The King and Queen are about to fly to Samoa, ending their royal tour of Australia
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00:00Well, Gemma, it's been an interesting trip for the King and Queen.
00:05There's been plenty of pomp and ceremony on this whirlwind whistle-stop tour between Sydney
00:10and Canberra.
00:11At times we've seen thousands of Australians come to greet the Royals, to get a chance
00:16to meet them, even an alpaca sneeze on King Charles.
00:19But so many times there's been adoring fans who've waited a long time to see him at these
00:24public events.
00:26Of course, at these events that I've even been at, you have encountered people who had
00:29no idea the King and Queen were even in Australia, let alone much more about the events that
00:34they had just happened to be walking by.
00:37So you also have that core test, I suppose, of people observing it.
00:41You also do have people like Lydia Thorpe, the Independent Senator, who took this moment
00:46to create what has been a headline-grabbing protest that has been covered all around the
00:51world.
00:52But when we look at officials, and certainly in governments at state and federal level,
00:58there's been a high degree of positivity, regardless of whether those governments are
01:01led by monarchists or republicans.
01:04Even Chris Mintz saying that overall he thinks the Royal visit to Australia has been one
01:08that's had a positive effect on the city.
01:12Whether you're a monarchist or a republican, Australians were very happy to see the King
01:16and Queen yesterday and were more than happy to roll out the red carpet and treat them
01:21with huge respect.
01:22So I think they put a smile on everyone's face in Sydney over the last 48, 72 hours
01:27and it's been good for the town.
01:30They're now off to Samoa.
01:32What will they be doing there?
01:35That's right, Gemma.
01:36They're off to Samoa for the Heads of Commonwealth Government meeting, or the Chogom.
01:39Now this is a major event for Samoa for a degree of reasons.
01:43Just the amount of officials going over there from Commonwealth countries, senior leaders
01:47as well as monarchs, not just the King and Queen, King Charles and Queen Camilla, that
01:52is going over to Apia, Samoa's capital.
01:55On the agenda is quite a number of significant events to take place, including appointing
01:59the next Secretary-General of the Commonwealth and among all of them is live discussions
02:05around climate change and its impacts, not just on the Pacific but around the Commonwealth
02:10and indeed around the globe, as well as discussions about repatriations and indeed the impact
02:16of slavery that it's had on Commonwealth countries.
02:19That's certainly a live and well discussion that will be taking place at the Chogom meeting.
02:24We do know, of course, that it will be not too long until the King and Queen depart from
02:29here but certainly their business isn't over for now.
02:33They'll be joined by some familiar faces from Australia, including the Prime Minister, Anthony
02:37Albanese, who will also be heading over to Samoa later this week.