BUCKINGHAM Palace has declined to comment directly on moves to have a referendum to declare the future of the head of state.

“The Queen has always made clear that the future of the monarchy in Australia is an issue for the Australian people,” a spokesman said overnight.

He declined to comment on the document signed by all but one state and territory leader declaring support for a future Australian head of state.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten, who is expected to use his Australia Day speech to call on Mr Turnbull to take steps towards making Australia a republic, said it was time.

“I don’t believe we have to wait for a change of monarch to renew the Republic debate,” he said.

“People too young to vote in 1999 have children of their own now, children born in 1999 will soon be eligible to vote themselves.

“A new generation of Australians deserves their chance to have a say.”

He said it while it wasn’t the most important issue facing the country, it was a debate worth having.

“So today I say to the Prime Minister, let us work together to seize this moment, to lead the movement for change,” he said.

It has been a consistent theme of the palace not to comment on the republican debate in Australia, with the palace and Clarence House, the official mouthpiece of heir to the throne Prince Charles, instead citing the stirring speech Her Majesty gave to Australia at the Sydney Opera House in March 2000.

The Queen was making her 13th visit to the country and this one seen as one of the most significant since it came shortly after the November 1999 referendum at which a majority, albeit slim, of Australians voted to retain her as head of state.

She said then she had followed the debate leading up to the vote closely.

“I have always made it clear that the future of the monarchy in Australia is an issue for you, the Australian people, and you alone to decide by democratic and constitutional means. It should not be otherwise,” she told the nation.

She added: “As I said at the time, I respect and accept the outcome of the referendum.

“In the light of the result last November, I shall continue faithfully to serve as Queen of Australia under the Constitution to the very best of my ability, as I have tried to do for these past forty-eight years.

“It is my duty to seek to remain true to the interests of Australia and all Australians as we enter the twenty-first century. That is my duty. It is also my privilege and my pleasure. I cannot forget that I was on my way to Australia when my father died.

“Since then and since I first stepped ashore here in Sydney in February 1954, I have felt part of this rugged, honest, creative land. I have shared in the joys and the sorrows, the challenges and the changes that have shaped this country’s history over these past 50 years.