PM a ‘strong Elizabethan’
A staunch republican, Malcolm Turnbull said that 20 years ago, he would never have imagined he would meet the Queen as Prime Minister of Australia.
PRIME Minister Malcolm Turnbull, the republican, declared himself a “very strong Elizabethan” as he met Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
The staunch republican said that 20 years ago, he would never have imagined he would meet the Queen as Prime Minister of Australia.
The audience at Buckingham Palace was the final official event for Mr Turnbull before heading back to Australia after a trip to Germany for the G20, France and England.
Life is “unpredictable”, he said when asked if, as a republican, he had ever expected to meet the Queen. The meeting was private, but Mr Turnbull earlier said he was looking forward to the monarch’s “advice and wisdom”.
“The Queen has embodied selfless public service, dignity, wisdom, leadership, for longer and more magnificently than anyone alive today,” he said.
“She’s been a remarkable leader to the United Kingdom, the Commonwealth, she’s been our head of state for all that time and I’ll be very honoured to meet her as the Australian Prime Minister and share my thoughts about Australia and hear what she has to say. I’m really looking forward to it.
“Even republicans like myself can be, and in my case are, very strong Elizabethans.”