Former prime minister Julia Gillard says a "measured, steady discussion" about an Australian republic is likely to re-start once Queen Elizabeth's funeral and the mourning over her death has finished.
Ms Gillard is a republican and in 2010 said she thought the monarch's death would be a good moment for the nation to reflect on its constitutional arrangements.
In an interview with the ABC in London, she said there was "no rush" to make changes and endorsed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's decision to prioritise a referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
But she said she thought discussion about a republic would soon become more prominent in Australian life.
"It's certainly too soon for that now," Ms Gillard said, stating she thought it was appropriate for the Australian republic movement to pause campaigning during the mourning period.
"The things that people want to do to honour the Queen, our prime minister being at the funeral on Monday, all of those things need to be worked through and then I think we can have a measured steady discussion, which I think will ultimately take us in the direction of a republic."
Mr Albanese has indicated a second referendum is not something he would contemplate until a second term in office.
Ms Gillard added she thought that was the right move, partly because there needed to be a lot of public debate and consideration to get the details of any future referendum right.
"It's the kind of idea that you would take to the people [at an election]," she said, stressing her view that one of the big problems with the failed 1999 referendum was division over the model.
Putting a republic on the agenda
The federal government does have an Assistant Minister for the Republic, Matt Thistlethwaite.
In June he told 7:30 he was planning to slowly, methodically begin discussions on the matter.
"My appointment means that the prime minister is serious about bringing this issue back on the agenda," Mr Thistlethwaite said.
"This isn't a first-term priority for the government, a Voice to Parliament is.
"But I'm hopeful we can move on to a discussion about a republic in a second and hopefully third term of a Labor government.
"We think it is time that we once again explain to the Australian people that we do have a foreign monarch as our head of state."
His appointment alarmed monarchists, who claimed the starting gun for a second referendum campaign had effectively been fired.
They were also infuriated by Mr Thistlethwaite's use of the term "foreign monarch" and his access to taxpayer resources for his discussions.
During the federal election, the ABC's Vote Compass data suggested a slim majority of Australians were not supportive of the then-Prince Charles becoming King.
This may have changed in the wake of the Queen's death and the intense coverage of the events surrounding the journey of her coffin, as well as the accession of King Charles.
A Roy Morgan SMS Poll conducted on Monday suggested about 60 per cent of Australians were supportive of the country retaining the monarchy, while 40 per cent wanted a republic with an elected president.
Vote Compass gave respondents more options than just yes or no.
It suggested about 43 per cent of people broadly wanted to cut ties with the monarchy, an increase compared to 2019.
But a large number, about a quarter of those who took part in Vote Compass, said they were "neutral" on the topic.
Queen was dedicated to duty, says Gillard
Julia Gillard was the prime minister during the Queen's last visit to Australia in 2011, when she visited Perth for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and then travelled to several other parts of the country.
Ms Gillard said she had several memories of the Queen's stoicism, including backstage as the meeting was being opened.
"What was happening … was that each leader of the 54 countries was going to come out on stage, be announced, be applauded," the former PM reflected.
"Then I would come out second last, she would come out last.
"We were in this big queue waiting to go on stage very slowly, so I said to her, 'Can I get someone to get you a chair?'" she said.
"And she was like 'No, I'm fine to stand', and I'm like, 'That's really a pity because if someone had got you a chair then someone might have got me a chair and I wouldn't have minded it.'
"So yes, someone with a great dedication to duty."
