The visit of King Charles III reignites Australia's debate over ending ties with the British monarchy

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — King Charles III and Queen Camilla will arrive in Sydney on Friday for the first visit to Australia by a reigning monarch in more than a decade, a trip that has reignited debate over the country's constitutional ties to Britain.

The Sydney Opera House The iconic sails will be illuminated with images from previous royal visits to welcome the couple, whose six-day trip will be short by royal standards. Charles, 75, is being treated for cancer, which has resulted in a curtailed travel schedule.

He is only the second reigning British monarch to visit Australia. His mother, Queen Elizabeth IIbecame the first 70 years ago.

While the reception will be warm, Australia's leaders want the royals removed from their constitution.

Monarchists expect the visit will strengthen Australians' ties to their ruler. Opponents are hoping for a rejection of the concept of someone from the other side of the world being Australia's head of state.

The Australian Republic Movement, which advocates for an Australian citizen to replace the British monarch as head of state, likens the royal visit to an entertainment tour.

The ARM launched a campaign this week called “Wave Goodbye to Royal Reign with Monarchy: The Farewell Oz Tour!”

ARM co-chair Esther Anatolitis said royal visits to Australia were “kind of like a show coming to town”.

“Unfortunately, it is a reminder that Australia's head of state is not a full-time civil servant, not an Australian. This is a part-time employee based abroad who is the head of state of numerous places,” Anatolitis told the AP.

“We say to Charles and Camilla: 'Welcome, we hope you enjoy our country and are in good health and spirits.' But we also look forward to the fact that this will be the last journey of a reigning Australian monarch and that we will welcome him as a dignitary when he returns soon,” she added.

Philip Benwell, national chairman of the Australian Monarchist League, which works to maintain Australia's constitutional ties with Britain, expects the reaction to the royal couple to be largely positive.

“Something like the royal visit brings the king closer in people's minds because we have an absent monarchy,” Benwell told the AP.

“The royal visit makes it clear that Australia is a constitutional monarchy and has a king,” he added.

Benwell criticizes the premiers of all six states who have rejected invitations to a reception for Charles in the state capital Canberra.

The prime ministers each explained that they had more urgent tasks that day, such as cabinet meetings and trips abroad.

“It would practically be the premier's duty to be in Canberra to meet him and pay their respects,” Benwell said. “Not attending may be viewed as a snub as this is not a normal visit. This is the first ever royal visit to Australia.”

Charles was drawn into the Australian Republic debate months before his visit.

The Australian Republic Movement wrote to Charles in December last year asking for a meeting in Australia and for the king to champion their cause. Buckingham Palace politely wrote in March that the king's meetings were decided by the Australian government. A meeting with the ARM is not in the official travel plan.

“Whether Australia becomes a republic is…a matter for the Australian public,” the Buckingham Palace letter said.

The Associated Press has seen copies of both letters.

The Australians decided in one Referendum in 1999 To keep Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. This result is widely seen as a result of disagreement over how a president should be elected, rather than as a result of majority support for a monarch.

After visiting Sydney and Canberra, 250 kilometers (155 miles) apart, Charles then travels there Samoa to open the annual meeting of Commonwealth Heads of Government.

When his mother made the last of her 16 trips to Australia in 2011, aged 85, she visited Canberra, Brisbane and Melbourne on the east coast before opening the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in the west coast city of Perth.

Elizabeth's first strenuous tour of Australia at the age of 27 took her through numerous far-flung outback towns; An estimated 75% of the country's population came to see them.

At the time, Australia had racially discriminatory policies that favored British immigrants. Immigration policy has been non-discriminatory since 1973.

Anatolitis noted that Australia is now much more multicultural, with the majority of the population either born overseas or having a parent born overseas.

“In the ’50s we didn’t have the global connectivity we have today,” she said.