Malcolm Turnbull and his wife Lucy at the University of Sydney on Saturday where the Prime Minister reaffirmed his support for an Australian republic. Credit:Deborah Snow "House by house, street by street, suburb by suburb, we must make the case to our fellow citizens," he said. Mr Turnbull said a republic was not inevitable. "History is littered with inevitable causes that never came to pass." It was essential that, before a new referendum, the split first be resolved between those who preferred the direct election of a president and those who favoured a selection via parliamentary majority endorsed by the leaders of the government and opposition.

Illustration: Matt Golding This could be done, Mr Turnbull suggested by having an " advisory plebiscite" to ask voters which of the two models should proceed to a referendum. The split between the two camps was a key factor in sinking the referendum on a republic in 1999. Mr Turnbull, then leader of the ARM, said at the time that then prime minister John Howard had "broken the nation's heart" by not supporting the referendum. However, at Saturday night's dinner, Mr Turnbull struck a conciliatory note, saying, "We do not diminish or disrespect the patriotism of those who take a different view. We have no other motive than love of country."

He said that, a quarter of a century ago, when he founded the republican movement, "we did not imagine we would be celebrating 25 years without a republic achieved". "The cause of the Australian Republican Movement is a cause for Australia," he said. "I am an Australian and proud to say so. Our head of state should be someone who can say the same." Mr Turnbull called on other parties not to make the republican debate about partisan politics, criticising Labor for trying to fuel division on the Coalition side. "I'm speaking to you as one of the founders of this movement, a passionate Australian republican and one who wants you to succeed," he said.

But he added that, speaking as Prime Minister, there had to be a recognition that the constitution did not belong to the government or Parliament but to the people. "So those of us who propose a change must approach our task with humility and respect for the people to whom the constitution belongs," he said. "The vast majority of Australians have known no other head of the state than the Queen," Mr Turnbull said. "I do not believe Australians would welcome, let alone support, another republic referendum during her reign." He finished the speech with a rousing call to "keep the faith, advance Australia, up the republic".

The chairman of the ARM, Peter FitzSimons, told Fairfax Media: "It was wonderful to hear that the PM's passion for a republic is enduring. "He says there is lot of hard work that remains and we are doing that work. And tonight we are re-energised as never before." On Friday, the ARM said it had new figures showing that a republic now attracted majority support in both houses of Federal Parliament. Several senior ministers - including Foreign Minister Julie Bishop, Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne and Defence Minister Marise Payne - were in support, as well as a clutch of names from the Coalition's conservative backbench. Among them were Queensland maverick MP George Christensen, who said that a renewed push for an Australian republic would mean not having someone who was "subject to a foreign power" as head of state.

However his support was heavily qualified by his accompanying proviso of a separation of powers between executive and legislature, including the possible abolition of the prime ministership. The new number of supportive MPs, revealed a day before Mr Turnbull's speech to the dinner, showed a minimum of 81 MPs in the House of Representatives, and 40 in the Senate, who favour a republic. According to the ARM, 58 MPs in the lower house remain undeclared or undecided and 11 are monarchists. In the Senate, 21 remain tight-lipped and 15 favour the status quo. Peter FitzSimons, national chairman of the ARM, declared the Prime Minister had a "unique chance to put the republican cause firmly back at the centre of the national agenda".

Mr Turnbull's decision to speak at Saturday's dinner marks a break from recent silence on the issue and a return to the movement that first put him in the national political spotlight. Disagreement over the proposed model is considered to have been a fatal factor in the unsuccessful 1999 republic referendum, which saw the "yes" campaign - led by Mr Turnbull - fail to gain the support of the Australian people for a minimal model with the head-of-state appointed by the Parliament. The most popular alternative is a directly elected position. Loading To succeed, a referendum must be supported by a national majority of voters as well as a majority in most states. In the 1999 vote, almost 55 per cent of Australians backed the status quo and so did all states and territories, with the exception of the ACT.