Adelaide: Australia's prime minister opened a sweeping summit of ideas today, telling the nearly 1,000 delegates that he expects concrete policy suggestions from their two-day brainstorming.

"The old way of governing has long been creaking and groaning," Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said at the opening of Australia 2020, a first-time conference meant to involve more Australians in decision making on the nation's future.

The Rudd government set 10 themes for discussion - ranging from health to environment to the arts to Australia's world role, and asked for public input.

Australians obliged, the nation buzzing with ideas in the weeks leading up to the summit. Radio talk shows invited listeners to phone in ideas for discussion, and nearly 9,000 proposals were submitted to the summit's Web site.

Major themes at the summit in the nation's capital, Canberra, are expected to be climate change, tackling Aboriginal discrimination and health.

Following today's opening remarks, the nearly 1,000 delegates split into 10 panels to cull thousands of ideas and come up with policy proposals to be presented to the federal government.

Early discussions in one session raised support for breaking formal ties with the British monarchy and becoming a republic, an idea supported by Rudd.

It is not clear how much public support such an initiative would garner. In 1999, Australians rejected a proposal to replace the monarchy with a president elected by Parliament.

The idea dropped off the national agenda until Rudd, a republican, was elected as prime minister last November, replacing staunch monarchist John Howard.

Source : PTI