long weekend. It's time to replace a holiday based on the past with a holiday based on the future. So next year, the first Monday in June should be a new public holiday: Kids' Day." A reply to Sherlock's and Cooney's suggestions can be read here and here.

Of course we had a "Children's Day" in Victoria. It was part of the tradition of the Royal Show for over 120 years before it was abolished by the Kennett conservative government in the mid 1990s. The Age seems to have forgotten that.

The Age, of course, was more robust in its refusal of our Monarch’s birthday holiday: “Queen's birthday holiday gets to the heart of what it means to be Australian today, when only a minority of the population can relate to the redundant symbols and trappings of monarchy and colonialism … in 1958 Empire Day was renamed Commonwealth Day, and the official holiday was withdrawn due to lack of interest and relevance and has now rightly faded into obscurity”.

Who decided that Commonwealth Day was redundant or people did not care for a public holiday? Probably the same sort of politicians that decided we didn't want a Children's Day!

“Lack of interest and relevance” could be equally attributed to Labour Day. Should The Age’s criteria be used for the upholding of Labour Day, then it will might “rightly faded into obscurity”, as the editorialist had wished for Queen’s Birthday holiday. I could cite likeminded opinion pieces on Australia Day.

But contrary to the outspoken republicans I can assure the working class, that I fully support having Labour Day holiday here and elsewhere. I think that it serves honouring employees and those people who are self-employed, but depend on the goodwill of employers as well.

I don’t want it changed to a "work-relations day" or to the official Moomba Holiday. I want it as a reminder of the work of the people that is done quietly, but without which this country would not function. At the same time I claim Queen’s Birthday holiday not just for the Monarchists, but for our history and our future, because it reminds us of the overall good functioning democracy in Australia. Labour Day and Queen's Birthday holiday are two sides of the same coin.

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