The Australian Republic Movement has called for the King's Governor-General designate to release details of her conversations with the King.
National Director and CEO Isaac Jeffrey said: "Samantha Mostyn, Australia's incoming Governor-General, met overnight with the King of Australia, Charles III. Buckingham Palace noted it was an opportunity for the King to 'connect with her', but went onto say they 'never discuss what takes place at these meetings, but the King meets all governors-general to go over their credentials.'
"When Samantha Mostyn is sworn in as Governor-General this Saturday, she will swear allegiance to the King and his heirs and successors. Charles is King of Australia - our Head of State - and Ms Mostyn is his representative, not ours.
"The Australian people deserve to know what our King has told his representative, including any expectations he has placed on her performance in the role. It is simply not good enough in 2024 that an Australian serving in high office is expected to fly 17,000 kilometres to London to meet with the man she'll be subbing in for here locally. It's also not good enough that these important conversations are shielded by the Crown's obsession with secrecy.
"If it was only tea and scones on the taxpayers' dime, then why do we need either of them and why waste the money on the trip? But if it was more than that and went in any way to how the role should be performed, then we the people should be informed of those directions. We are citizens of Australia, not subjects of the Crown, and we deserve to know how we are being governed.
"It's time to remove the shackles of the old empire. It's time Australians got to have a say in who takes the highest office in the land and not allow it to continue to be by appointment of an English aristocrat on the other side of the world. And, it's time our leaders swore allegiance to Australia, to Aussies and to our laws and Constitution, not to a foreign King.
"This is the moment for an Australian republic with our own democratically elected Head of State. Someone who is loyal to Australia and only Australia, and who's attention is undivided and focused on delivering for Australia. Someone who can be our local advocate, our local champion of the people, of our industries and trade, of our economy and jobs, of our charities and institutions. An Aussie with real life experience, someone like Samantha Mostyn, who can represent us in her own right, not as fill in for an irrelevant absentee monarch from the other side of the world.
"This is the moment for democracy and choice. This is the moment for accountability and transparency. This is the moment to start the next chapter in our ongoing story. This is the moment for an Aussie Head of State."
