Queen knows attitudes have changed in Australia -- PM

Queen knows attitudes have changed in Australia -- PM
AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II is well aware Australians view the monarchy differently now to how they once did, Prime Minister John Howard said after meeting her on Saturday. Howard, a diehard loyalist who helped the monarchists defeat the republicans in last November's referendum, refused after their meeting to say whether the historic vote had been discussed. But he told reporters, including a large contingent of British correspondents, he believed the queen was well aware that attitudes differed to those that existed in 1954 when millions of adoring Australians lined the streets to see her.

"It's a different world from what it was in 1954 or even 1963," he said. "We have a very, very diverse, busy life, all of us." He said he believed there would be considerable interest in the royal visit, "but nobody should imagine that it would be like what it was in 1954. "The world has moved on. It is very different. I am quite certain that she understands that probably better than people who raise those issues." But he said he was sure she would receive a friendly and polite welcome. "Australians have always been warm towards her, including many people in Australia who voted for a republic. "The queen as a person has not been the issue in the constitutional debate in Australia."

The queen, he said, had also made clear during their discussions that she was quite happy with his decision to invite Governor-General Sir William Deane to open the Olympic Games here in September instead of her. Howard's decision not to invite her to open the games was seen by a segment of the British media as a snub to the queen but not apparently by Her Majesty.The queen and husband Prince Philip are spending most of the 18-day visit as the guest of Deane and will make day trips from there around the eastern states of New South Wales and Victoria.

The first major engagement begins on Monday with an official welcome at the Sydney Opera House. The Australian visit, which has been billed as her most arduous tour for years, is her 13th as queen. The royal couple will spend two days in Sydney before the queen travels to the dusty outback town on Bourke where she will visit a primary school and an Aboriginal radio station.

Howard also rejected any suggestion the queen's visit just four months after the referendum would be any embarrassment to her. "Australians handled that referendum with the maturity and commonsense for which we are renowned," he said.

But he admitted to being unsure if her visit would have any impact on Australia's attitudes towards the monarchy.