NOT even God will be able to save the Queen if the Australian Republican Movement has its way. The organisation gathered in Sydney on Friday, holding a fundraising dinner to re-launch it's bid to have an Australian citizen as the nation's head of state. Among the hundreds attending the event at Leichhardt were writer Tom Keneally, Liberal MP and former republican movement chair Malcolm Turnbull, the current head of the organisation Professor Geoff Gallop and actor Bryan Brown. After opening formalities were complete the main event, a discussion between Mr Turnbull and Prof Gallop, began. Both spoke of the need to spark dialogue about the issue, framing the republican debate as one of national identity, evidenced by the organisation's slogan that asks "who do we want to be?." "Because of having the British monarchy as our head of state we are not able finally and fundamentally and emphatically to symbolise ... shared (Australian) values with an Australian citizen at the very apex of our constitution," Mr Turnbull told the event. Mr Turnbull, who said his republican views were fortified when British elites "who hadn't been seen outside a fox hunt for decades" visited during the 1988 Bi-Centennial celebrations, did not offer much detail on what shape an Australian republic would take. The republican movement, at this stage, doesn't favour either a popularly elected president or a head of state promoted to office thorough bi-partisan parliamentary support. The challenge the movement faces presently is forming a publicly supported republican model to take to a referendum. Once that has been resolved, the finer details would be examined, Mr Turnbull and Prof Gallop said. Constitutional change to create a republic shouldn't be ranked against other issues, like the recognition of indigenous Australians, Mr Turnbull added. But, he said, "I'd rank it slightly ahead of the recognition of local government." Mr Turnbull's parliamentary leader Tony Abbott is a staunch monarchist. However, Mr Turnbull told AAP the issue would "absolutely not" create conflict between the pair. "Our positions on this issue have been well known for at least 20 years," he said. I can't think of anything less likely to cause friction between us.