Twenty-six years of unimpeded growth and waves of immigration into Australia have created a diverse and prosperous nation that is completely focused on Asia. Its traditions may be western, but Australia is becoming emotionally detached from its former rulers.
Too many members of the Conservative Party in Britain think Australia and the other Commonwealth nations are waiting to renew the old, close relationships. In fact, Australia’s dynamic services-focused model is what most liberal Brexiters desire for the UK. While the UK made itspath in Europe, they made theirs elsewhere. Prioritising links with the British Isles is no longer part of the plan. A stark reality check is on the way. Australia is seeking to make a decisive break by becoming a republic.
A prominent Australian republican is quoted as saying, “Progressives see Britain’s hereditary monarchy as completely at odds with our sense of a fair go. Australian Conservatives think about Australia’s independence and maturity, as well as it s divergent economic interests. Britain’s entry into the EU single market was painful for our business and Brexit can’t reverse what happened.”. Regardless of whether Labor or rightwing Liberals win federal elections on 2019,the party leaders, Bill Shorten and Malcolm Turnbull, are both staunch republicans and are planning to have a referendum to end the Queen’s (nominal) reign there. Poor Queen!
I used to go to Australia on business back in the 1980s and realised then that the emotional tie with Britain was tenuous-to-non-existent, to say the least. Aussies had the reputation of giving English businessmen a particularly hard time, and I was advised to try to deal with expatriot Brits who were courteous and helpful. They were absolutely right!
It boggles the mind how Brexiters can be so totally out of touch, living in the past, harping on a lost empire, which our debating society at school decided was dead and gone in the 1950s. Many Australians were thinking the same thing at the time. Should young Brits now be focusing on China or India? Just suggesting it makes you realise that Britain shouldn’t be leaving the EU at all!