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The Greens will attempt to put the elusive republic back on the menu on Monday with a cake-based stunt atop Parliament House.
As several states mark the Queen's birthday, federal Greens leader Richard Di Natale will slice the Union Jack out of a cake shaped as the Australian flag - and outline a plan to make Australia independent from Britain as soon as 2020.
All three major party leaders nominally support an Australian republic but the Greens argue Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull – a prominent leader of republicans in the 1990s – now lacks the conviction to prosecute the issue.
"[He] pulled back from the absurdity of knights and dames, but clearly lacks the courage to stand up to the monarchists in his party," Senator Di Natale said.
Under the Greens' proposal, a network of citizens' forums would help formulate a "threshold question" on whether Australia should become a republic that would be put to a plebiscite.
If that were successful, a national convention would work on a constitutional model to be put to the people at a referendum in 2019.
The two-step approach is widely seen by republicans as necessary to prevent a repeat of the 1999 referendum defeat, in which then-PM John Howard wedged opponents by insisting the question specified a president appointed by Parliament.
Chair of the Australian Republican Movement, Fairfax columnist Peter FitzSimons, said the Greens' move would put the ball back in the Prime Minister's court.
"The question now is, with Labor and the Greens both recommitted to a plebiscite ... will the country's most passionate republican let the people have their say on a republic?" he asked.
Mr Turnbull famously led the ARM to its referendum defeat in 1999. But since his elevation to the Coalition leadership in September he has been accused of crab-walking away from his personal beliefs.
In an interview with Fairfax Media at the weekend, Mr Turnbull reiterated his commitment to the republic. But he made clear it should be pursued only "when we can win".
Senator Di Natale said the Greens' preferred pathway would ensure history did not repeat itself. "We are a mature, independent, confident nation and it's time to stand on our own two feet," he said.
