Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has called for Australians to revisit the notion of becoming a republic.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten is not pushing for a second referendum on a republic any time soon, despite calling for Australians to rally for such a move on Australia Day.
Mr Shorten reignited the debate for a republic after calling on Australians to breathe new life into the dream of an Australian head of state.
"Let us rally behind an Australian republic - a model that truly speaks for who we are: our modern identity, our place in our region and our world," he told a book launch on mateship in Melbourne on Sunday.
The Labor leader said Australia Day was an apt time to revisit the notion of a republic.
Sixteen years since the first referendum in 1999 was time enough to have learned lessons from Australia voting against a republic, he said.
