Some Aussies are already calling for the nation to become a republic following news of Queen's death

The Australian Republic Movement released a statement on the death of Queen Elizabeth II at 4.52am on Friday (September 9).

"We are deeply saddened by the news of Queen Elizabeth’s passing and express deep gratitude and thanks for her service to the Commonwealth," said the Australian Republic Movement as per an online statement.

Australia woke up to news of the Queen's death after she spent nearly 70 years on the throne with her son Prince Charles set to become King Charles III, with Prince William as the heir.

"The Queen backed the right of Australians to become a fully independent nation during the referendum on an Australian republic in 1999, saying that she has 'always made it clear that the future of the Monarchy in Australia is an issue for the Australian people and them alone to decide, by democratic and constitutional means'," the Australian Republic Movement said in a media release.

Chair of the Australian Republic Movement Peter FitzSimons expressed his sympathies and gratitude on behalf of the Movement via the media statement.

While a nationwide referendum was held in 1999, which asked the country if they wanted to amend the constitution and cut ties with the Royal Family, the majority of Australians voted no.

Head of the Australian Republican Movement Peter FitzSimons said that the group struggled to gain momentum after the ‘catastrophic’ referendum; however, he believes this will change after Her Majesty's passing, as Manning River Times.

"A phenomenal number of people have said to me over the years, I'm absolutely with you, but not until the Queen passes away. And I expect now there will be a surge of interest, of membership, of donations," he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also shares the same sentiment. For the first time in Australia, an Assistant Minister for the Republic was sworn into the PM’s cabinet on June 1.

Additionally, during the Queen’s Jubilee, as the Prime Minister marked the occasion by lighting a beacon at Regatta Point in Canberra, he reflected on the shifting views toward the British monarchy, according to The Guardian.

However, national convenor for the Australians for Constitutional Monarchy David Flint disagrees, noting the 2021 online Ipsos poll conducted for The Age that found that 40 per cent of surveyed people rejected the country becoming a republic, as per The Courier.