September 24, 2008	Wednesday	Ramazan 23, 1429

SYDNEY, Sept 23: Most Australians want to dump the British monarch as head of state and become a republic, an opinion poll showed on Tuesday.

Fifty-two per cent support a republic, 40 per cent do not and eight per cent are undecided, the Herald/Nielsen poll of 1,400 voters showed.

The poll comes as the government and official opposition are both led by republicans for the first time in the history of this former British colony.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who ousted royalist John Howard in elections last November, describes himself as “a lifelong republican”.

The new leader of the opposition, former merchant banker Malcolm Turnbull who took over the Liberal Party from a royalist last week, led a push for a republic nearly 10 years ago.

A referendum on the issue was held in 1999 and republicans lost. Since then, the issue has been largely shelved while the popular Queen Elizabeth II remains on the throne.

But opinion polls have shown that if her heir-apparent, Prince Charles, is crowned, support for a republic with an Australian head of state would surge.

—AFP