Send us free portraits of the Queen, Aussies insist

AUSTRALIAN politicians have been inundated with requests for portraits of the Queen after it emerged an obscure law allows voters to request one at taxpayers’ expense.

The little-known legislation permits Australians to ask their MPs for ‘ nationhood material’, including a photo of the Queen wearing a wattle brooch and a pin with the country’s coat of arms.

Other material on offer includes a portrait of the Duke of Edinburgh; national, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags; and a booklet on Australian national symbols. Labour MP Tim

Watts, who represents the seat of Gellibrand in Victoria, said: ‘Be warned youth of Gellibrand: if you request a portrait of Liz, there’s nothing stopping me sending you other “material”.’

He pledged to include a photo of former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard with any request under the archaic rules, along with one of Bob Murphy, a retired captain of Aussie Rules football team Western Bulldogs. Mr Watts said he had received around 50 requests for portraits of the Queen in 24 hours after an article highlighting the measures was published by website Vice. ‘I think 99 per cent were tongue firmly in cheek,’ he added.

Australians pushing for the country to become a republic failed to win a national referendum on the question in 1999.

‘Tongue firmly in cheek’