PM: Australia a republic ‘when queen dies’

AUSTRALIA should become a republic when Queen Elizabeth II dies or abdicates, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has said, reviving an emotional debate just days ahead of national polls on Saturday.

Gillard, whose centre-left Labour Party is in a tight race against the conservative opposition, said a new monarch would be an “appropriate” time for Australia to stop having a British head of state.

“I believe that this nation should be a republic. I also believe that this nation has got a deep affection for Queen Elizabeth,” the Welsh-born Gillard said.

Australians voted against turning the former colony into a republic in a 1999 referendum, and debate on the issue remains divisive.

“Obviously I’m hoping for Queen Elizabeth that she lives a long and happy life and having watched her mother, I think there’s every chance that she will,” Gillard said.

“But I think that’s probably the appropriate point for a transition to a republic.”

Opposition Liberal/National Coalition chief Tony Abbott, a former leader of the main pro-monarchist movement, said he did not expect any change “at least in our lifetimes”.

Australia’s first woman prime minister is leading Abbott by four percentage points, a poll shows.