Queen’s representative in Australia stirs republic debate

The British monarch’s representative in Australia, Governor-General Quentin Bryce, has reignited debate over cutting ties with the country’s head of state after she expressed support for Australia becoming a republic.

Australia is a parliamentary democracy that retains Britain’s monarch, Queen Elizabeth II., as its head of state.

Bryce made the comments at a speech in Sydney on Friday evening in which she outlined a future vision for Australia in which she imagined a nation ”where an ethic of care guides the way we lead”.

“Where the young, the elderly, the indigenous, the newly arrived, people with disabilities, are treated with dignity and respect,” she said.

“Where every child is given the opportunity of a good education from their very early years; where women’s contributions to civil society, the workplace, the economy, the family and home are valued equally with men’s... where people are free to love and marry whom they choose;

“And where, perhaps my friends, one day, one young girl or boy may even grow up to be our nation’s first head of state.”