[18], Such further powers are currently set out in letters patent of 2008 from Queen Elizabeth II; these contain no substantive powers, but provide for the case of a governor-general's absence or incapacity. Defence Minister Malcolm Fraser, who opposed the call out, was responsible for informing Hasluck of the prime minister's lack of consultation. The Governor-General acts on the advice of Ministers who are responsible to Parliament (and ultimately, through elections, the Australian people). James Scullin (1930) became the first prime minister of Australia to exercise complete discretion in the appointment; his nomination of Sir Isaac Isaacs made Australia the first Dominion to have a native-born governor-general. Answer (1 of 7): Firstly anyone with that ambition will be unsuitable for the job and will miss out. During Elizabeth II's 2011 visit to Australia, she and the Duke of Edinburgh were driven in a Range Rover Vogue. Find out more about our policy and your choices, including how to opt-out. I have seen this at work in the people and organisations assisting our veterans, our rural communities that are under stress, asylum seekers who we have accepted into our country and our aboriginal brothers and sisters. 11 November 2020 marks the 45th anniversary of the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor Government in 1975. The Governor-General wearing a shirt and tie sits at a desk with a pen in hand. [49] The current salary is $425,000 and there is a generous pension. Governor-General of Australia The Governor-General's official title is Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia. [40] No formal declarations of war have been made since World War II, although in 1973 the Whitlam Government advised the governor-general to proclaim the end of Australia's involvement in Vietnam, despite the lack of an initiating proclamation. Become an expert in teaching about the Australian Parliament with our curriculum-aligned education. (However, it became very clear in a conversation between Scullin and King George V's private secretary, Lord Stamfordham, on 11 November 1930, that this was merely the official reason for the objection, with the real reason being that an Australian, no matter how highly regarded personally, was not considered appropriate to be a governor-general.) Governors-general generally become patrons of various charitable institutions, present honours and awards, host functions for various groups of people including ambassadors to and from other countries, and travel widely throughout Australia. Various governors-general had previously served as governors of an Australian state or colony: Lord Hopetoun (Victoria 18891895); Lord Tennyson (South Australia 18991902); Lord Gowrie (South Australia 192834; and New South Wales 19351936); Major General Michael Jeffery (Western Australia 19932000); Dame Quentin Bryce (Queensland 20032008); General David Hurley (New South Wales 20142019). Tel: (02) 6283 3604 The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, The Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General, Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley's biography, Receiving a congratulatory message from the Governor-General, The Governor-General's Official residences, Presiding over the Federal Executive Council, Facilitating the work of the Commonwealth Parliament and Government, Dissolving Parliament and issuing writs for a Federal election, Commissioning the Prime Minister; appointing Ministers and Assistant Ministers; and swearing-in other statutory positions. There are no No. Governor-General. opening and attending national and international meetings and conferences, attending exhibitions and sporting events, attending functions as an official patron of organisations, visiting regions or areas to meet people involved in a particular group or industry. The Governor-General is the chief-of-state when the monarch is not in Australia. 2014-2019. Sir Isaac Isaacs was successively Commonwealth Attorney-General, a High Court judge, and Chief Justice. After receiving their commission, the new governor-general takes an Oath of Allegiance to the monarch and an Oath of Office. [9] Governors-General since 1901 are listed in Appendix 1. "[21], The 1988 Constitutional Commission report explained: "the governor-general is in no sense a delegate of the Queen. The Governor-General is also the Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Defence Force. Now, the King of Australia is generally bound by constitutional convention to accept the advice of the Australian prime minister and state premiers about Australian and state constitutional matters, respectively. The Biosecurity Act 2015 specifies that the governor-general may declare such an emergency exists if the health minister (Greg Hunt at the time) is satisfied that "a listed human disease is posing a severe and immediate threat, or is causing harm, to human health on a nationally significant scale". He spent much of his retirement in Europe but returned to Australia several times in the 1980s . This fact sheet introduces the constitutional, ceremonial and civic roles of the Governor-General, and the history of the position. According to Section 2 of the Australian Constitution, the Governor-General is appointed by the King to be His Majesty's representative in Australia. The then leader of the Opposition, Robert Menzies, called McKell's appointment "shocking and humiliating". Please read ourPrivacy Statement, The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, The Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General, E-mail the Governor-General or Government House, Her Excellency Mrs Linda Hurley's biography, Receiving a congratulatory message from the Governor-General, The Governor-General's Official residences. The first governor-general, Lord Hopetoun, asked to be recalled to Britain in 1903 over a dispute about funding for the post. In 1975, Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam advised the Queen that Sir Colin Hannah, then Governor of Queensland, should have his dormant commission revoked for having made public and partisan anti-Whitlam Government political statements, in violation of the convention that state governors and federal governors-general remain neutral and above politics. [3][4] The governor-general is appointed by the monarch on the recommendation of government ministers. New details have emerged about the role Australia will play at the coronation of King Charles III, as the government responds to questions about a visit to Australia by the monarch. