Governor-General of Australia
The Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia is the representative in Australia of Australia's head of state, Queen Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, who lives in the United Kingdom. The functions and roles of the Governor-General include appointing ministers and judges, dissolving Parliament, giving Royal Assent to legislation, issuing writs for elections and bestowing honours. The Governor-General is President of the Executive Council and Commander-in-Chief of the Australian Defence Forces. All these things are done and all these posts are held under the authority of the Australian Constitution and carried out in the name of the Queen. Further, the Governor-General acts as vice-regal representative to the Australian Capital Territory.
The Constitution provides that a "Governor-General appointed by the Queen shall be Her Majesty's representative in the Commonwealth . . ." The Constitution grants the Governor-General a wide range of powers, but in practice he or she follows the conventions of the Westminster system and (with occasional and rare exceptions) acts only on the advice of the Prime Minister of Australia or other ministers. Even in the appointment of the Prime Minister, the Governor-General rarely exercises any discretion, usually appointing the leader of the largest party or coalition of parties in the House of Representatives.
Beyond constitutional functions, the Governor-General has an important ceremonial role. He or she travels widely throughout Australia to open conferences, attend services and commemorations and generally "provide encouragement to individuals and groups who are contributing to their communities." [1] When travelling abroad, the Governor-General is seen as the representative of Australia, and of the Queen of Australia, and is treated as a head of state in most ways.
The main official residence of the Governor-General is Government House, Canberra, commonly known as Yarralumla. There is a second official residence, Admiralty House in Sydney. When visiting the other states, the Governor-General is usually a guest at the Government Houses in the state capitals.
The incumbent Governor-General of Australia is Major-General (retired) Michael Jeffery. He is supported by a staff headed by the Official Secretary to the Governor-General, currently Malcolm Hazell, CVO.
Method of Appointment
In practice, the selection of a Governor-General is a matter for the Prime Minister of Australia, who may or may not consult privately with staff or colleagues, or with the Queen of Australia; the person selected is then, in practice, nominated by the Queen. A decision is usually announced several months in advance of the commission's commencement. During these months, the person is referred to as the Governor-General-designate.
The actual appointment is made by the Queen. In 1930, James Scullin established the right of the Australian Prime Minister to advise the monarch directly on the choice of governor-general (rather than indirectly through the British Prime Minister), and the Queen is traditionally obliged (but not actually legally bound) to act upon such advice. After receiving his or her Commission, the Governor-General makes an Oath of Allegiance and an Oath of Office to the Queen and issues a Proclamation assuming office.
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Titles and Backgrounds of Governors-General
The British Governors-General (from 1901 to 1965) were either peers or knights. Of the Australian occupants (from 1931 to 1988), Lord Casey was a peer and all the others were knights (although William McKell's knighthood was granted during his term of office). All Governors-General down to Stephen (from 1901 to 1989) were members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom and thus had the additional title "Right Honourable." Bill Hayden was the only Governor-General to have no title at any time.
Of the nine Australians appointed since 1965 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 and constitutional lawyer; Peter Hollingworth was an Anglican Archbishop; and Major-General Michael Jeffery is a retired military officer.
All Australian Governors-General have been male and most have been at least nominally Christian (unlike several recent Governors-General of Canada and New Zealand). Sir Isaac Isaacs, the first Australian-born Governor-General, and Sir Zelman Cowen were Jewish. None have had an indigenous or non-European background.
Tenure
The constitution does not set a term of office, so a Governor-General may continue to hold office for any agreed length of time, however a typical term of office is five years. At the end of this period, a commission is occasionally extended by a short period.
The salary of Governor-General is regulated by the Constitution, which fixed an annual amount of 10,000 pounds, unless the parliament decides otherwise. The constitution states that the salary of the Governor-General may not be increased during his or her term of office. From 1974 each new commission has resulted in a pay increase. Today, the law ensures the salary is higher than that for the Chief Justice of the High Court, over a five year period. The annual salary during Michael Jeffery's term is $365,000.
Three Governors-General have resigned their commission. The first Governor-General, Lord Hopetoun, asked to be recalled to Britain in 1903 over a dispute about funding for the post. Sir John Kerr resigned in 1977 after being offered a United Nations post, which he did not take up. In 2003, Peter Hollingworth stood aside temporarily while certain allegations against him were resolved, and the letters patent of the office were amended to take account of this circumstance. He later resigned to "protect the vice-regal office from persistent controversy".
In 1961, Lord Dunrossil became the first and, to date, only Governor-General to die in office.
A Governor-General may be recalled or dismissed by the Queen before their term is complete. By convention, this may only be advised by the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has the option of naming an immediate replacement or letting the vacancy provisions take effect.
As no Australian Governor-General has ever been dismissed, it is unclear how quickly the Queen would act on such advice. The constitutional crisis of 1975 prominently raised the possibility of the Prime Minister and Governor-General attempting to dismiss each other at the same time.
A vacancy will occur on the resignation, death, incapacity or absence from Australian territory of the Governor-General. In some cases the vacancy is temporary, as occurred when Peter Hollingworth stood aside.
