Australian Republican Movement chair Peter FitzSimons says pro-monarchy surge inevitable, but vote has the legs

The ARM followed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in suspending its campaign for a fortnight after the Queen's death, acknowledging a "significant contribution" made during her seven-decade reign.

But it lifted its détente on Friday, telling Australians the "concept of an Australian King is both unsettling and foreign".

"For decades, monarchists and others have claimed that it would be rude to make a move to a republic while the Queen was on the throne," it said in a statement.

"There is no longer any excuse to delay this important step forward for Australia."

Polling has shown a spike in support for the Crown immediately following the passing of Britain's longest-serving monarch.

But ARM chair Peter FitzSimons, tasked with spearheading the republican charge, insists the pendulum will swing back after a "totally expected" surge in monarchist sentiment.

Mr FitzSimons told The Canberra Times republicans will ultimately benefit from a more opinionated, less iconic monarch marshalling a family mired in scandal

"Our broader argument will be: 'I am, you are, we are Australian. He is English'," he said.

"We have no personal animus against King Charles whatsoever, but our position is unchanged. Should Australia really have a new King overnight? We're not a kingly people.

"It doesn't fit. It fitted with the Queen for a lot of people, because she had always been there, and they cherished that stability."

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has pledged to hold referendum on a republic in his second term, and Mr FitzSimons said the biggest obstacle to its success is voter engagement.

"[But] there's been more publicity for the republic in the last week than we've had in the last two years, and not all of it good," he said.

Like the ARM, Mr Albanese has largely been silent on the issue since the Queen's death.

"That wasn't simply a matter of communications, it was just the right and decent thing to do," Mr FitzSimons said.

"There's genuinely a family grieving, there's huge swathes of a populace genuinely grieving. It was not a time to be waving placards."

Mr FitzSimons accepted there was a "large slab" of Australia opposed becoming a republic during the Queen's reign.

"Hundreds of people have told me: I will be with you once she dies. That was an absolutely overwhelming theme of so many people I've talked to," he said.

"The Queen being on the throne was always an impediment to change. That's not showing up in the polls today, but it will show up."

Those polls are currently stark reading for republicans, a Sydney Morning Herald survey on Wednesday finding 56 per cent of Australians support retaining the monarchy.

Mr FitzSimons described the results as "totally expected" immediately after an "icon of stability" died, but suspects there will be around 250 weeks to turn it around.

"I'm frankly surprised [the polls] weren't worse, given the tidal wave of emotion that's been rolling over our nation," he said.

"A lot of people in Australia were surprised in themselves by how much they felt. They knew they'd feel it, but it was really overwhelming.

"Nations rose and fell, empires rose and fell, and the one constant was the Queen of England."

King Charles inherits a monarchy wracked with scandal, after his brother Andrew was accused of raping a minor procured for him by Jeffrey Epstein, and stripped of his titles.

And Mr FitzSimons said republicans will "undoubtedly" benefit from comparisons between the new monarch and his mother, predicting his tendency to air political opinions would make him a more divisive figure.

"[She] never gave an interview. We never knew much about the person and the private views. With Charles, that is certainly not the case," he said.

The 1999 push for a republic was doomed partly by stridently-monarchist prime minister John Howard, but also internal divisions over the shape it would take.

"If you show me ten strong Australian republicans, I will show you six preferred models and three who say it's their model or nothing," Mr FitzSimons conceded.

"That is a key problem, and it's one we've struggled with."

Assistant Minister for the Republic Matt Thistlethwaite says Labor will publicly consult before settling on a model.

Attempting to head off a repeat, the ARM has spent two years and big money assessing focus groups before releasing its model in January.

The proposal would see voters directly elect a president, whose power would not usurp the executive's when it comes to making policy.

A popularly-elected head of state is potentially contentious for those who believe it could create two centres of power. Monarchists also argue the Crown imposes checks-and-balances, preventing the worst excesses of presidential systems.

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But Mr FitzSimons is confident Australians will plump for their most "trusted and capable" countrymen, insisting "power-hungry billionaires wouldn't get past the first hurdle".

"Every poll that's been done since before 1999 shows the Australian people want a say in who is their head of state. There is no way around that," Mr FitzSimons said.

"If it's not the final model that the government puts to the people, so be it. But it advances the conversation."

Mr FitzSimons said the ARM will be saying "substantially the same things we've said previously", but believes Australians "will be leaning in, not leaning away" this time around.

"I'm confident that as we put our case, the values that we hold most dear in Australia - egalitarianism and national identity - will win out," he said.