[citation needed] Australian Labor Party (ALP) Prime Minister Paul Keating indicated a desire to instigate a republic in time for the centenary of the Federation of Australia in 2001.

The opposition Liberal-National Coalition, led by Alexander Downer, though less supportive of the republic plan, promised to convene a constitutional convention to discuss the issue.

Additionally, delegates endorsed a republic under a bipartisan appointment model as preferable to the existing constitutional arrangements (monarchists and some direct-election republicans abstained from the vote).

[5] The majority of analysis has advanced two main reasons for the referendum defeat: First, Australians have traditionally been cautious about proposed constitutional change.

The major opinion groups were:[citation needed] The process for change is seen as an important factor for the eventual outcome in a referendum.

Many other prominent Australians also endorsed the "Yes" vote, which led to claims that the movement was "elitist" in sentiment and supported by politicians rather than the public at large.

[citation needed] The "Yes" campaign was also viewed as having the support of the popular Australian media by British politician and journalist Bill Deedes who said in The Daily Telegraph in 1999: "I have rarely attended elections in any country, certainly not a democratic one, in which the newspapers have displayed more shameless bias.

A number of republicans who supported direct election abstained from the vote (such as Ted Mack, Phil Cleary, Clem Jones and Andrew Gunter), thereby allowing the bi-partisan model to succeed.

[13] Electors were asked whether they approved of: A proposed law: To alter the Constitution to establish the Commonwealth of Australia as a republic with the Queen and Governor-General being replaced by a President appointed by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Commonwealth Parliament.Electors were also asked to vote on a second question at the 1999 referendum which asked whether they approved of: A proposed law: To alter the Constitution to insert a preambleThe preamble would have been: With hope in God, the Commonwealth of Australia is constituted as a democracy with a federal system of government to serve the common good.

Some of these, such as Phil Cleary, advocated that republic supporters vote "No" in order that a future referendum could be put on the directly elected model.

[18][13][19] After the referendum, Malcolm Turnbull blamed Prime Minister John Howard in particular for the defeat and claimed: "Whatever else he achieves, history will remember him for only one thing.

"[20] Meanwhile, the leader of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy, Kerry Jones, called for citizens to accept the result and go forward "as a united nation".

[23] High Court Justice Michael Kirby, a constitutional monarchist, ascribed the failure of the republic referendum to ten factors: lack of bi-partisanship; undue haste; a perception that the republic was supported by big city elites; a "denigration" of monarchists as "unpatriotic" by republicans; the adoption of an inflexible republican model by the convention; concerns about the specific model proposed (chiefly the ease with which a prime minister could dismiss a president); a republican strategy of using big "names" attached to the Whitlam era to promote their cause; strong opposition to the proposal in the smaller states; a counter-productive pro-republican bias in the media; and an instinctive caution among the Australian electorate regarding constitutional change.

[4] The Gillard Labor government, which took power in a hung parliament following the August 2010 election, indicated an intention not to revisit the issue of a vote for an Australian republic during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

[24] The Liberal-National Coalition government in power following the September 2013 federal election was led by Tony Abbott who is a supporter of the constitutional monarchy.

During Abbott's term as prime minister, Labor Opposition Leader Bill Shorten stated he believed it was time to "breathe new life into the dream of an Australian republic".

[25] On 15 September 2015, Malcolm Turnbull, who had been chairman of the Australian Republican Movement from 1993 until 2000, succeeded Tony Abbott as leader of the Liberal Party, to become the prime minister of Australia.