Millions of people around Australia will get an extra day off on Monday thanks to the King’s Birthday long weekend.
So, who has a long weekend coming up and who doesn’t? This is what you need to know.
Monday, June 9, is the day New South Wales, Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, the Australian Capital Territory, and the Northern Territory will celebrate the King’s Birthday public holiday.
While many workers around the country will still have to clock in, people in those states will receive a day off if applicable.
Who doesn’t have Monday off?
People in Queensland and Western Australia will have to wait for their turn to sleep in.
Queenslanders will celebrate the King’s Birthday on October 6, with Western Australia clocking in a week earlier on September 29.
However, in Western Australia, the Karratha and the Port Hedland LGAs will mark the King’s Birthday on August 4.
The state government says this is done “usually to coincide with a significant date or event for that area”.
Is the King’s Birthday public holiday on the king’s birthday?
King Charles III was born on November 14.
In the UK, the King’s (or Queen’s) Birthday festivities, known as the Sovereign’s Official Birthday, are typically in June, though the exact date can vary.
This year, the UK’s King’s Birthday will take place on June 14.
Why don’t the birthday and Birthday line up?
The Sovereign’s Official Birthday is associated with a military parade known as Trooping The Colour, a UK tradition that reportedly began with King Charles II in the 17th century.
A later monarch, George II, in 1748 declared the parade would be used to mark the ruling monarch’s birthday.
It became an annual tradition under his son, George III, from 1760, though the sovereign has not always attended.
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According to the royal family’s official website, holding the King’s Birthday celebrations in the northern hemisphere summer means the weather is likely to be better for the parade.
Why does Australia have a public holiday for the King of the UK?
Technically, Australia celebrates the King of Australia’s birthday.
Charles III is our head of state in a separate function to his role as King of the UK – though we do refer to him by British convention.
As the first Charles to be King of Australia, there’s possibly an argument that we could call him Charles I down under, just as James I of England was also James VI of Scotland.
