Australia's Daily Telegraph reports outgoing Australian Governor-General, Major General Michael Jeffery, is undertaking a 'farewell tour' around all the 200 organisations and charities of which he is a patron.

The Australian Republican Movement's own Major General, Mike Keating, noted that the tour highlights the fact that the Governor-General is not actually Australia's head of state:

When asked when Australia's Governor-General should be replaced by a head of state, Mr Keating said the "sooner the better."

Meanwhile, Aussie Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has refused to say whether the next Governor-General might be the last:

The Government's commitment to a republic was "clear cut" but a move to a republic was "not a top order question", Mr Rudd has said.

Kevin Rudd is playing it safe. Getting the next Governor-General into office smoothly is his top concern in this debate at the moment.