Section 4 of the constitution allows the Queen to appoint an Administrator to carry out the role of Governor-General. By convention, the longest serving state governor holds a dormant commission, allowing an assumption of office to commence whenever a vacancy occurs. In 1975, Labor Prime Minister Gough Whitlam recommended to the Queen that Sir Colin Hannah, then Governor of Queensland, have this dormant commission revoked for making public political statements in support of the Liberal-National Country Opposition.
Constitutional role and functions
Sections 61 and 68 of the Constitution provide that the Governor-General exercises certain powers as the Queen's representative. The limited form of this representation was explained in a 1988 Constitutional Commission report which concluded "the Governor-General is in no sense a delegate of the Queen. The independence of the office is highlighted by changes which have been made in recent years to the Royal instruments relating to it".[2]
Although the Governor-General and the Queen occasionally observe certain formalities, in practice the Governor-General carries out his constitutional responsibilities without reference to the Queen. In 1975, the Queen, through her Private Secretary, wrote that she "has no part in the decisions which the Governor-General must take in accordance with the Constitution". [3] During the Australian constitutional crisis of 1975, the Queen did not intervene on the basis that it was a matter "clearly placed within the jurisdiction of the Governor-General"[4]. In 2004, Governor General Michael Jeffery said "her Majesty is Australia's head of state but I am her representative and to all intents and purposes I carry out the full role." [5]
Role in Parliament
The Constitution describes the Parliament of the Commonwealth as consisting of the Queen, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Section 5 states that "the Governor-General may appoint such times for holding the sessions of the Parliament ... prorogue the Parliament [and] dissolve the House of Representatives." These provisions make it clear that the Queen's role in the parliament is in name only and the actual responsibility belongs to the Governor-General. Such decisions are usually taken on the advice of the Prime Minister.
The Governor-General has a ceremonial role in swearing in and accepting the resignations of Members of Parliament. He or she appoints a deputy, to whom members make an oath of allegiance before they take their seats. On the day parliament opens, the Governor-General makes a speech, entirely written by the government, explaining the government's proposed legislative program.
The most important power is found in section 58: "When a proposed law passed by both Houses of Parliament is presented to the Governor-General for the Queen's assent, he shall declare ... that he assents in the Queen's name." This makes any proposed law effective.
Sections 58 to 60 allow the Governor-General to withhold assent, suggest changes, refer to the Queen or proclaim that the Queen has annulled the legislation. Convention prevents the Governor-General from using these powers in all realistic circumstances (see Reserve Powers below). However on occasion, when the Queen has been scheduled to visit Australia, the Governor-General has as a courtesy withheld Royal Assent to an Act so that the Queen might personally sign it into law.
Role in Executive Government
At the start of Chapter 2 on executive government, the Constitution says "The executive power of the Commonwealth is vested in the Queen and is exercisable by the Governor-General as the Queen's representative". The Governor-General presides over an Federal Executive Council. The Prime Minister is appointed to this Council and advises as to which parliamentarians shall become ministers and parliamentary secretaries.
In the constitution, the words "Governor-General-in-council" mean the Governor-General acting with the advice of the Council. Powers exercised in council, which are not reserve powers, include:
- establishing government departments
- appointing federal judges, and
- appointing ambassadors and high commissioners.
All such actions are taken on the advice of ministers.
Section 68, says "command-in-chief of naval and military forces ... is vested in the Governor-General as the Queen's representative". In practice, this role is ceremonial, with actual authority in the hands of the Defence Minister and the Chief of the Defence Force (CDF).
In an administrative sense, the office of Governor-General is regulated by the Governor-General Act 1974.
Reserve powers
In the United Kingdom, the reserve powers of the Crown are not explicitly stated in constitutional enactments and are the province of convention, but in Australia, the powers are explicitly given to the Governor-General in the Constitution but it is their use that is the subject of convention.
The reserve powers are:
- The power to dissolve (or refuse to dissolve) the House of Representatives. (Section 5 of the Constitution)
- The power to dissolve Parliament on the occasion of a deadlock. (Section 57)
- The power to withhold assent to Bills. (Section 58)
- The power to appoint (or dismiss) Ministers. (Section 64)
These powers are generally and routinely exercised on Ministerial advice, but the Governor-General retains the ability to act independently in certain circumstances, as governed by convention. It is generally held that the Governor-General may use his powers without ministerial advice in the following situations:
- if an election results in a Parliament in which no party has a majority, the Governor-General may select the Prime Minister.
- if a Prime Minister loses the support of the House of Representatives, the Governor-General may appoint a new Prime Minister.
- if a Prime Minister advises a dissolution of the House of Representatives, the Governor-General may refuse that request, or request further reasons why it should be granted. It is worth noting that convention does not give the Governor-General the ability to dissolve either the House of Representatives or the Senate without advice.
The use of the reserve powers may arise in the following circumstances:
- if a Prime Minister advises a dissolution of Parliament on the occasion of a deadlock between the Houses, the Governor-General may refuse that request.
- if the Governor-General is not satisfied with a legislative Bill presented to him, he or she may refuse assent.
