Television - ABC Afternoon Briefing

GREG JENNETT, HOST: Well, these days, these royal tours don't come off without months of intricate planning, covering everything from airports to police details, parliamentary protocols, flowers, wardrobe selection, you name it. Now within the federal bureaucracy, much of the co-ordination for this falls to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and the main minister responsible for those functions is the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister. That would be Patrick Gorman, and he joins us now in the studio. Patrick, welcome back to Afternoon Briefing. Really don't want to make a mountain out of a molehill on the Senator Lidia Thorpe contribution, we saw it at the end of our videotape compilation. Interjections that included 'give us a treaty,' 'we want treaty in this country.' 'It's not your land, it's not your land, you're not my king.' Was this anticipated?

PATRICK GORMAN, ASSISTANT MINISTER TO THE PRIME MINISTER: Well, I don't have any more insight than you do Greg into the minds of other Senators or other Members, but I thought that behaviour was pretty inappropriate. I think it alienated a lot of people, and I think most of the Australian public expect that their Members and Senators behave with dignity, especially at these formal state occasions.

JENNETT: Would there be any sanction worth contemplating, particularly by the other place, the Senate. You're not a member there, obviously, but would that be worthy of examination? In your view?

GORMAN: I can't speak for the Senate. They are in charge of their own members and their own disciplinary procedures, but what I hope is that this doesn't detract from the fact that it was an incredibly warm reception for the King and the Queen. There was clearly a lot of people in the room who were really honoured to have been invited to that very special occasion. As you said, the first time that we've had a King of Australia, in fact, visit Australia. And what we saw in the King's remarks were his warm affection for this country. A country that he came here as a student. He's visited 17 times, and I think he really went out of his way not just to talk about the causes that were important to him, such as climate change, but also to talk about his great appreciation of the respect that First Nations Australians have shown him on those visits.

JENNETT: I want to pull apart some aspects of the speech, because I did find it in some ways interesting, or more 'forward-leaning' to use the modern expression, than perhaps his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, might have made on such occasions. We will come to that, the last one on Senator Thorpe though. Would it be customary to brief the King afterwards for context, just so he understood who that person was, who made those remarks? Did that happen? Do you know?

GORMAN: The King and Queen left Parliament House, they've got a full program of engagements. And I think what you see from these sorts of engagements is they really do focus on those connections with the Australian people. They spent a lot more time than was expected in the Great Hall greeting all those who were there, but then even more time outside, those people who'd stood in the sun waiting for hours just to say hello. So I think that's really the focus of this. It's the focus on ordinary Australians who want to make a connection with their sovereign, and all but one of the Members and Senators who in that room behaved with dignity and respect.

JENNETT: Yeah, I understand. I don't want to get it out of proportion, it was about 10 seconds worth of shouting in a program that went significantly longer than that. Alright, let's talk about some of the speeches, because in the past, overt references to Republicanism were generally, I will suggest, shied away from on Royal occasions. And yet it was alluded to by the Prime Minister, I think, fairly clearly and then explicitly referenced in a jokey kind of way by Peter Dutton. Would that be confronting to the King's ears?

GORMAN: We've even seen the King himself say that questions of Australia's constitutional future are questions for the Australian people. That's very clear. But regardless of that, I think the connection between the Australian people and King Charles and Queen Camilla is strong. We've seen that. We've seen that on their visits. We've seen that in the crowds that have come out. We've seen people calling in to radio, sharing their experiences. I even think back to when I was a university student, I had the opportunity of meeting the then-Prince Charles when he came to Western Australia. They're important occasions. And again, whatever your views on a future Australian Republic, it doesn't take away from the fact that here today, on the 21st of October 2024 in Australia, we are a constitutional monarchy. This is our King, this is our Queen, and we can all just appreciate that fact -

JENNETT: You don't find any difficulty reconciling the inner republican in Patrick Gorman with the visit?

GORMAN: I truly don't. I'm not an inner republican, I'm a very proud member of the Australian Republican movement and have been for many years. Again, when I was a student, I served on the State Council of the Western Australian branch of the Australian Republic movement.

