Australian parliament suspended for 15 days after Queen’s death The moment Buckingham Palace notified the governor general of the death of the Queen, a plan which has been worked on for years was put in place. This plan has been passed from governor general to governor general, prime minister to prime minister, guided by the Palace, with exact details on what is to happen over the next 15 days. The flags are already at half mast. Parliament is suspended for 15 days – so the sitting planned for next week is suspended. The prime minister and cabinet website and the governor general website will switch to obituary format, and will contain information on events planned for Australia. For the next fortnight, there will be condolence books at Parliament House, Government House and the PM&C website. This evening at dusk, there will be a gun salute, with one shot for every year of the queen’s life, with a 10-second interval between each. That’s the first day. There will be plenty more in the days that follow. There are condolence books sitting outside Victoria’s Government house, and people have been invited to leave flowers. So far, there’s only one bouquet. Governor of Victoria Linda Dessau, and her husband Anthony Howard, KC and former judge, has been speaking to reporters at the gates of Government House. Dessau mentions how glad she was that the Queen had overseen Liz Truss’s transition into the prime ministership of the UK. “We know how important that sense of duty and sense of service was [to Her Majesty].” “She was very gracious and very savvy,” says Howard. Dessau continues: And she certainly spoke in an interested and interesting way about Victoria, so there was no question about her dedication Dessau mentions how a maple tree just inside the gates of government house was planted by the Queen in 1954 and is often visited by people. The governor’s household staff appears to be out here too, lined up on one side of the gates. A littler earlier, Malcolm Turnbull spoke to channel nine about the Queen’s death on channel nine, his second interview of the morning. He said that he and his wife Lucy went to bed last night “filled with dread, and woke up filled with grief.” He said: She put her job, her duty above everything else. How extraordinary that at 96, she was doing her constitutional duty, accepting the resignation of one prime minister and appointing another, just 48 hours before she died, right up to the end. On the Queen’s opinion about his desires for Australia to become a republic he said he had no doubt that she viewed such decisions as being for the people of the relevant countries and that the Royal family’s attitude to the Republican movement in Australia was a matter for Australians. If Australia had become a republic in 1999, we would be mourning the Queen’s passing with as much sorrow as we are today. There has never been anything other than enormous affection for the Queen. I was criticised for this on occasions, but I used to say, we are all Elizabethans, although we are not necessarily in Australia all monarchists. ‘As long as she wasn’t in pain – that’s my wish for her’ Two teenage boys, who I’m not convinced have given me their real names, chat to me while they’re waiting for a tram in Melbourne. One says: For us in Australia it doesn’t really have much of an effect, maybe if you were in England it would have a bit more of an effect. Two New Zealanders, Rosemary and David, are having breakfast in Royal Arcade. Rosemary says: It was sad, she’s been part of our lives. David, however, says: I’m indifferent. Rosemary is a monarchist but David is a republican. Asked if anything stood out about the Queen to them, David says: Watching The Crown, I felt like it was quite a good history. I learnt more about her life through The Crown, more than what we saw … Charles is the interesting one though. King Charles sounds like a spaniel to me. Maya, at Flinders St station, said: She had a long and busy life. As long as she wasn’t in pain – that’s my wish for her. She worked hard every day — I don’t think the young ones will do this. It’s a different kind of work ethic. Maya says it must have been hard “to always be pleasant every day”. ‘I personally love that we’re part of the monarchy’ Our reporter Natasha May is still on the streets of Sydney. She has spoken with two Catholic nuns, Teresa and Agnes Vo, who had only just heard the news of Queen Elizabeth’s passing. The Catholic nuns praise the Queen as an “amazing leader”. She really has offered her whole whole life – around 70 years. Ingrid Braithwaite, out with baby William in rainy Sydney, only has praise for Queen Elizabeth and the monarchy: She’s been incredible, such an inspiration for so many of us. It’s such sad news and my thoughts are with her family. Asked if she believes the monarch’s death means Australia should become a republic, Braithwaite said: I personally love that we’re part of the monarchy. Anthony Albanese signs condolence book for royal family Prime minister Anthony Albanese has just signed the condolence book in parliament house, expressing his sympathies to the royal family. Earlier, in a televised statement, he said: Australian hearts go out to the people of the United Kingdom who mourn today, knowing they will feel they have lost part of what makes their nation whole. There is comfort to be found in Her Majesty’s own words: “Grief is the price we pay for love.” This is a loss we all feel, for few have known a world without Queen Elizabeth II. In her seven remarkable decades on the throne, Her Majesty was a rare and reassuring constant amidst rapid change. Through the noise and tumult of the years, she embodied and exhibited a timeless decency and an enduring calm. Meanwhile, sticking in Canberra, Amy Remeikis reports that the looming cabinet meeting has also been cancelled. She says: It’s probably pretty obvious at this point, but the cabinet meeting has also been cancelled. With the parliament sitting next week also suspended it’s not a huge deal - there is nothing really pressing any longer. MPs will still be doing constituent work and ministers will still be working their portfolios. "A special place in our hearts": political leaders react to Queen"s death Australian reactions to the Queen’s death began