澳總理主張英女王退位後推共和
Australia should move to be a republic when reign of Queen Elizabeth II ends, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said on Tuesday.
Gillard also planned to lead a national debate on republic after the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, 84, ends.
The prime minister said that despite being a republican, she understood that Australians had a "deep affection" for the British monarch.
"What I would like to see as prime minister is that we work our way through to an agreement on a model for the republic," Gillard told reporters in Townsville of Queensland.
"I think the appropriate time for this nation to move to be a republic is when we see the monarch change.
"Obviously I'm hoping for Queen Elizabeth that she lives a long and happy life, and having watched her mother I think there's every chance that she will."
According to ABC News, Gillard's comments put her absolutely at odds with Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, who is a staunch monarchist and was at the center of the anti-republican cause in the 1999 referendum, which rejected the notion of change.
Since Federation on January 1, 1901, Australia has maintained a stable liberal democratic political system and is a Commonwealth realm, which has Elizabeth II as its monarch.
The comments reveal one of the few areas of genuine difference between the candidates ahead of Saturday's elections, where Gillard is leading Abbott by four percentage points, according to the latest Newspoll.
澳大利亞總理茱莉婭•吉拉德於本週二稱，澳大利亞應在英國女王伊麗莎白二世退位後推行共和體制。
吉拉德還計劃在84歲的女王退位後舉行有關共和制的全國大討論。
吉拉德稱，儘管身爲一名共和黨人，但她能夠理解澳大利亞人對英國女王的“深厚感情”。
吉拉德在昆士蘭州湯斯維爾市接受記者採訪時說：“在我的總理任期內，我希望我們自己能先就澳大利亞的共和制模式達成一致。”
“我認爲澳大利亞推進共和制的最佳時機就是在英國更換君主時。”
“我當然希望伊麗莎白女王能幸福長壽，女王的母親很長壽，我想女王也一樣。”
據澳大利亞廣播公司報道，吉拉德的這番言論遭到了反對黨領袖託尼•艾伯特的反對。艾伯特是一位堅定的君主制主義者，他在1999年的全民公決中是反共和的中堅力量，此次全民公決未通過改制決議。
自1901年1月1日澳大利亞聯邦成立以來，澳大利亞成爲由女王伊麗莎白二世統治的英聯邦的成員，並一直保持着穩定的自由民主政治體制。
澳大利亞將於本週六舉行大選，吉拉德的此番言論體現了各黨派候選人在某些領域所持政見的顯著差別。據Newspoll最新民調顯示，目前吉拉德的支持率領先艾伯特4個百分點。
Vocabulary:
at odds with: at variance; in disagreement with（爭執，不一致）
monarchist: 君主制主義者
