Victorian MPs have sworn allegiance to King Charles III in a special sitting of parliament unique to the state following the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
The speaker, Maree Edwards, opened the sitting on Tuesday with a message from the Victorian governor, Linda Dessau, formally announcing the death of the Queen and the ascension of King Charles III to the throne.
All 88 lower house MPs were then asked to take an oath or affirmation in which they pledged to be “faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty and His Majesty’s heirs and successors according to law”.
Greens MPs Sam Hibbins, Ellen Sandell and Tim Read wore clothing and accessories emblazoned with “Always Was, Always Will Be” as they made their affirmations.
The party’s leader, Samantha Ratnam, also wore a T-shirt with the phrase, which can be traced back to the 1980s Aboriginal land rights movement in New South Wales, as a similar process took place for the 40 MPs in the upper house.
Victoria is the only state or territory which requires members of both houses to swear allegiance to the new monarch after their predecessor’s death under section 23 of its constitution.
The last time this occurred was on 14 February 1952, eight days after the death of Queen Elizabeth II’s father, King George VI.
Ratnam described the practice as “absurd” and said the Queen’s death should prompt Australia to advance a republic and a treaty with First Nations people.
“This morning we’re here as Victorian MPs to swear allegiance to King Charles III, a new head of state decided for us, but not by us,” she told reporters outside parliament.
“In 2022, many Victorians are rightly asking why we’re being asked to acknowledge sovereignty of a British monarch thousands of miles away when we haven’t acknowledged – and, in fact, expressly denied – the sovereignty of First Nations people right here.”
Despite their reservations, Ratnam said the Greens had no choice but to swear their allegiance in order to serve the people who voted for them.
“It’s a requirement. We will abide by conventions. There are many outdated conventions in the Victorian parliament that we have to abide by to get on with doing our jobs. That doesn’t mean that we stop trying to change those conventions.”
The premier, Daniel Andrews, said it was not the time to reignite the republican debate.
“The best thing to do at the moment is to … honour the life of the late queen and her service,” he said after Ratnam’s comments. “That debate may well be appropriate at another point, but I don’t think it’s now.”
Moving a condolence motion in parliament, Andrews said Queen Elizabeth II was the only monarch many Victorians had known.
“We grew up with her and she watched as the world grew and changed around her,” Andrews said.
He said the Victoria of 2022 was “more daring and more diverse” than the state she first visited in 1954, “as is our democracy – when she opened the Victorian parliament in 1954, with both houses crammed into one chamber, she would have not seen a single female sitting member. If she could only preside over such a sitting today, she would see 52.”
Condolences will continue in both houses for much of Tuesday before parliament adjourns for one week as a mark of respect. It will return for two final sitting days next week ahead of the November state election.
In NSW, a brief sitting of parliament was held on Tuesday morning, with the premier, Dominic Perrottet, moving a motion to profess “profound sorrow” at the death of the “beloved sovereign”.
He then moved a separate motion congratulating King Charles III on his ascension to the throne, swearing “unswerving loyalty” and wishing a “long and happy” reign “marked by peace and prosperity throughout NSW and Australia”.
While the Coalition benches were full for the brief sitting – at which both motions were unanimously adopted – only 11 of the 37 Labor MPs attended.
