THE DISAPPEARING GOVERNOR GENERAL

Opinion Piece by Allison Henry, National Director, Australian Republican Movement
Perspective, ABC Radio National
27 February 2004

So who is Australia’s Governor General?

The identity of the Queen’s representative in Australia seems to be a question many Australians are unclear about. Indeed, a Newspoll at the end of 2003 indicated that a remarkable 87% of respondents did not know His Excellency Major General Michael Jeffery’s name.

Take a quick look at the daily vice regal appointments and you will understand why so few know who the Governor General is and, more importantly, what he spends his time doing.

Since his appointment in August 2003, the term of this Governor General has been marked by his absence at major public events. The Rugby World Cup in October was opened by Prime Minister Howard. A few days later, the Governor General took no official role in the memorial commemorations in Bali. More recently, the Governor General’s Australia Day address took place in Sydney on 23 January 2004 – three days before the official holiday. On January 26, Major General Jeffery was tucked away at Caloundra's Kings Beach Park, welcoming 75 new Australians in a citizenship ceremony. An important task, without doubt, but hardly the role expected of the representative of Australia’s Head of State on Australia’s national holiday.

Coupled with reports emerging from a Senate Estimates Committee last week that the Secretary of the Office of the Governor General, Malcolm Hazell, is himself concerned as to the GG’s profile – or lack thereof – and one must ask the question… where is our Governor General?

The case of the disappearing Governor General extends beyond concerns as to the productivity and profile of one individual. Indeed, it has nothing to do with the character of Major General Jeffery himself. But the position he holds, as the representative of Queen Elizabeth II – Australia’s Head of State – is a central role in our constitutional system.

Not so long ago, during the 1999 republican referendum, 45% of electors lodged an effective vote of “no confidence” in this constitutional system. Since then we’ve had the drawn out Hollingworth controversy. Such developments have brought the legitimacy of the role of Governor General into focus. Australians are increasingly questioning who the Governor General is, what the role entails, how and by whom they are appointed and how they can be dismissed.

In light of these questions, it is only natural that the incumbent has come under increasing scrutiny. And with such interest, as evidenced by letters pages all over the country, has come criticism that the current Governor General really doesn’t seem to be doing too much. Certainly he appears to be fulfilling all the legal functions of the role adequately, such as assenting to laws and setting session times for Parliament. His participation in small community events also serve their purpose. But important public events in the national calendar should not be neglected.

Contrast this recently diminished public role of the Governor General with the Queen’s role in Britain, or with the Presidents of Ireland, South Africa, the United States or France, and its easy to see why Australians feel short changed. We share our Head of State with other countries and the Queen’s representative in Australia is nowhere to be seen. Australians are increasingly recognizing that the system is broken, that there is a hole at the centre of our constitutional arrangements, and that it is time to have an Australian Head of State.

What has been particularly notable about the disappearing Governor General has been the silence of constitutional monarchists. Not usually the types to stay relaxed about perceived threats to Australia’s system of constitutional monarchy, and indeed wedded to the misguided belief that the Governor General is our effective Head of State, the constitutional monarchists have been remarkably quiet on this point.

Surely if, as they unconvincingly and variously assert, the Governor General is Australia’s actual Head of State or effective Head of State or, even more remarkably, one of our Heads of State, then they should be very concerned about these recent developments. Constitutional monarchists should be offended by the fact that so few Australians know, or care, who the incumbent is; alarmed that even the Governor General’s own staff is concerned at Major General Jeffery’s lack of profile; and up in arms at any move to usurp the role of the Governor General.

But yet, silence.

Perhaps constitutional monarchists are quietly coming to terms with what republicans already know… that when Australia has a Head of State of its own, drawn from amongst us, Australians will – at the very least - know his or her name.