Labor Senator Matt Thistlethwaite proposed at the New South Wales (NSW) Young Labor Conference on Sunday for the state to replace the celebration of Queen Elizabeth's birthday on the second Monday of June with a day off that recognizes Australian values.

"While it was once a quaint notion to celebrate the birth of a monarch, to modern-day Australians it has no significance and is completely outdated," the senator said in a statement.

"This celebration is not even held on the actual Queen's birthday and I think you would be hard pressed to find anyone who knows on what day the Queen's birthday actually falls," he added.

"It's just a day that they picked because it was a time when they had good weather in England, which tells you all you need to know about this holiday in terms of its relevance to New Zealand and Australia," Mr Thistlethwaite pointed out.

To give the campaign a push, Mr Thistlethwaite wrote to NSW Premier Barry O'Farrell to seek his support. The senator plans to conduct a statewide survey to determine NSW support for the proposal and to find out what are their preferred dates and new name of the day off.

However, changes would need amendments to the Public Service Act and the backing of Mr O'Farrell.

Among the early suggestions are to instead use the holiday to mark the establishment of Australia's first parliament or Waratah Day, said the senator who wants to see the change in place by 2013.

Mr Thistlethwaite said he plans to mount a similar campaign on a national level through the Labor Party which would likely spark another debate on Australia's quest to become a republic. Many Aussies are in favor of severing ties with Britain's monarchy after the Queen's term ends.

The Republican Movement of Aotearoa said a similar move is underway in New Zealand which also has similar aspirations to become a republic. The movement's spokesman said that Kiwis have a potential replacement holiday through the Maori new year, called Matariki, which is held also in June.

However, Monarchy New Zealand Vice Chairman Sean Palmer said that while the group does not oppose to making the Matariki a national holiday, they are against removing the Queen's birthday from the list of New Zealand holidays.

"I don't see why we'd need to remove an existing holiday - there's no reason that the monarch's birthday couldn't be moved if there was a request for that. I think the public would probably enjoy two holidays, Why replace one with the other," Mr Palmer asked.