about 6am, as most of us were still sleeping. Her passing has prompted an outpouring of grief and shock, with tributes from the prime minister, governor general, opposition leader, and other leading Australians. If you’re just tuning in, here were the most powerful moments: The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said the Queen had a “special place in our hearts” and had been a “wise and enduring presence” in Australia’s national life. Albanese said Queen Elizabeth II had been a “wise and encouraging guide, always wanting the best for our nation and greeting each change with understanding, good grace and an abiding faith in the Australian people’s judgement. From her first trip here, it was clear Her Majesty had a special place in our hearts, and we, in hers.” Albanese will travel to the UK in four days’ time. The governor general, David Hurley, reflected on the Queen’s “dignity and her compassion” and her dedication and work ethic. “Her death will sadden all Australians and be felt around the world. As we mourn, we should also take inspiration and give thanks to the remarkable contribution Her Majesty has made.” Malcolm Turnbull and Kevin Rudd, both republicans, offered words of sympathy and condolences for the loss. Turnbull said the Queen had “inspired the whole world and was a calm and gracious presence”. Rudd said Republicans and Monarchists alike had a “deep and abiding respect” for the Queen, not just because of her longevity, but because she was a good person. The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, said there had never been a “more dignified monarch, a more dutiful leader, or a more decent human than Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II”. “An extraordinary life which touched so many has sadly come to an end,” he said. Tony Abbott, a monarchist, said the world has lost “an exemplar of duty, honour and faithfulness”. He said “deep thanks for her life should mingle with numbness and sadness at this loss”. “The Queen is dead. Long live the King,” he said. Plans under way for Opera House to feature in memorials to the Queen The Sydney Opera House and New South Wales’ Parliament House are likely to feature in public memorials to the Queen. The premier, Dominic Perrottet, on Friday morning said work was being done “with protocol” since early in the morning to plan a fitting tribute. He said: We’ve been doing that since the early hours of the morning and obviously the usual area that comes up immediately is the Opera House and we’re working very closely with protocol to go through all of those issues. We’ll be doing everything we can to obviously pay tribute to a giant of history and somebody who has changed the world for the better. He told 2GB that details would be announced over the course of the day. Mourners and media converge on Buckingham Palace It’s just after midnight in London. People are still streaming in to Buckingham Palace to pay their respects. Some people are in full evening dress. Wine is being drunk from the bottle. There’s a substantial police presence but the mood is somewhere between Skyfire (Canberra folks will get that reference) and funereal. People are clustering around the proclamation on the front fence and spilling back up the forecourt. Lots of Londoners but also a big international contingent, as you’d expect. There’s already a substantial number of floral tributes tied to the fence. Local TV crews are swarming through the crowd looking for vox pops. The media have set up en masse for live coverage. Adam Bandt calls for Australia to become republic Greens leader Adam Bandt has called for Australia to become a republic in the wake of the Queen’s death. Now, Australia must move forward. We need Treaty with First Nations people, and we need to become a Republic. Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk pays tribute to Queen The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, has issued a longer statement on the death of Queen Elizabeth II. The premier says the Queen was “loved and respected, and represented all that was dignified and positive in the Royal Family”. Her Majesty was a constant reminder of the true meaning of service, integrity and courage, and she was admired around the world, especially here in Queensland. The Queen will be remembered fondly as the longest-reigning monarch of the Commonwealth, having succeeded to the throne on 6 February 1952 on the death of her father, King George VI. Nine months after Queen Elizabeth II was crowned on 2 June 1953 at Westminster Abbey in London, she arrived in Brisbane on 9 March 1954 as the only reigning monarch to visit Queensland. Her Majesty stayed at Government House in Brisbane with Queensland Governor Sir John Lavarack and his wife Lady Sybil Lavarack, and her busy itinerary also included regional visits to Bundaberg, Oakey, Toowoomba, Townsville, Cairns, Mackay, Rockhampton and the Great Barrier Reef. This was the first of 16 visits to Australia, and eight to Queensland, as The Queen. Queenslanders will be able to pay their respects via an online condolence book, which will be presented to the royal family. Government House will make arrangements for the public who wish to pay their respects at the statue of Her Majesty the Queen on the Estate. ‘She was the people’s queen’, says former NSW premier Mike Baird Taking a quick coffee break, this reporter ran into former NSW premier Mike Baird in line for his. It’s an incredibly sad day not just for the UK but the world … Queen Elizabeth was an incredible leader. She had great passion for many causes but ultimately, for the people. I think she was the people’s queen. Like everyone else in Australia today, I feel incredibly sad. Probably the most enduring memory was 1988, the bicentennial. It felt that when the Queen came, the significance of 200 years was really palpable. Of Charles taking over, Baird said: He’s a wonderful man and I think he’ll be a great king. Title change for senior Australia barristers An interesting change for Australia’s legal fraternity. Senior barristers who were made “Queen’s Counsel”, or QC, will now automatically become “King’s Counsel”, or KC. In some jurisdictions, including NSW and the ACT, barristers have used the title “senior counsel”, for some time.