Australia's conservative opposition party elected a staunch republican as its leader for the first time Sept. 15, granting a strong push to those who want to dump Britain's Queen Elizabeth II as the country's head of state.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd seized on the Liberal Party's appointment of Malcolm Turnbull, a multimillionaire former merchant banker who backs making Australia a republic with its own head of state, to chide the opposition on the republic issue, which has the potential to split the conservatives.

Turnbull, who chaired the Australian Republican Movement from 1993 to 2000, was narrowly elected by his colleagues by a vote of 45 to 41.