According to the Women's magazines the Cambridge Family,
William, Kate, and all the kids are planning a trip
down under.

As "Crikey" points out:

"An Australian can't be our head of state but we do have a role
in vice-regal affairs. We pick up the bill when the head of
state or their family members come to visit. Australian
taxpayers pay for it all."

An estimate for a 10 day trip comes in at $2 million or more.

We're told that "the last visit of William, Kate, and baby
George who were accompanied by an entourage of 11 people
including Kate's hairdresser, 3 press officers, an orderly
and a nanny. The group of 14 were ferried to and around
Australia by special air-force jets. So when they popped
from Sydney to Brisbane for a day an RAAF plane took
them there, waited, and brought them back again."

"When British royals come on official visits the federal
government pays for flights, accommodation, meals,
phone-calls, minibar bills, and even the presents the
royals receive and give out. Organising a day trip
for a royal can cost $100,000 an hour. For example when
Queen Elizabeth visited Melbourne in 2011."

"The British Royals have been availing themselves of free
Australian hospitality with enthusiasm for decades.
It's estimated each trip costing in the millions."

Do we really need another royal visit at a time when our
country's aged care facilities are in crisis, our economy
is not doing so well. The COVID pandemic is putting a
strain on all of our resources? Couldn't our money be
better invested in our priorities rather than spending it
on a holiday for the royals?

Well, what's a couple of million when they are our royal family as well as Britain’s, and the Brits pay all the time. And, let's face it: jaded by Covid and loss of freedoms to our awful governments and bureaucrats, Australians will be all over the young couple and their kids like a rash.

Always an admirer of HM, I can't take to the young royals at all. I don’t care if they come or not; but if they do, they will make a hell of a lot of Australians jump for joy.

Thanks ttbn.

My family totally agrees with you.
They consider the royals value for money.
I'm just curious what other posters think.

To geta true picture of the costs we need to know the amount of standing charges.
Such as pay to military and police which would be paid anyway.

Security costs are said to be significant (24/7 care)
but they were not included in the estimates given
under the freedom of information act.
However a security expert did say that:

1) To conduct a threat risk assessment.
2) Residential security.
3) Armoured SUV.
4) Full time protection staff.

Can amount to the vicinity of over $2.5 million.

It's considered the norm.

How much revenue do such visits generate for the places they visit ? More or less than what it costs to engage people who get paid no matter who or what they deal with ? Remember, public servants get paid, royal visits or no royal visits !

What is the assessment of the monetary value to the economy of the visit?.

Perhaps we should have the royals spend more time here for when overseas tourist come back. They contribute billions to the UK economy.

ttbn,

You're absolutely right. The royals do contribute
greatly to tourism in the UK. Here in Australia
I'm not so sure. I guess we'd have to take each
place they visit individually and see how well their
visits did for the area.

We know that royal visits cost in the millions and have
done for ages. From support staff to the additional costs
of domestic travel, security, et cetera. It all adds up.

What we get economically out of it? I guess we'd have to
check with Tourism Australia after each of their visits.

Opinion by Paul.

If they cost more than £10 each, send em' pack'n!

Should boost the sales of 'No Idea' and 'Women's Monthly' mags! Is Camilla coming, we'll need a horse float.

That was't a wise crack at Camilla, she'll probably bring her polo pony, Charles.

I have nothing against the royals.

They're great for the UK. They're like a
British Disneyland - a great tourist attraction
for the Brits. But for Australia today?
I'm not so sure.

Hmm, well they are a backstop against anyone trying to take over the
parliament by force. After all the army swears allegiance to the crown,
does it not ? I could be wrong there, perhaps someone can clarify.
That goes back to Cromwellian days.
Still it worked when Gough tried to run the country illegally, by
borrowing money without approval from that Arab arms dealer Kemlani.
How it would work if a terrorist organisation, or a hard line green
activist group tried to take over the government I don't know.

Here's a plan for their tour:

http://nowtolove.com.au/royals/british-royal-family/prince-william-kate-middleton-australia-tour-70957

Dear Bazz,

Realistically who could Australia really count on to come
to our aid in case of any trouble - the UK or the
US?

If it was a revolutionary body such as a political group not accepting
the result of elections etc, then the armed forces and police should
be able to handle it.
If it was a foreign backed group with armed foreigners then other
countries might get involved. It would be considered an invasion
perhaps by another kingdom.

