A NEW poll suggests nearly half of Australians agree with Governor-General Quentin Bryce that Australia should become a republic.
In a controversial Boyer Lecture last month, Ms Bryce said she hoped the nation would evolve into a country where “one day, one young girl or boy may even grow up to be our nation’s first head of state”.
And on the back of the comments, the Australian Republican Movement conducted a poll, with 48 per cent of respondents agreeing with her stance.
The highest support for the Governor-General’s comment, at 59 per cent, was within the 60-69 year-old category and support was also above 50 per cent among 18-39 year-olds.
“We know we have work to do, but this issue is not going away,” Geoff Gallop, chair of the Australian Republican Movement and former West Australian premier said.
“It’s time for us to have a national conversation about a step-by-step transition to a republic, so that our head of state is one of us, an Australian, to represent our identity, our values and our nation.
“We recognise the issue went quiet for a few years, which explains the high numbers who are unsure, but it’s time to engage everyone in the conversation and find out how we want to face the future as a nation.”
Following Ms Bryce’s speech, Prime Minister Tony Abbott said “it’s more than appropriate” for the governor-general to publicly support a republic – but constitutional monarchists called for her scalp, saying she had breached both protocol and convention.
