Malcolm Turnbull has flagged another postal survey as a way of answering whether Australia should become a republic, citing the “success” of the marriage equality survey as proof it could finally decide the issue.

Responding to Paul Keating questioning whether his desire for a republic was “another chameleon act”, Turnbull said his predecessor was “completely wrong”.

Keating told the Australian newspaper that those who succeeded him as prime minister had failed Australia by not making progress towards a republic, reserving a particular savaging for Turnbull, who led the failed republican push in 1999.

Speaking in Sydney on New Year’s Day, Turnbull labelled Keating’s remarks “barely coherent”.

“Look, this is the bottom line – we gave the republic a great shot in 99,” he said. “There was a referendum. Sadly, we lost. I voted yes, I campaigned for yes.

“I don’t know what’s prompted Paul to come out swinging at everyone. He seems to be critical of every prime minister and former prime minister apart from himself and it must be good for Paul to feel he is without fault or blemish but, in the real world, we gave it a red hot go in 99.

“I expect it will become an issue again after the end of the Queen’s reign but I don’t think it will become a frontline issue before then. That is my objective view, it’s one I’ve held for a long time, for well over a decade, well, since 99. That’s now nearly 20 years.”

Reminded that the Queen, who turns 92 in April, could end her reign while he was prime minister, Turnbull suggested a survey similar to the controversial marriage equality postal survey, which LGBTI advocates said caused harm to the community, could solve the issue.

“We all say ‘long live the Queen’ and we say that with great sincerity and with love,” he said. “But if you’re asking me how I would go about it in the issue becoming live again, I think the first thing you would need to do is have an honest, open discussion about how a president would be elected.

“That’s what you need to have. Whether the president would be chosen by parliament, you know, in a bipartisan, two-thirds majority as proposed in 99 or directly elected. That is the rock on which the referendum floundered in 99.

“You’ve got to have that discussion and it may be that a plebiscite, maybe even a postal survey, given the success of the marriage postal survey, could be one way to deal with that.

“But that issue needs to be debated and resolved.”

Turnbull said there was “no point pretending there is an appetite for change when there isn’t one at the moment”.

The prime minister also did not mince his words when asked about Victoria’s reported crime problem, laying the blame squarely at the feet of the Labor premier, Daniel Andrews. News Corp papers have run a series of stories in past weeks about the “crisis” of crime caused by “African gangs” in the state. Cabinet ministers have reportedly called on Turnbull for commonwealth intervention.

“The Australian federal police is a small and specialised police force that obviously deals with matters of particular federal responsibility, including terrorism,” Turnbull said. “We also provide a considerable amount of intelligence and technological support to state police forces in respect of gangs.

“[But] this is a failure of the Andrews government. Victoria police is a huge organisation. Much larger than the federal police. It’s got the capacity to do the job.

“But what it is lacking is the political leadership and the determination on the part of Premier Andrews to make sure the great policemen and women of Victoria have the leadership, the direction and the confidence of the government to get on with the job and tackle this gang problem on the streets of Melbourne and, indeed, throughout other parts of the state.”

Last week, Victoria police superintendent Therese Fitzgerald said the issue stemmed from “youth crime in general”, adding there was “not a particular group of youths we are looking into”.

The state government said it didn’t want to play political games about youth crime.

“We will take our instructions and advice from Victoria Police,” acting road safety minister Phillip Dalidakis told reporters in Melbourne, AAP reported. “We certainly will not be taking suggestions or advice from a bloke who can’t even put on a life vest when he’s on a boat in Sydney Harbour.”

The prime minister was fined $250 last week in December for not wearing a life jacket while moving his dinghy near his harbourside Sydney home.

“If Malcolm Turnbull wants to play games instead of working in collaborative effort, then he can do so and talk to himself,” Dalidakis said.

Victoria police also defended their efforts to address youth crime.

“I’m very confident where we’re going and how we’re tackling youth crime in this state,” deputy commissioner Andrew Crisp told reporters in Melbourne.