"Hmm, well they are a backstop against anyone trying to take over the
parliament by force."

Bazz is that when we call in Camilla and her horse?

BTW, Gough's government was sacked because the Coalition was withholding money supply in the Senate, nothing to do with loans.

Hi there FOXY...

You're quite right about costs FOXY. I was with the NSWPOL but we'd have to assist other forces when asked. A royal visit is a typical occasion when help is requested. A fundamental Risk Assessment is carried out by;

. The AFP, ASIO, 'ASIS, ONA' (Australia - both on request of civpol), MI6, (UK), and the various Australian State forces in which the Royals will travel or be Domiciled.

. Armed domiciliary protection is provided, whenever and wherever the Royals stay overnight.

. Usually, the various State(s) & Territories, maintain their armoured protection vehicles in secured govt. garages, those sat least that are employed to convey the Royals about. Each State and Territory has the responsibility to maintain such vehicles for these occasions.

. Salaries, Overtime, Penalty Rates etc, are generally incurred during Royal Visits by the VIP-P Squad (Very Important Persons - Protection {VIP-P} Squad)

I've worked in this area in the past, and it's considered quite a nice little earner $$. One of the most congenial VIP-P's was none other than HRH The Queen and Prince Philip. I was detailed to follow them about as they took an early morning walk in Govt. House gardens (Closed to the public). My instructions were; I was to be close enough to hear them, but still remain unobtrusive!

Interestingly, every so often, HRH the Queen would casually glance towards me and ask if I'd heard if the weather was going to remain cool or warm up later on? Or were showers due, if it happened to be cloudy? Enquiries about the weather always seemed to be a great 'ice-breaker' with the Royals. The Duke was a great bloke, but could be moody I found. As police we were never permitted to initiate a conversation.

Dear O Sung Wu,

Thank You for sharing your experiences with us.

It would have been an exciting time for you,
I dare say.

My mum was a staunch monarchist. She so wanted to
live to be 100 years old so she could get a letter
from the Queen. Well mum never made it. She passed
away a few years back at the age of 96.

I guess we'll always have divided views on the
royals. There are many who want nothing to do with them
and an empire which has been responsible for bloodshed,
conquest, empire and tyranny around the world.
Strong sentiments can be found not only in this country
but in India, Sri-Lanka, South Africa, Canada, Scotland,
Wales, Ireland, and the list goes on.

In our multi-cultural society - the royals are not of interest
to many people. Then there's also our Indigenous people and
their feelings.

There's also many people who would rather see the money go
to the elderly, infrastructure projects, transport,
health services, youth programs and so on.

It will always be debatably whether we should support royal visits
at the expense of bigger priorities this country faces.

Hi there FOXY...

Your Mum passed away at the grand ol' age of 96 years! She did well for herself I must say. It's a pity the Queen doesn't furnish a letter of congratulation to those who reach sixty five for their impressive efforts of paying taxation all their working lives!

Actually FOXY, We all found HRH the Queen, very down to earth, as most of us did the Duke of Edinburgh, certainly the very few times I met her (Purely by accident, and in the private gardens). I won't go into details of what security arrangements were maintained at Government House other than to say, we were a team when I worked there.

We each carried pistols as a sidearm, and in silent hours, we resorted to Remington 850Ps, (depending on the threat assessment). I could only imagine the expression on the Duke's face if he saw us wandering around with a Remington? On past encounters, he'd probably wish to know all manner of details of the gun and how it functioned etc. He was a real man's man, I and my colleagues found.

Most of our static duty was boring - either too hot or too cold. The occasional encounter with a VIP-P, could be outright banal, or quite exciting, depending who the protected person was of course.

Most of our Premiers were good blokes. Occasionally we'd get an alert on some government minister, to pay close attention to his or her safety. One such Minister we had was a real mug, and disliked by all the cops who were rostered to look after him/her. I'd hate to think if anyone of us was every required to take a bullet for him? It might be time on such an occasion, to have a coffee break and sort out the mess afterwards?

The Duchess of Cornflakes, has come down with the hendra virus. Someone please cancel that order of hay. I'm not having a shot at Camilla, it was ordered for her polo pony, Charles!

Dear O Sung Wu,

You've certainly had some great experiences in your life.
Ever thought of writing some of them down? It would make
fascinating reading.

Dear Paul,

I love your sense of humour and your way with words.
Great imagination and expressions.

My one brush with royalty.

