BOB WAITE wrongly thinks I am all for republicanism (Letters, November 29).

I have no problem with a constitutional monarchy, but I do have a problem with the cost of special events falling on those who are expected to provide the jobs and economic activity that this country desperately needs.

If the Government and the Royals believe that workers should be paid to stay at home to watch the wedding of Prince William, then the Royals and/or the Government should fill the wage packets that day; not hard-pressed employers and struggling business owners.

I shall not go to live in China or North Korea to sample republicanism because these countries are not republics; they are totalitarian dictatorships. An example of a legitimate republic would be France or the United States.

Here in Australia, there is a republican movement which is convinced that a king or queen is not necessary for a “stable or reasonably sane society”. It is only a matter of time before they choose to discard the British monarch as their head of State. Other former colonies and dominions are likely to follow. Like it or not, this is a changing world.

Matthew Laverack, Warragul, Victoria, Australia.