Tasmania, like nearly all other states and territories, voted ‘no’.

In fact, the island state trailed only Queensland in terms of disparity between ‘yes’ and ‘no’ votes: 40.37 per cent and 59.63 per cent respectively.

But that is not to say that Tasmania is without a republican tradition.

The deviser of the state’s Hare-Clark proportional voting system, Andrew Inglis Clark was a dyed-in-the-wool republican.

The Examiner decried him as “a mere fledgeling” when he stood for a seat in the House of Assembly in 1878.

It was Inglis Clark who wrote the first draft of the Australian constitution.

Today, the Tasmanian branch of the Australian Republican Movement (ARM) is continuing Inglis Clark’s work, aiming to shift local attitudes toward republicanism.

Tasmanian branch convenor of the ARM Angela Wilson said a republic would allow further recognition of Australia’s deep history.

“[It would] give us the opportunity to acknowledge the many thousands of years of history we have as a nation, and not just the 229 years since the First Fleet arrived,” Ms Wilson said.

According to her, Tasmania “rates very well” with regard to engaging with the republic question.

“I think that, as Tasmanians, we know what it’s like to feel a little bit of an outsider, so our identity and independence is important to us,” Ms Wilson said.

While the ARM was pleased to have the Prime Minister speak at their 25th anniversary event, Ms Wilson stressed the movement “respectfully disagreed” with Mr Turnbull’s claim that an Australian republic was out of the question until Queen Elizabeth II’s reign had concluded.

“This is about Australia and not the royal family,” she said.

“We Australians pride ourselves on being equal and giving everyone a fair go, and it makes no sense that our head of state lives in a castle on the other side of the world and is only in that position because she was born into a certain family.”

Of course, not all Tasmanians agreed with Ms Wilson’s views.

Tasmanian convenor for the Australians for Constitutional Monarchy group Reg Watson was one of them.

“We should appreciate that, in the country we live in, people are banging at our doors to come and live here,” Mr Watson said,

“We’ve done something right, and I think we should all be grateful for this great country.”

Mr Watson said the ACM did not see “any imminent challenge” to Australia’s constitutional monarchy system.

“I am confident if we had to go to another referendum, it would be the same result we achieved in 1999,” he said.

“Having a monarch that politicians have to answer to [is] an important part of the checks and balances that we enjoy in Australia.”

Mr Watson said constitutional monarchy was “not to do with individuals or personalities”.

“Unless you get a better system, then you stay with the one that you’ve got,” he said.

“I think what it has produced is political stability.

“Someone is above politicians.”

In December 2016, the Australian National University released the results of their Australian Electoral Study, which dictated that 53 per cent of Australians were in favour of a republic.

This was a two per cent increase on Newspoll’s survey results from earlier in 2016.

The ARM, meanwhile, claimed that a majority of federal MPs supported a move to become a republic: a minimum of 81 MPs in the House of Representatives have reportedly voiced their support, while a minimum of 40 in the Senate have done so.