Malcolm Turnbull wins Liberal leadership

Stuff reports that former ARM chair Malcolm Turnbull has beaten Brendan Nelson for the leadership of the Australian Liberal Party. This is a significant step forward for the republic debate in Australia. The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, said:

The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, called on Mr Turnbull to support the push to make Australia a republic and said he looked forward to working with the new Liberal leader.

There is now bi-partisan support for a republic in Australia's parliament. However, Australians for Constitutional Monarchy argue monarchists have nothing to worry about, and point out that Mr Turnbull has stated he thinks a republic is not going to happen during the current Queen's reign, and that he is opposed to direct election of the head of State. None of these things would prevent Mr Turnbull from supporting, say, a plebiscite on the republic model at a federal election.

Update: The Australian and ABC have more. Meanwhile, Republic UK argues Turnbull's leadership is a fatal blow to the monarchy in Australia.