A Poll by The Australian shows little change from previous years on the divisive Republic issue.
Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has promised a national vote on Australia becoming a republic during the first term of a Labor Government.
Mr Shorten said he would hold a referendum with a simple yes or no answer to decide whether Australia should remain in the monarchy.
“One question: do you support an Australian republic with an Australian head of state? ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ ?”
Bill Shorten says if the yes vote prevails then they would considered how a head of state is chosen, and a Second vote could be in a different term of parliament, to finalise the change.
August 2017 Poll on Australian Republic Voting Intentions.
A special Newspoll, conducted exclusively for The Australian, found that women are more likely to oppose a republic today than they were in the months leading up to the referendum in November 1999, the last time the change was put to the people.
2017 Poll: 51% For a Republic and 38% Against, with 11% Undecided.
2006 Poll: 52% For a Republic and 29% Against, with 19% Undecided.
1999 Referendum: 45.13% For a Republic and 54.87% Against
Australians show no sign of rallying to Bill Shorten’s new call for a plebiscite on becoming a republic, as support cools among younger voters amid a broader decline in momentum for change.
But the support has barely shifted over almost two decades since Australians rejected a referendum on the republic, while the opposition has increased in a sign of the polarisation on the divisive question.
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