GG under scrutiny again

In The Australian Malcolm Colless reports that some eyebrows have been raised by the Governor-General's recent activities .

Kevin Rudd may feel comfortable with an interventionist governor-general but this view is by no means unanimous within his ministry.

In fact a number of ministers are known to be not just concerned but angered by Governor-General Quentin Bryce's involvement in the affairs of government. The fact that no one has apparently conveyed this to the Prime Minister is more a reflection of the autocratic way Rudd runs his ministry than the level of concern about politicising the role of Australia's head of state. "Voicing disapproval of the Prime Minister's judgment on this issue, even in private, would be tantamount to committing political suicide. But it is nevertheless outrageous," one senior minister told The Australian.

Reluctance to buy into this may have also been influenced by persistent rumours in Canberra that Rudd is likely to reshuffle his ministry after thebudget.

Attention is at present focused on Bryce's 10-nation, 19-day lobbying tour through Africa to drum up support for Rudd's push to gain a non-permanent seat for Australia on the UN Security Council. But ministers are still bristling over the unprecedented private briefing she ordered in February from the heads of the departments of Foreign Affairs and Treasury and the head of the defence forces, Air Chief Marshall Angus Houston.

Presumably the relevant ministers signed off on these security briefings and received the Prime Minister's blessing before they took place.

But after media reports about the meetings at least one other senior minister issued a blunt instruction that any request from Yarralumla for departmental briefings should be unambiguously declined.

Whether this justifies calling Ms Bryce an "interventionist" G-G is questionable.

Regarding Ms Bryce's trip to Africa, the program on her website isn't detailed enough to draw many firm conclusions from.

An itinerary including fuller details of all meetings etc would have helped.

Many of her appearances, eg laying a wreath at a war memorial in Dar es Salaam, receiving Botswana's Senior Female Minister and Minister for Local Government (one and the same person) and attending a morning tea with "prominent Kenyan women", seem to be the sort of things you'd expect the Queen to do. Therefore it should be appropriate for our G-G, as the Queen's rep here, to do the same.

But of course it raises other questions such as why the representative of our "real" according to the Constitution) head of state rather than the head of state herself should be making such a tour. A (minor?) anomaly in our current constitutional arrangements.

The last Governor-General?

Ms Quentin Bryce AM will be the next Governor - General of Australia. She is exceptionally well-qualified for the job, in fact for many jobs.

Whether she will be the last Governor-General is a question which many have already asked. The tide of opinion in favour of a republic is certainly flowing strongly, even if we judge this only by the lack of support for the current arrangements, except, and it's a significant exception, when a new appointment is made and obviously widely accepted.

Today's Australian editorial "A safe pair of hands" reflects the dilemma:

Like Major General Jeffery and Sir Zelman Cowen and Sir Ninian Stephen before him, Ms Bryce has been apolitical, non-controversial and non-interventionist during her time as Queensland Governor. She has been a safe pair of hands, respecting the boundaries of the office. Aside from a well-publicised turnover of personal staff that has not impacted on her public role, her tenure has been smooth, characterised by enthusiasm and hard work in cities and small towns across Queensland.

While there are those eager to see an Australian republic replace the constitutional monarchy, Mr Rudd, wisely, was not being drawn yesterday on whether Ms Bryce would be Australia's last governor-general. The move to a republic is a standing commitment of the Rudd Government and Mr Rudd put the debate back on the public agenda in London. As he said yesterday, however, it is "not a top-order question" in the face of many other priorities. Given her discretion in Queensland about Australia's constitutional future, Ms Bryce would be unlikely to indulge in any such speculation.

The Government House website defines the governor-general's role as being "to encourage, articulate and represent those things that unite Australia as a nation". Ms Bryce is well-qualified to carry it out, and we wish her well.

It is easy for all us couch republicans to wish for the inevitable transition to take place sooner rather than later, but the PM's assessment that it isn't a "top order question" is accurate enough at the moment, and with our political system already being a de facto republican one in so many respects, not to mention the protracted processes necessary to obtain approval for any constitutional change, I'd be surprised if Ms Bryce is our last GG.

Update 15 April

There's a great Bill Leak cartoon in today's Australian (published online in colour, but in print only in B&W)":

A modern model for a modern Governor-General

The Australian hasn't missed a chance to rub salt into the Fairfax media's wounds for the latter's suggestion that Kym Beazley had been sounded out about becoming Australia's next Governor General.


Its coverage includes an editorial today "Reality check time: His or Her Excellency should be non-divisive", a pot stirring piece of whimsy by Philip Adams "If Bomber won't do, let's have Germaine", and a more solemn backgrounder by Greg Craven."The importance of being discreet and charming".

While there are many, maybe even a majority of, Australians who, like me, support a republic, some of them, also like me, recognise that the formal transition won't happen automatically given all the current constitutional obstacles that need to be overcome. We are IMO nevertheless a de facto republic now, albeit one which operates within the framework of a constitutional monarchy. In preparing the way for a formal transition to a republic it is important that the office of Governor-General not be devalued or downgraded.

