IT'S time, say a host of luminaries of the left, including the former prime minister Bob Hawke, to relaunch the movement for an Australian republic.
More than 10 years after the November 6, 1999, referendum, the NSW branch of the Australian Republican Movement last night hosted its first major fundraiser in several years at Sydney's IMAX Theatre, where Mr Hawke gave the keynote address.
The $130-a-head, sold-out event was attended by more than 200 people, including the Hawke government education minister Susan Ryan, the federal Labor MP Bob Debus, and the former president of the NSW Legislative Assembly, Meredith Bergmann.
The movement's former chairman, Malcolm Turnbull, was notably absent.
A spokesman said Mr Turnbull had a previous engagement but he intended to meet someone from the movement next week in Canberra.
The movement's chairman, Mike Keating, said tickets for the event sold out quicker than expected and organisers were surprised by the interest from younger Australians.
''This would suggest the momentum for a republic has begun again,'' Mr Keating said.
''Ten years on there are more Australian citizens interested in the issue … and more younger people interested in the issue again, so we feel we've got enough support from both sides of politics to encourage the government of the day to put the issue firmly on the agenda.''
He said he believed the process to organise another referendum could take as little as 12 months.
