New King proclaimed in SA as public holiday announced
King Charles III has been proclaimed by South Australia’s Governor on the steps of parliament as Australians prepare for a national day of mourning after the Queen’s death.
Photo: Twitter/Peter Malinauskas
It comes as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced that Thursday September 22 will be a declared a public holiday to allow Australians to mourn Queen Elizabeth’s passing.
Thousands flocked to the steps of Parliament House on Sunday to witness the Honourable Frances Adamson AC proclaim the ascension of King Charles III who is now Australia’s head of state.
The proclamation of a new monarch has not occured since 1952, when Elizabeth became Queen after the death of her father, King George VI.
On Friday Premier Peter Malinauskas encouraged South Australians to leave their porch light on to honour the passing of Queen Elizabeth II, with hundreds heeding the call over the weekend.
Last night, South Australians switched on their porch lights to honour Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. pic.twitter.com/th9EvgCTLD
— Peter Malinauskas (@PMalinauskasMP) September 10, 2022
Premier Peter Malinauskas told ABC radio this morning that he will be meeting with state cabinet to deliberate over the delivery of the new one-off public holiday.
“The Prime Minister having declared that the nation would be having a public holiday, as a state government we will do a lot of work to to make sure the appropriate arrangements are in place by next week,” he said.
“I spoke to the prime minister on the weekend, and he indicated that the national day of mourning, in effect would be Thursday the 22nd and indicated that he wanted that to be a public holiday across the country.
“Once the public holiday is declared, and it will be done through a cabinet submission this morning, then all the usual instruments that exists around a public holiday will be put into effect, industrial instruments and other legislative arrangements in regards to shop trading.”
Premier Malinauskas said his government is considering offering traders an exemption for regular public holiday trading requirements due to the “short notice given to them”.
“I think there are a range of arguments to suggest that this would be a good occasion to do that, not least of which stores have already issued rosters for their staff, it would be hard for staff to put in place alternative, other days off,” he said.
“One option that we’ve got available to us is to provide an exemption on that day.”
He said following the meeting with cabinet, an announcement on the day will be made.
On Tuesday, the Premier, Leader of the Opposition and other Members of Parliament will deliver messages of condolence in Parliament before it is suspended for the 14-day observance period.
