The leaders of seven of Australia's eight states and territories have called for the country to become a republic, reigniting a thorny debate ahead of a national holiday on Tuesday.
Australia is a constitutional monarchy, with Britain's Queen Elizabeth as head of state. The role is largely ceremonial, but the monarch does have the power to dissolve parliament, as in 1975, when Queen Elizabeth sacked the government.
The question of Australia becoming a republic is a perennial debate that often crops up around Australia Day, the January 26 holiday that commemorates the start of British settlement.
"It's well past time for Australia to become a sovereign nation," said South Australia Premier Jay Weatherill, who signed the declaration.
"Any self-respecting, independent country would aspire to select one of its own citizens as its head of state," he said in a statement.
Hopes of a shift in sentiment rose when Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, a staunch republican, took the leadership last year from his monarchist predecessor Tony Abbott.
"My commitment to Australia having an Australian head of state is undiminished," Turnbull, who headed the Australian Republican Movement in the 1990s, said in a statement, in response to Monday's declaration.
However, Turnbull has previously said the issue was not a priority and that he believed a national vote would be unlikely during the reign of the current 89-year-old monarch.
Australia held a referendum on becoming a republic in 1999, which was defeated, with 55 per cent of people voting against. Republicans attributed that defeat to the fact the poll divided voters on how best to select the head of state.
Polls in recent years have shown varying support for a republic, with most revealing a small majority of the public in favour.
