The news that parliament will be adjourned for more than two weeks due to Queen Elizabeth’s passing has angered some Australians.
As per a long-standing tradition, there won’t be any parliamentary activity for 15 days.
The decision has infuriated some Australians on social media and means that MPs and senators will miss four days of session that were planned for next week.
Federal Parliament has been cancelled next week and will not return for at least 15 days following the Queen’s death. Pictured: Prime Minister Anthony Albanese
‘Get back to work! The country is facing multiple crises,’ one person wrote on Twitter.
‘What? How can we afford that? Why do they need 15 days off, fully paid? No employee in the country would ever get that,’ another added.
‘Ordinary Aussies get two days of bereavement leave when an actual loved one dies,’ a third person wrote.
With next week’s sitting cancelled, Parliament is not due until the last week of October when the Labor government will unveil its first budget.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defended the hiatus, saying: ‘These protocols have been in place for some time.
‘This is a moment in our history. Of course, for the whole of my life, I’ve only known one monarch, which is quite extraordinary.’
This morning, the flag at Parliament House was lowered to half-staff.
Mr. Albanese has praised The Queen for her commitment to duty and service as well as her support of Australia through difficult times.
The Australian Prime Minister received word of the Queen’s passing one hour before a formal statement was made to the rest of the globe.
Mr. Albanese leader expressed his condolences to the Royal Family, the British people, and his own nation, which had the highest regard for Her Majesty.
In a long statement released early on Friday morning, he praised her for her many accomplishments and extraordinary fortitude during her 70-year, 214-day rule.
To read the whole of Anthony Albanese’s comments, scroll down.
The Queen’s place in the hearts of millions of Australians was as abiding as her lifelong relationship with the one-time colony. She is pictured receiving flowers from waiting school children waving flags after a Commonwealth Day Service in Sydney in March 2006
Mr Albanese followed up with a televised address to the nation about 6.30am in which he read a longer version of his early-morning statement while wearing a black tie kept for the occasion.
His staff carried the ceremonial tie for the PM to put on immediately after he was given the news.
‘With the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, an historic reign and a long life devoted to duty, family, faith and service has come to an end,’ he said.
‘The government and the people of Australia offer our deepest condolences to the Royal Family, who are grieving for a beloved mother, grandmother and great-grandmother – the person whom for so long was their greatest inner strength.
‘Australian hearts go out to the people of the UK who mourn today, knowing they will feel they have lost part of what makes their nation whole.
‘There is comfort to be found in Her Majesty’s own words: ‘Grief is the price we pay for love’.’
Mr Albanese, a republican who will likely begin the push to end the monarchy after a respectful time, said many Australians would feel a strong sense of loss when they awoke to the news on Friday.
‘This is a loss we all feel, for few have known a world without Queen Elizabeth II. In her seven remarkable decades on the throne, Her Majesty was a rare and reassuring constant amidst rapid change,’ he said.
‘Through the noise and tumult of the years, she embodied and exhibited a timeless decency and an enduring calm.
‘From the moment the young princess became Queen, shouldering the mighty weight of the institution into which she was born, Her Majesty made dedication to duty and service above self the hallmark of her reign.
‘We saw those qualities each time she visited our shores, and she graced us on 16 occasions during her reign.’
The Queen first visited Australia with Prince Philip in 1954, arriving on the SS Gothic which steamed into Sydney Harbour after almost six weeks at sea. She is pictured with Prince Philip at Parliament House in Canberra during that tour
Australian Prime Minister offered his condolences to the Royal Family, the British people, and all his own citizens who held Her Majesty in the highest regard
Mr Albanese noted that The Queen was a loyal friend to Australia, the UK’s closest Commonwealth ally, and was beloved by many of its people.
He thanked her for the sympathy she showed during times of national crisis and loss, such as condolences sent during national disasters – most recently the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20.
‘She celebrated our good times, she stood with us in the bad. Happy and glorious, but steadfast too. In particular, we recall the sympathy and personal kindness she extended to Australians afflicted by tragedy and disaster.’ he said.
‘As she said at the Sydney Opera House in the year 2000, ‘Since I first stepped shore here, I have felt part of this rugged, honest, creative land. I have shared in the joys and the sorrow, the challenges that have shaped this country’s history’, he he said.
‘Her Majesty celebrated our good times, and she stood with us during trials and hardships. Happy and glorious, but steadfast, too.
‘In particular, we recall the sympathy and personal kindness she extended to Australians afflicted by tragedy and disaster.
‘From floods and bushfires, to wars and a pandemic. Her words and presence were a source of comfort, hope and solace for millions of Australians.’
Mr Albanese said Her Majesty was a source of strength for many Australians, a singular constant no matter the circumstance.
‘Queen Elizabeth II has been a wise and encouraging guide, always wanting the best for our nation and greeting each change with understanding, good grace and an abiding faith in the Australian people’s judgement,’ he said.
‘Throughout it all, she was a monarch who let her humanity show, performing her duty with fidelity, integrity and humour.
‘In this, she was supported so long and so lovingly by the late Prince Philip, her ‘strength and stay’ for 73 years.’
The Queen visited Australia in 1954, 1963, 1970, 1973, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1986, 1988, 1992, 2000, 2002, 2006 and 2011 – her last time on these shores. She is pictured in 1981
The prime minister recalled how The Queen visited Australia very early in her reign for a famous tour in February 1954 – before he was even born.
The trip, part of a six-month tour of the Commonwealth, lasted 58 days and visited 57 towns and cities around the country.
‘From her famous first trip to Australia, the only reigning sovereign to ever visit, it was clear Her Majesty held a special place in her heart for Australia, and we in hers,’ he said.
‘Her first visit with Philip began on February 3, 1954, just eight months after her coronation. It was the biggest single event that got organised in Australia. And it remains a defining moment in our nation’s history.
‘Some seven million Australians, or 70 per cent of our population at the time, turned out to catch a glimpse of the young Queen passing by.
‘Fifteen more tours before cheering crowds in every part of our country confirmed the special place she held in ours.
‘Sixteen prime ministers consulted with her. And 16 governors-general served in her name. Throughout her reign, Queen Elizabeth II showed a deep affection for our country.’
An unfathomable amount has changed on both sides of the world since that first tour, including Australia’s place in the world and relationship to Britain, but Mr Albanese noted she always deftly navigated it.
‘As monarch for more than half the life of our Federation, the relationship between Australia and Britain matured and evolved throughout Her Majesty’s reign,’ he said.
The Queen’s last visit to Australia came in 2011 when then Labor prime minister Julia Gillard described her as ‘a vital constitutional part of Australian democracy’. She is pictured in Perth during that trip
‘The Queen greeted each and every change with understanding, good grace and an abiding faith in the Australian people’s good judgment.
‘This was the deft and diplomatic way she bound the diversity of the modern Commonwealth, nations around the world who will mourn her passing.’
Mr Albanese cancelled next week’s sitting of parliament and will instead travel to London with Governor General David Hurley to meet the new King Charles III.
‘We will convey the sorrow of Australians, as well as our best wishes to him and the Queen Consort as he takes on his duties as sovereign,’ he said.
‘Over the next 48 hours, more details will be shared about the arrangements for the Queen’s funeral and memorial.’
Mr Albanese closed his statement by promising Australians would not soon forget Her Majesty or the limitless esteem they held her in.
‘Today marks the end of an era, the close of the second Elizabethan age. This time of mourning will pass but the deep respect and warm regard in which Australians always held Her Majesty will never fade,’ he said.
‘May she rest in eternal peace.’