Australia’s constitutional monarchy is one of the most modern forms of liberal democracy. And despite all the embarrassment from a certain Olympic publicly-funded decolonisation project, here is some ‘breaking’ good news: Albo quietly cancelled – yes, cancelled – the Assistant Minister for the Republic a fortnight beforehand.

At the beginning of the year, the then-Assistant Minister for the Republic, Matt Thistlethwaite, said it was:

‘“…a lot harder” for the government to pitch a referendum on ditching the monarchy after the Voice to Parliament vote failed … [and that] Labor was unlikely, if re-elected, to hold a national vote.