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. [20], Australian Solicitor-General Maurice Byers stated in 1974: "The constitutional prescription is that executive power is exercisable by the governor-general although vested in the Queen. [30] In Australia, however, the powers are explicitly given to the governor-general in the constitution; it is their use that is the subject of convention.[31]. In a very real sense, they represented the British Government. The statement was later issued by the Prime Minister's Press Office. In 2007, media outlets reported that Prince William might become governor-general of Australia. On 8 May 1953 Slim was sworn in as governor-general of Australia. These are the people who see us through good times and bad. The Governor-General is officially appointed by the Queen as Head of State. Historically the governor-general has also served as Chief Scout of Australia. "[21], As early as 1901, the authoritative commentary by Quick and Garran had noted that the governor-general of Australia was distinguished from other Empire governors-general by the fact that "[t]he principal and most important of his powers and functions, legislative as well as executive, are expressly conferred on him by the terms of the Constitution itself not by Royal authority, but by statutory authority". In our opinion it is an essential consequence of the equality of status existing among the members of the British Commonwealth of Nations that the Governor-General of a Dominion is the representative of the Crown, holding in all essential respects the same position in relation to the administration of public affairs in the Dominion as is held by His Majesty the King in Great Britain, and that he is not the representative or agent of His Majesty's Government in Great Britain or of any Department of that Government. [64] (Lord Stamfordham had complained that Scullin had "put a gun to the King's head".). In an address to the Sydney Institute, January 2007, in connection with that event, Sir David Smith, a retired official secretary to the governor-general of Australia who had been Kerr's official secretary in 1975, described the constitution as conferring the powers and functions of Australia's head of state on the governor-general in "his own right". The 736 recipients of awards in the General Division of the Order of Australia include: The 217 recipients of Meritorious Awards include recipients of the Public Service Medal, the Australian Police Medal, Australian Fire Service Medal, Emergency Services Medal, the Australian Corrections Medal and the Australian Intelligence Medal. To provide continuity through general elections both federally and in New South Wales, Hurley succeeded General Sir Peter Cosgrove, who had planned to retire in March 2019, on 1 July 2019.[1][2]. Sir Isaac Isaacs and Sir Zelman Cowen were Jewish; Bill Hayden was an avowed atheist[69] during his term and he made an affirmation rather than swear an oath at the beginning of his commission; the remaining Governors-General have been at least nominally Christian. The Governor-General of Australia is His Majesty The King's representative . The only way a person can be recognised is for someone to nominate them., 6 appointments as Companions of the Order, 177 appointments as Members of the Order (surname, 506 people were awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (surname (, The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, The Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General. The governor-general of Australia is the head of the executive branch of the federal government, serving as the representative of the Australian monarch (currently Charles III ). The right of governors-general to make state visits was confirmed at the 1926 Imperial Conference, as it was deemed not feasible for the sovereign to pay state visits on behalf of countries other than the United Kingdom. The letters released on Tuesday revealed that Kerr, who as Governor-General was the Queen's official representative in Australia, held extensive discussions with the palace over what powers he held. Spouses of governors-general have no official duties but carry out the role of a vice-regal consort. The Prime Minister tabled a copy of the amended letters patent relating to the office of Governor-General, together with the text of a statement relating to the document, but for some unknown reason he did not read the statement to the House, nor did he seek leave to have it incorporated in Hansard. The official cars of the governor-general fly the Flag of the Governor-General of Australia and display St. Edward's Crown instead of number plates. The first female Governor-General was the Honourable . John Robert Kerr (1914-1991), lawyer, judge, and governor-general, was born on 24 September 1914 at Balmain, Sydney, eldest of eight children of New South Wales-born parents Harry Kerr, boilermaker, and his wife Laura May, ne Cardwell. However, it remained unclear just whose prerogative it now became to decide who new governors-general would be. The salutation for a letter should be "Your Excellency" or "Dear Governor-General". [50] Until 2001, Governors-General did not pay income tax on their salary; this was changed after Elizabeth II agreed to pay tax.