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Australia’s prime minister on Monday defended an obscure and longstanding protocol that bars the nation’s parliament from sitting for 15 days following a British monarch’s death.
Lawmakers will reconvene on Sept. 23 to debate a condolence motion for Queen Elizabeth II, the earliest date that the protocol allows, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.
While presenting himself as a traditionalist, Albanese wants an Australian president to replace the British monarch as the nation’s head of state. But he has brushed off questions about creating an Australian republic since the queen’s death.
Most advocates for and against a republic are avoiding saying anything that might be seen as seeking advantage from the death of a widely respected monarch.
Britain apparently doesn’t have a comparable protocol and King Charles III, monarch of both Britain and Australia, will address the British Parliament this week.
Because the last British monarch died in 1952, few knew of the Australian protocol.
