New South Wales premier Chris Minns has defended his refusal to light the sails of Australia's Sydney Opera House to mark the coronation of King Charles III. The decision has incensed royal fans, who view it as an insult to the British crown.
Minns told Sydney radio station 2GB on Monday that lighting up the UNESCO World Heritage site would have cost taxpayers between $80,000 and $100,000 and suggested the building was being lit up too often – from "solemn occasions" to "a football team that was touring."
"Of course I respect the new king, but I’m mindful of where and when we spend taxpayers’ money," Minns said. "I’d like to keep it for Australia and Australians, and for moments of sacrifice and heroism for the country – or when there’s an important international event in Sydney."
"I have got no interest in antagonising people that believe in the monarchy, people who are royalists – of course not – but obviously I have got to be careful about where I spend their money," the premier continued.
The Australian Monarchist League cried foul, insisting that its members would gladly have paid the fee to light up the structure for the king. "From now on, should taxpayer funds ever be used to light up buildings, it will prove that this decision was based on Mr Minn’s [sic] republican sympathies and not on cost," the group said in a statement on Monday.
"We are facing a campaign of republicanism by stealth in Australia by the current government despite the parading of the prime minister in London declaring his allegiance to the king," the league’s chair Philip Benwell warned. King Charles is technically Australia’s head of state, though the country is run by its own elected government.
The Sydney Opera House was lit up on more than 70 days last year, compared to just 23 days in 2012, and a spokesperson acknowledging the "substantial increase in the number of requests" told The Guardian that the facility was working on an "updated sails lighting policy, including greater clarity about the type and frequency of projections permitted."
Minns’ Labour government has reportedly rejected several applications to illuminate the eye-catching roofs since taking office in March, less than a month after the sails were lit up in the ubiquitous blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the conflict with Russia. Canberra also celebrated by sending more drones to Kiev and imposing further sanctions on Moscow.