CANBERRA, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Australia's support for becoming a republic has hit the lowest level in 25 years, a poll has found.
The special poll, conducted by Newspoll and published by News Corp Australia on Monday, revealed that only 40 percent of Australians are in favor of a republic while 48 percent are opposed to the idea.
It marks the first time since the 1999 referendum on the issue that more Australians have been opposed to becoming a republic than in favor.
According to the poll, October's royal visit by Prince Harry and his wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, was the turning point with a poll taken before their visit finding that 50 percent supported becoming a republic and 41 percent opposed it.
The poll was released after Bill Shorten, leader of the opposition Australian Labor Party (ALP), announced he would spend 160 million Australian dollars (115 million U.S. dollars) on a republic referendum if winning the 2019 general election.
Only 15 percent of respondents said they were strongly in favor of becoming a republic, down from 25 percent in April and 40 percent in 2001.
Labor voters were most in favor of a republic, 57 percent saying they supported it compared to only 26 percent of Liberal National Party (LNP) voters.
The result has mounted pressure on Peter FitzSimons, chairman of the Australian Republic Movement (ARM), who has seen support for a republic decline ever since he assumed the role in 2015.
FitzSimons told News Corp in October that he would "stand down in a heartbeat" if there was someone better equipped to do the job.
Former Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, who was deposed as leader of the Liberal Party in August, led the republic campaign for the 1999 referendum, which was defeated with 54.8 percent of voters opposing the proposal.
