Australian Green Party leader Adam Bandt came under fire on Friday over a social media post in which he called for the country to become a republic, just five hours after the news of Queen Elizabeth’s death broke. II.

“Our thoughts are with her family and everyone who loved her. Now Australia must move forward,” Bandt said on Twitter.

“We need the Treaty with the people of First Nations and we need to become a Republic,” he added.

Bandt, however, was accused by some supporters of being disrespectful in bringing up the issue hours after the monarch’s death.

“Absolutely disgusting. You can’t even wait at least 6 hours before pushing a political agenda. Shameful,” one user tweeted in response.

Australia is a constitutional monarchy, with the British monarch as head of state, although the role is largely ceremonial. But a debate has been raging for some time over whether the country still needs to keep a distant monarch as head of state. A 1999 referendum in Australia on becoming a Republic was narrowly defeated.

When asked about the matter, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese replied: “Today is a day for one issue and one issue only, and that is to pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II.”