2 April

Women were prominent in the organisation and maintenance of a republican presence during the Queen’s visit which ended on 1 April. Women republicans were present at the “welcome to the Republic of the ACT” at the airport on the Queen’s arrival in Canberra and at Government House during her meeting with the Prime Minister; both events attracted extensive media coverage in Australia and Britain. Women peacefully holding a republican banner, also at an official event for the Queen’s visit in Canberra, were verbally abused and one was assaulted by an enraged male monarchist whose angry face was captured on national television (and his registration number was noted as he sped off with an Australian flag fluttering out of the window of his car). In Busselton WA, a lone female protester carrying a young child had her sign about the high cost of the Queen’s visit grabbed from her hands and ripped to pieces by another threatened male who disappeared into the crowd after his act of violence. Meanwhile in Ballarat, the woman director of the Republic Institute distributed replicas of the Eureka flag – a symbol of republicanism in Australia – and urged that they be prominently displayed during the Queen’s walkabout in the town.