I was one of about 10,000 kids lined up in rows 6 deep at the Bathurst Show Ground when Phil & Liz visited in 1954. The came, they drove up & down the rows of flag waving kids, standing in the back of a Land Rover designed for the job, & left. I was slightly disappointed she didn't wear a crown.

Four of us immediately skipped out a side gate of the show grounds to where a mates father was waiting for us, to whip us out to their 1000 acre property 7 miles east of town. It fronted the Highway, but backed to the railway line to Sydney. We knew the royal party were due to ride a special train to Sydney soon after the showground effort.

Our horses were waiting, & still in school uniform, we rode to the back fence to try for a private view. This is where the line climbs into the ranges from the Bathurst plain. It is a long climb, & the old steam trains were pretty slow climbing it, even the special 2 carriage train was not much faster than a trot for our horses. We had about a mile where we could ride along beside the track, with in the property.

After about half a mile of this, Phil & Liz came out onto the little balcony at back of the carriage, gave us a wave, & a few words, inaudible over the puffing of the train. We reckoned that Liz, being an accomplished horse lady would probably prefer to be on one of our horses than in the train.

A much happier time when they did not have to worry about someone wanting to harm them.

A Monarchy is more costly than a Presidency & both are for what exactly ? Criminals are even more expensive but the most costly are the stupid !

Hasbeen,

I'm happy that you have such happy memories of a royal
visit. And times today are certainly different. We have
understaffed aged care facilities, unemployment, problems
in our health systems, a COVID pandemic affecting our
economy. The days of privilege, birth, and class, is
not something most Australians value any more.

Prince Andrew's settlement out of court with the young
female accuser proves that no one is above the law.
Nor should they be. Perhaps things are moving in the right
direction after all - when even the royals can be held to
account for their actions.

individual,

Not sure about your stupidity remark.
I think it's more unwise decisions that we all make
but in many cases - we're not aware that they're
unwise. We all make mistakes but hopefully
that's how we grow and learn. Don't we?

Thank you FOXY, apropos writing some of my experiences down. Truth be known my memory is going, and besides, the sort of target audience (readership) would be bored out of their wits after reading three or four pages I would think? My military experiences are quite a different matter altogether, but even those, I'd be most reluctant to repeat.

Besides, you'd not wish to read any material authored by a 'Baby Killer'. It was ANZAC Day about 1978/9 my wife and I were walking to the assembly point ready for the ANZAC Day March in Sydney. Where I would join my unit for the march, and she would follow along with several of our friends to the Hyde Park War Memorial. When a group of young women (five or six in number) aged between 16 to 20 walked past us and screamed in my face accusing me of being a baby killer! Obviously they recognising I was a Veteran due to the gongs on my chest

I was utterly unprepared for this verbal assault, and I don't mind admitting, it shook me up somewhat. My Wife(dec) began crying after she recovered from her anger, and it resulted in a pall of disappointment enveloping over the entire day.

I could write plenty on that **unnecessary** war, but who would want to read it - Now its passed into history for some; but never for me.

Dear O Sung Wu,

People can be hateful. Especially young people who
don't are ignorant of events and history. I'm so
sorry that you had to go through this sort of rubbish.
I have the highest respect for the men who served this
nation and continue to do so. I always buy the most
expensive badge on ANZAC Day that I can. It's the least
I can do.

Years ago I was lucky to meet Sir Weary Dunlop when he gave
a talk at the library I worked in. I presented him with
a gift on behalf of the Lithuanian Community in Melbourne.
I was very moved by his recollections - we all were in
the Library Conference room.

As for your writing down your recollections? Any library
would be lucky to get copies of your experiences. And
they would be used by students researching those historical
times.

Anyway, give it some thought. Your experiences are so
valuable and worth recording if not in writing - oral
histories can also be arranged.

Again, many thanks FOXY.

I'll give it some thought FOXY but I don't think so, not now. I try to live in the present, and let history consign itself to the dark vestiges of my wardrobe somewhere, save a few B & W Photos in my album. And very few wish to hear my years in the police except some of the funnier moments, which even give me a bit of a giggle still. Thanks again FOXY, you're a kind hearted lady, for sure.

Dear O Sung Wu,

Fair enough. I understand.

Thank you for your kind words. You always provide so much
happiness to the rest of us with your civility, kindness, and
support. Your displays of tenderness is so rare these days
but believe me it is greatly valued and appreciated.
Take care dear heart.