Farewell tour? King's first visit to Australia as monarch revives republican rumblings

As the king arrives in Australia for the first time as head of state, republican rumblings are once more on the media radar.

- Caroline Davies

Will it be, as the Australian Republic Movement (Arm) optimistically opines, the monarchy's "farewell tour"?

Should the fact all six state premiers are unable to personally attend a Canberra reception for Charles and Camilla be interpreted as an "insult" and a "snub", as Australian monarchists allege?

Will the royal family's relationship with this distant dominion change after the death of Queen Elizabeth II?

Royal visits to Australia consistently concentrate minds on the status of the institution's role in the country's constitutional affairs. So the fact the king has said that whether or not Australia moves to become a republic is a matter for Australians has made headlines.

In response to a letter from the Arm last year, one of Charles's private secretaries wrote: "Please be assured that your views on this matter have been noted very carefully. His majesty, as a constitutional monarch, acts on the advice of his ministers, and whether Australia becomes a republic is, therefore, a matter for the Australian public to decide."

Released by republicans before this week's royal tour, it has been seized on by anti-monarchists.

In fact, said Dr Craig Prescott, a constitutional law expert at Royal Holloway, University of London, there was little else the king could have said. The royal family, as implied in Charles's response to the Arm, has no say, constitutionally.