Subjects: The Death of Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II; republican movement; future of the Monarch appearing on the $5 note.
RAY HADLEY:
Peter Dutton, The Opposition Leader’s on the line. G’day, how are you Opposition Leader, alright?
PETER DUTTON:
I’m very well thanks Ray, how are you?
RAY HADLEY:
Good, good, you’ve had a busy week, but I notice a bipartisan sort of week between you and the government in relation to the way things are being dealt with after the passing of Her Majesty last Friday, and it’s probably the way it should be, isn’t it?
PETER DUTTON:
I think it is. I think it’s time for decorum, for reflection, and the sort of day-to-day political thrust is put to one side as best we can, I think Ray. That’s the period we’re in now and frankly I think most Australians would expect that of their political leaders. I’ve spoken several times with the Prime Minister about ways in which we can provide support, and particularly around arrangements of the Parliament honouring the Queen’s passing and her service to our country and to the Commonwealth. That continues and there’ll be, obviously, next week a memorial service following her funeral that’s coming up and then there will be motions moved in the Parliament to recognise her service.
RAY HADLEY:
That’s all laid out the way it should be. I mean some can’t help themselves. I’ve spoken about a social media post in the most dreadful terms from a young woman who’s been dealt with – some say inappropriately, others say appropriately – by the NRL.
But what I couldn’t believe, we made the announcement of course on the Friday, and almost instantly, instantly, Adam Bandt, Peter FitzSimons and others – he was a bit later Peter, than Adam – started to bang the drum about the republican movement. I mean, I shook my head and even the Prime Minister said ‘this is not the time.’
PETER DUTTON:
It’s just not the time Ray. I mean the Queen hasn’t even been laid to rest yet, and the usual suspects – as you point out – are out of the block straightaway and I think most Australians would be appalled by that. There’s a time and place for their argument. I mean, I don’t agree with a republic and frankly, I think, what we’re seeing at the moment highlights the stability, the transition, that you get in a monarchy and it’s hard to imagine how that would happen if we were a republic.
But all of that to one side. I think it’s just unseemly and to try and eke out some political advantage from the Queen’s death, frankly, I think it says more about them than what it does about the issue.
RAY HADLEY:
On another minor issue, and I know that you’ve said you’re on the same page as the Prime Minister, and this is the note issue about who appears on the $5 note now Her Majesty has passed. Convention would dictate, because the $5 that came into being in 1992, and prior to that we had a $1 note – the lowest denomination – and she featured on that as well. Tradition is that the reigning monarch in a constitutional monarchy in Australia, the reigning monarch has her insignia, her profile, on that note or in this case, King Charles.
Now, you and I have discussed at great length Andrew Leigh previously. Was he the one you said was a weird cat? I’m not quite sure…
PETER DUTTON:
I think we did describe him like that.
RAY HADLEY:
Nah, nah, not we – you, but anyway, I’m just agreeing with you.
PETER DUTTON:
Right.
RAY HADLEY:
He made an announcement in concert with the Mint CEO, where he said – he had a conversation about the $5 note – and he made it clear that it will be his decision. ‘Down the track, it’s a conversation that will happen.’
Now, he made the note along with that, that it’s not automatic that the Queen is replaced by King Charles III on the $5 note, because according to him – and he would have been in short pants at the time – ‘It was due to her personality, and personally, not as monarch.’ So he’s reinvented history, and like I say, it’s a discussion to have down the track, but almost seizing upon the opportunity to say ‘oh, look, it’s not about being the monarch, it’s about she was very popular in 1992 and equally popular upon her passing in 2022, so that’s the reason she’s on the note.’ I mean he’s just invented it all, it’s just an invention in his own mind.
PETER DUTTON:
Well, clearly it is and again, it’s trying to take advantage of the circumstances that we’re in at the moment. I’d be surprised if the Prime Minister supported Andrew Leigh. I’d be disappointed if he did because if we’re a republic at some stage, then that’s a decision for the Australian people to make, but we’re with our current arrangements at the moment and we should honour those arrangements and that includes in relation to the $5 note.
For Andrew Leigh to come out and express a view which, again, is not based in fact, what he’s saying, as you point out Ray, it’s not something that you can just make up on the run. There’s a protocol that’s in place and again and I don’t understand why he would feel a need to come out at the moment and to make, what is a unilateral decision – something that he’s decided by himself without consultation.
Equally, most people I’ve spoken to as you move through airports and around the cities over the last week or so, I mean most people are very much concentrating on the Queen’s life and celebrating that, giving her due respect and I just think these are decisions for another day. If you’re going to change something, well, argue it down the track, but we’re not a republic yet and I think the Australian public will have a strong view about this issue, probably stronger than they have in the past. But that comes in time and at the moment we’ve got an arrangement which is in place and to rewrite history, as you say, is pretty odd from Dr Leigh, but this won’t be the first or last odd decision from Dr Leigh.
RAY HADLEY:
Thanks for your time. We’ll talk again in the future.
PETER DUTTON:
Thank you Ray. Take care mate.
[ends]