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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-05-03 Daily Xml
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Coronation of King Charles III

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (11:50): I move:

That this house congratulates His Majesty King Charles III and Our Gracious Consort on the pending occasion of their coronation. We affirm our steadfast allegiance to the throne; and we earnestly hope His Majesty’s reign will be fixed with great happiness for His Majesty and Queen Consort, and will be an era of peace, unity and prosperity throughout the Commonwealth of Nations.

I would like to take this opportunity, relatively briefly, this morning to provide some reflections on the upcoming significance of King Charles III's coronation. Saturday's coronation of King Charles III is something that ought to be an opportunity for us as a nation and as a parliament and as a community, no matter what our views are of the monarchy's relationship in this time to our system of government in Australia, to reflect on the immense historical significance of a change of monarch, a change of head of state.

We know that this is something that does not happen often. In fact, it is some 70 years since it previously happened, when the former Queen Elizabeth II ascended the throne. It is a particularly long period of time since this last occurred because of the longevity of the Queen and the endurance of her public service, and of course this parliament had an opportunity to reflect in a very deep and authentic way on the Queen's service when we gathered together for motions of condolence in September 2022.

With the coronation on the weekend occurring in London, we have this opportunity to reflect for a moment on the way that the monarchy underpins our system of government, the way that the Crown has given us such stability and a foundation upon which to build our system of law, our system of democracy, our system of government here in South Australia. It also gives us the opportunity to extend our gratitude again in a way that does not reflect necessarily on the role of the monarch in an individual sense but more on the collective contribution that a monarchy and a head of state make to the countries with which they have a significant relationship.

The coronation, which will occur on the weekend, will be different from previous coronations. It will be a coronation that has significant elements that extend back hundreds of years, centuries, right back to the coronation of William the Conqueror in 1066. It will be those ancient traditions that are wrapped around this coronation, and they will be interesting to observe and interesting to explore. No doubt, many of us will be on Wikipedia on Saturday when watching this, trying to understand some of these traditions better.

But there will also be different elements of this coronation that aim to reflect 21st century society and King Charles's desire to broaden the reach of the monarchy and of his reign. Something that I thought was particularly interesting is that the blessing of the anointing oil will not be undertaken by just the head of the Anglican Church, in the way that it has traditionally been done, but, as a demonstration of the King's desire to build relationships and connections with all faiths, the anointing oil will also be blessed by the head of the Greek Orthodox Church, reflecting the King's Greek heritage through his father, the late Duke of Edinburgh. This also provides a symbolic demonstration of his desire to reach faiths across the world and to be defender of 'the faiths' rather than Defender of the Faith, as his mother was.

There are many other aspects of this coronation that seek to position the monarchy and the King in a more modern light, including a much smaller gathering in Westminster Abbey that will be significantly made up of people from the community rather than members of parliament and people who are associated with the aristocracy. It will be much more community focused, reaching out to volunteers and people—particularly in the UK but in fact across the whole of the commonwealth—who contribute to daily life in their communities.

This will be fascinating to watch. I think many of us will watch it to seek to learn about it and to seek to witness history occur in a way that many of us have never seen before. In fact, very few people under the age of perhaps 75, or even a bit older, could possibly remember a coronation occurring before. It is an opportunity for us to see something that may not occur again for some decades.

So I think we reflect on this historic moment with a sense of open-mindedness, a desire to see the new King succeed in his role and use that privileged position that he has to bring communities, nations and faiths together, and to strengthen relationships across the world at this time. Again, I reiterate on behalf of the opposition our congratulations at this significant historical occasion. I commend this motion to the house.

Motion carried.

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