London Bridge is down… What does it mean for Australia and the Commonwealth?

As the British royal family is observing its 10 days of mourning while King Charles III adapts to the long coveted monarchical responsibilities, some vital changes may be noticed in Australia as well, for being part of the Commonwealth.
The Constitution of Australia will have to be amended as Section 61 of the Constitution states, “The executive power of the Commonwealth is vested in the Queen and is exercisable by the Governor-General as the Queen's representative, and extends to the execution and maintenance of this Constitution, and of the laws of the Commonwealth.”
Now that the Queen is no more, the powers of the Governor-General of Australia (David Hurley) are to be rewritten as the representative of the ‘King/Monarch’ and not the ‘Queen’.
Political Analysts had previously expressed that as long as the Queen is on the throne, the campaign for an Australian Republic is under control as most people viewed the Queen as an unquestionable source of authority. However, in her 70-year long reign, the people have become familiar with the human face of King Charles III, with his fair share of worldly gestures and political vocality. And if the campaign for an Australian Republic resurges, then the Commonwealth can take a serious hit, as Australia is the third largest contributor to the Commonwealth Budget and is also represented on the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Board of Governors, and its Executive Committee, by the High Commissioner for Australia to the United Kingdom. Thus, if Australia walks out of its voluntary membership to the Commonwealth, then various other nations might follow suit, which would come as a major blow to the Commonwealth as currently there are a whopping 2.5billion people in the Commonwealth. However, for Australia, it would simply be symbolic and the Queen and Governor-General would be replaced by an Australian president, abolishing the role of a foreign monarch.
As has been pointed out by Australian government officials, the Commonwealth provides the nations with a common platform to discuss on various matters of concern and eases the way for bilateral talks for those nations who do not essentially see eye-to-eye.
On the other hand for the Commonwealth, a new Head of the Commonwealth has to be chosen, as it is not a hereditary post which would automatically go down the line of succession to King Charles III. The new Head of the Commonwealth is to be chosen by the Commonwealth members and many are of the opinion that they could opt for an election by the members rather than selection, to stress upon the democratic nature of the Commonwealth.
Whether Australia would remain a part of the Commonwealth or will the Commonwealth experience a power shuffle is a matter of time, but it can surely be stated that with the demise of the erstwhile Queen of England, the colonial aftertaste will steadily begin to fade.

A Note By
Sinjini Bardhan
Co-founder and Chief of Research and Policy, P3