[49]. The constitution describes the parliament of the commonwealth as consisting of the Monarch, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Governors-general were expected to exercise a supervisory role over the Australian Government in the manner of a colonial governor. [43] For instance, in 1970 Governor-General Paul Hasluck refused Prime Minister John Gorton's request to authorise a Pacific Islands Regiment peacekeeping mission in the Territory of Papua and New Guinea, on the grounds that cabinet had not been consulted. These provisions make it clear that the Monarch's role in the parliament is in name only and the actual responsibility belongs to the governor-general. In 1976, the letters patent for the order were amended to introduce the rank of Knight and Dame to the order, and from that time the governor-general became, ex officio, the Chancellor and Principal Knight of the order. Of the eleven Australians appointed governor-general since 1965, Lord Casey, Sir Paul Hasluck and Bill Hayden were former federal parliamentarians; Sir John Kerr was the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of New South Wales; Sir Ninian Stephen and Sir William Deane were appointed from the bench of the High Court; Sir Zelman Cowen was a vice-chancellor of the University of Queensland and constitutional lawyer; Peter Hollingworth was the Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane; and Major-General Michael Jeffery was a retired military officer and former Governor of Western Australia. An "administrator of the government" in Canada is a constitutional practice where an individual is empowered to perform the functions of the office of the governor general if the governor general is incapable of rendering their constitutional duties, or if the position of Governor General is vacant following a resignation or death. From that time until 2014, governors-general did not receive automatic titles or honours, other than the post-nominal AC by virtue of being Chancellor and Principal Companion of the Order of Australia. The annual salary during Michael Jeffery's term was $365,000. [26] This view was also held by Senior Judge of the Supreme Court of Tasmania Andrew Inglis Clark, who, with W. Harrison Moore (a contributor to the first draft of the constitution put before the 1897 Adelaide Convention and professor of law at the University of Melbourne), postulated that the letters patent and the royal instructions issued by Queen Victoria were unnecessary "or even of doubtful legality". Permission should be sought from Office of the Governor-General for third-party or commercial uses of this image. Welcome to the page of the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia. In the face of this provision, I feel it is difficult to contend that the Queen, even though present in Australia, may exercise in person functions of executive government which are specifically assigned by the constitution to the Governor-General. Individual items of correspondence of this type will not be brought to the attention of the Governor-General and senders should not expect a reply. It established a constitutional monarchy, with the British monarch, represented locally by a governor-general, the reigning sovereign of Australia. The governor-general travels in a Rolls-Royce Phantom VI limousine for ceremonial occasions, such as the State Opening of Parliament. Scullin was equally insistent that the monarch must act on the relevant prime minister's direct advice (the practice until 1926 was that Dominion prime ministers advised the monarch indirectly, through the British government, which effectively had a veto over any proposal it did not agree with). The position came into being with the adoption of the new national constitution on 1 January 1901, and has been held by 27 people since then. It is played at all official and ceremonial . Mr Albanese told reporters on Saturday how he has accepted an invitation to attend the crowning of the monarch in the United Kingdom alongside Mr Hurley. To contact Government House fill in the form located at http://www.gg.gov.au/contact.php or phone: 02 6283 3533. The independence of the office is highlighted by changes which have been made in recent years to the Royal Instruments relating to it. The Governor-General has some of the responsibility for ensuring that Australia is governed according to the rules set out in the Constitution. General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK CVO MC (Retd) Sydney NSW. After consulting his cabinet he chose Henry Forster, 1st Baron Forster. [citation needed] Events surrounding the dismissal remain extremely controversial. visiting places hit by national disaster, such as floods or fire. Sections 58 to 60 allow the governor-general to withhold assent, suggest changes, refer to the Monarch or proclaim that the Monarch has annulled the legislation. "The visit will celebrate Britain's relationship with France and Germany, marking our shared histories, culture and values," Buckingham Palace said. Menzies's fourth nomination was Richard Casey, who took office in 1965; he and all subsequent governors-general have been Australian citizens. Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia Badge Flag of the Governor-General Incumbent David Hurley since 1 July 2019 Viceregal Style His Excellencythe Honourable Status Representative of the Head of state Commander in chief Residence Government House(Canberra) Admiralty House(Sydney) Seat Canberra Nominator Prime Minister of Australia
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