JENNETT: Yeah, you've got cred -

GORMAN: But I also recognise that, is it a priority for me right now? No. The Australian people want us to focus on a range of more pressing things, and also our constitutional and historical links to the Monarchy are inescapable. You see them as you walk around this building of Parliament House. You see them in our shared history, and you see them even in the conversation that we had today, where the King was talking about our shared future. Our shared future not just in the constitutional links, but actually our shared future as friends. And he spoke a lot about friendship, and the friendship Australians have shown him.

JENNETT: Yeah, he also went into a policy area, let's face it, that we kind of continue to grapple with in Australia, as with most advanced and developed economies - that is climate change. I'm going to suggest, as I did earlier, that I would not have expected that from Queen Elizabeth II. She didn't tend to infuse those elements into her public speeches. Is this a striking departure, as you heard it?

GORMAN: Well, I think it all depends on the times in which you come to those roles. If you think about Queen Elizabeth II, she came to become Queen after World War II. She spent a lot of her energy and time talking about the importance of peace, the importance of ensuring stability across the globe. So it's no surprise that Prince Charles, when he was Prince Charles, spent lots of time engaged in environmental causes that were important to him. I was actually standing with some people, some Australians, who previously worked for him as Prince who were not at all surprised that he would continue his advocacy for those things that he holds dear. When it comes to the inescapable truth about the need to protect our environment and the climate on which we all rely.

JENNETT: Alright, well, as you paint us that picture about the King's long-running commitment to environmental causes. Patrick Gorman, you can tell us what's going on here. So these are live pictures coming to us from the grounds of Government House out at Yarralumla down the bottom of Dunrossil Drive. And there have been a number of program elements occurring out there since they left Parliament House. So there's been the King receiving Anthony Albanese, the King receiving Peter Dutton, the Queen hosting, I think, a domestic violence abuse workshop, and now - what is about to occur?

GORMAN: I think what we see here is a reminder that this is, for the King's representative in Australia the Governor-General Sam Mostyn, this is an incredibly busy period of time for her and all of the team at Government House. I think they're about to head off to the National Botanic Gardens and then on to the CSIRO. Again to sort of see nature and science, both very incredibly important things to the causes that they hold dear. But it's also an opportunity, and you can see it in some of the footage that we're seeing, Greg, to actually do that thank you, as you acknowledged at the very outset. The work of these visits takes months, and it requires so many officials from the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet, Government House, our security services, the Australian Federal Police, the team here at Parliament House and the Department of Parliamentary Services. Let alone all the planning that happens back at the Palace and all the work from the team at the Palace. There's been so much effort, and I think already you've seen that careful planning has delivered a very - the weather, I must say was not something they had any control over -

JENNETT: It was magnificent.

GORMAN: - But even the weather did its bit to make sure this was successful trip so far.

JENNETT: Well, look at the lawns there Pat Gorman, they are verdant at Government House. Fertilised obviously, and watered frequently. It's a magnificent property. Once again, large crowds invited out to witness this moment as the King planted the tree. It's not the only tree either that he'll be planting today. I think, as you referenced, he's off to Botanic Gardens. There'll be another place there. And customarily, he likes to, as I understand it, shake trees after he's planted them for good luck or good health or whatever. So that's done. We'll pick him up later this hour when he crosses the lake and heads to the Botanic Gardens. Is there a budget when you add up all the elements to this program, and you just summarised only a few of them, is there an all-up cost to a visit like this?

GORMAN: Of course there is, and that will be revealed in the normal course of things, as we do, primarily borne by the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. Recognising that here in Australia we support our politicians, whatever their political persuasions, with their travel. We support our public servants and all the rest. But of course, this is our King and our Queen. And so when they come to Australia - and they've done us a great honour by choosing Australia for one of their first international visits, their first visit to a Commonwealth Realm country. And so as a result, of course we pick up those costs, as is appropriate. And I think you see by the crowds who are here today, people understand that this is something in which we should do our part.

JENNETT: Well indeed, I'm sure in the interests of transparency people will like to tally those up. But there's not a suggestion, not around Parliament House that I could see today, that anyone was begrudging the expense involved, and they are of course, on their way to the CHOGM meeting in Samoa. Patrick Gorman, as we said, you've been instrumental in helping, at one level, the co-ordination of this program. We thank you for finding at least a few moments for us on Afternoon Briefing at a very busy time indeed.

GORMAN: Thank you, Greg.