The 1975 dismissal of the Whitlam government still casts a shadow over Australian political life, at least among those, like me, whose memories stretch back that far. In theory it could be, given the appropriate (or inappropriate) circumstances, repeated. Not that I'd wish it but I do accept that there needs to be a head of state, and preferably (with due deference to the quite different US system) when where the functions of head of state and head of government are, as they are now, separate. I'm reasonably open minded about this but haven't seen any strong arguments in favour of an alternative system.

Governor General Jeffery has, as far as I can tell, performed his official duties with dignified competence, even though Mr Howard did much to sideline him eg by taking a lot of the limelight at the Commonwealth Games, Rugby World Cup and no doubt other events as well.

Mr Rudd is reputed to be something of a control freak so we may not expect a much different attitude from him, but it will be interesting to see who he appoints to succeed General Jeffery.

My suggestion is Marie Bashir the current governor of NSW. Why? Recently I heard her interviewed by Jim Maxwell on ABC radio during a cricket match broadcast. She struck me as someone who clearly met Greg Craven's criteria of discretion and charm, but also as someone who recognised that, while her role was essentially ceremonial, she had the power to seek clarification of some of the matters which came before her.

PS Also in today's Australian
Tom Frame writes about the NSW "Rum Rebellion" of 1808. "Who'll watch guardians when ex-officers rule us?" he asks. An interesting historical reminder and one with, as Frame points out, much contemporary relevance elsewhere in the world today.

GG swears in PM and ministers

Today, in a modest ceremony conducted in Canberra, Governor-General Jeffery, in one of his rare constitutional appearances, commissioned Prime Minister Rudd and his ministry. The Governor-General's speech, which summarises his constitutional role well, is on his website , which also contains a list of all the new Ministers and parliamentary secretaries.

The ABC reports some of His Excellency's other comments at the ceremony.

Perhaps Mr Rudd won't marginalise the GG as Mr Howard did. When, not if, Australia becomes a republic someone will have to fulfil the role of Head of State. My view is that the Head of Government should not be the Head of State.

Is this holiday still justified?

Today is a public holiday throughout most of Australia. The reason? The Queen's birthday.
What is done to mark the occasion? Nothing much, apart from the release of the latest honours list.

At Blogocracy Tim Dunlop discusses the significance of the day and asks whether the ALP has a policy on the republic. It would seem not.

IMO we are already a de facto republic, with the PM as the President in all but name. The Governor General's role has been constrained in recent years. As his website attests, the GG is kept busy, but most of his duties are ceremonial, and not necessarily high profile ceremonial. That said, for now there doesn't seem to be much interest in the community, let alone the ALP, in changing our system of government, which means that the holiday is likely to stay.

Another step towards a republican Christmas

While the Prime Minister/ de facto President has issued his Christmas message("Think of less fortunate, says PM"), the Governor General, for the third year running, does not appear to have released one.

The last GG's CM that I can find is from 2003. Oddly enough it looks very similar to Mr Howard's 2006 one (but I suppose when you've read one, give or take a reference or two to recent major events, you've read them all).

Has Mr Howard instructed (or "advised") the Governor General not to issue Christmas messages? I would be surprised if he hadn't.

Devaluing the office of G-G is one means of preparing Australia for transition to a republic but doing it by stealth will mean that when the opportunity arises to change our constitution to a republican one it will be harder to argue the case for having a President with some real powers. I'm not saying that this will be necessary or desirable but without seeing further and better particulars I'd like to keep as many options as possible on the table, not under the carpet.

In the UK this year, an alternative Christmas message far more radical (I think) than anything the GG is likely to put out here has been given a platform, as The Age reports.

The incredible shrinking GG

The Weekend Australian carried a substantial profile of the Governor-General by Kate Legge, an edited version of which, minus photos, has been published online at news.com.au.

A sample (which shows that he and the Prime Minister appear to think alike on many things):

Invisibility doesn't suit Major-General Jeffery, who likes a media plan for every event despite being inherently risk averse. He is greener than the Prime Minister on climate change, which he says has been confirmed by science as "pretty definite" for the past five years, but for all his alarm he will not attack the Coalition's refusal to sign the Kyoto Protocol.

"I believe we can't take the risk of ignoring carbon emissions ... if we get that wrong we're in deep trouble," he said, advocating alternative energy sources such as thorium, wind, solar power and uranium.

"I think uranium will come ... Australia does have the most stable geography and it would be silly to rule uranium out because we're a bit frightened of another Chernobyl, but nuclear power plants would need to be built to the highest standard."

GG blues

Glenn Milne at news.com.au reports that the Governor General and his wife are " victims of a whispering campaign in Canberra, driven by claims Government House has become pompous and self-important".


If anyone has become pompous and self-important it is the Prime Minister, who has marginalised the GG by taking a leading role at many major events, leaving Major General Jeffery to officiate at the less important ones. Earlier this year I calculated (by looking at their respective websites) that the score for appearances at the Commonwealth Games was PM 5 - GG 2.


Mr Howard has effectively become President Howard of a de facto Australian republic. This is not necessarily a bad thing, though it leaves the GG in limbo, a comfortable limbo to be sure, but one which has no doubt increased the Vice-Regal couple's frustrations. I expect that the PM/ President will continue to live his double life, because the obstacles in the way of a formal change, eg referendum, are formidable and I believe many Australians will continue to feel relaxed and comfortable about accepting his spin on matters, including much more important ones.