The Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, says she believes the country will eventually become a republic if Australia does so.

She made her comments on Waitangi Day, New Zealand¿s national day, marking the Treaty which ceded the country to Britain in 1840.

Helen Clark -- who became prime minister in November -- said the establishment of a republic was inevitable, but the retention of the British monarch as New Zealand¿s head of state wasn't an immediate issue.

Last year, Australian voters rejected a republican option in a referendum.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service