- if a Prime Minister resigns after losing a vote of confidence, the Governor-General may select a new replacement contrary to the advice of the outgoing Prime Minister.
- if a Prime Minister is unable to obtain supply and refuses to resign or advise a dissolution, the Governor-General may dismiss him or her and appoint a new Prime Minister.
The above is not an exhaustive list, and new situations may arise. The most notable use of the reserve powers occurred in November 1975 in the course of the Australian constitutional crisis of 1975. On this occasion the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, dismissed the government of Gough Whitlam when the Senate withheld supply to the government, even though Whitlam retained the confidence of the House of Representatives. Kerr determined that he had both the right and the duty to dismiss the government and commission a new government that would recommend a dissolution of the Parliament. Despite the apparent endorsement of his action by the electorate at the 1975 elections, the events surrounding the dismissal remain extremely controversial.
Ceremonial role
As well as the formal constitutional role, the Governor-General has a ceremonial role, though the extent and nature of this role has depended on the expectations of the time, the individual in office at the time, the wishes of the incumbent government, and their reputation in the wider community. 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 - replicating the actions of the monarch in the United Kingdom, or those of a ceremonial head of state. Sir William Deane described one of his functions as being "Chief Mourner" at prominent funerals.
This role can become controversial, however, if the Governor-General becomes unpopular with sections of the community. The public role adopted by Sir John Kerr was curtailed somewhat after the constitutional crisis of 1975; Sir William Deane's public statements on political issues produced some hostility towards him among conservatives; and some charities disassociated themselves from Dr Hollingworth after the issue of his management of sex abuse cases during his time as Archbishop of Brisbane became a matter of controversy.
History
The office of Governor-General was previously used during colonial times in Australia. Sir Charles FitzRoy (Governor of New South Wales from 1846-1855) and Sir William Denison (Governor of New South Wales from 1855-1861) also carried the additional title of Governor-General because their jurisdiction extended to other colonies in Australia. Later each colony was granted its own Governor and thus the title of Governor-General lapsed until the establishment of the Commonwealth in 1901.[6]
The office of Governor-General for the Commonwealth of Australia was conceived during the debates and conventions leading up to federation. The first Governor-General was a previous Victorian Governor, John Hope, the Earl of Hopetoun. He was appointed in July 1900, returning to Australia shortly before the inauguration of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901. His first act was to appoint the inaugural Prime Minister, Edmund Barton, since the first federal elections were not held until March.
Early Governors-General were British and were appointed by the King on the recommendation of the Colonial Office. The Australian government was merely asked, as a matter of courtesy, whether they approved of the choice or not. Governors-General were expected to exercise a supervisory role over the Australian Government in the manner of a colonial Governor. In a very real sense, they represented not only the monarch but also the British Government. They had the right to "reserve" legislation passed by the Parliament of Australia: in other words, to ask the Colonial Office in London for an opinion before giving the Royal Assent. This power was used several times.
During the 1920s the importance of the position declined. As a result of decisions made at the Imperial Conference of 1926, the tenure of a Governor-General was dependent only on advice from the Australian Prime Minister. The Governor-General ceased to be the diplomatic representative of the British Government and the British right of supervision over Australian affairs was abolished.
Also, in 1929, the Australian Prime Minister James Scullin established the right of a Dominion Prime Minister to advise the Monarch directly on the appointment of a Governor-General, by insisting that his choice (Sir Isaac Isaacs, an Australian) prevail over the recommendation of the British government. The convention was gradually established throughout the Commonwealth that the Governor-General is a citizen of the country concerned, and is appointed on the advice of the government of that country, with no input from the British government.
Thus, in 1931, this transformation was concluded with the appointment of the first British High Commissioner and the first Australian Governor-General, Sir Isaac Isaacs. The latter appointment was advised by the Labor Prime Minister, James Scullin, despite the misgivings of King George V. The appointment was denounced by the opposition Nationalist Party of Australia as being "practically republican". After Scullin's defeat in 1931, non-Labor governments continued to appoint British Governors-General. In 1947 Labor appointed a second Australian Governor-General, Sir William McKell.
In 1965, the conservative Menzies government appointed an Australian, Lord Casey, and the position has since been held only by Australians. Suggestions during the early 1980s that the Prince of Wales might become the Governor-General came to nothing.
List of Governors-General
See also
- Category:Governors-General of Australia
- History of Australia
- Constitutional history of Australia
- Governors of the Australian states
- British Empire
- Governor-General (links to other countries which have Governors-General)
Further reading
- Christopher Cunneen (1983). Kings' Men: Australia's Governors-General from Hopetoun to Isaacs. Allen and Unwin. ISBN 0-86861-238-3.
- Bill Hayden (1996). Hayden: An Autobiography. Angus & Robertson. ISBN 0-207-18769-X. (pp 515, 519, 548)
External links
- The Office of the Governor-General
- The use of the reserve powers
- A Mirror to the People a 58 minute documentary film on the Office of Governor-General of Australia 1999. Dir: Daryl Dellora. Features Sir William Deane, Sir Zelman Cowen, Sir Ninian Stephen. Special Commendation ATOM Awards.
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