Vice Regal Prudence

THE LETTER PUBLISHED

I was never a fan of Peter Hollingworth as Governor General, so this shouldn't be seen as a personal praise or endorsement of him. The Church just doesn't seem to be the right place to find a person for that job, I favor selecting them from the judiciary, the military or the parliament (all retired members of course!). The Victorian Governor John Landy seems to be doing a fine job, but his qualification for the job - Olympic Champion - leaves a little to be desired in the Queen's representative.

People frequently implore the GG to make statements of a political nature or to contradict the government line because they perceive it to be wrong. Quite simply, this is not the man's job. Since Queen Victoria, royal criticism of the government has been extremely muted and the current monarch Queen Elizabeth II, would never be heard to contradict her prime minister's (yes she's had many). In the Australian case, where the GG is frequently in his post for only 5 years or less and has had a long life outside of the post, it must be extremely difficult to stay quiet. This is another reason why an individual with a career spent in the military or judiciary is perfectly suited to the job.

Dear Sir,

Robert Gunter (17/3), like many people, seems to misunderstand the role of the Governor-General in Australia.

Peter Hollingworth has not spoken against (nor in support of) the Government's position on Iraq. It is rightly so: the Governor-General's job is specifically not to comment publicly on government policy. This convention allows his position as independent head of state to remain uncompromised and his judgement unchallenged if he is ever required to exercise his power to dissolve the Parliament or ask the Queen to withhold royal assent from a bill.

The disappointment with Dr Hollingworth's silence is even sillier if we imagine the reaction from the same people were the Queen or her heir to comment on Australian (or British) politics.
We voted in 1999 for a prime minister as head of government, the Queen's representative as default head of state, and we voted for that viceroy to counsel the prime minister but to maintain public quiet unless the very existence of our democracy is threatened. The Governor-General is observing the wish of the people of Australia.

Of course the Queen does hold the post as Governor of the Church of England as well as Queen of Great Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand etc. but she truly is a remarkable individual.