Foundation for National Renewal     The "Model Constitution" Activity

Federal Election October 2004: Which Candidates Trust the People?

In your responses to Task 11, an overwhelming majority indicated agreement with the principle that there should be a well-defined separation of powers between the three arms of government; the Legislature, the Executive and the Judiciary. In particular your responses supported the following general statement on the composition, role and function of the Executive.

The role of the Executive is to implement and administer the will of the Australian People as expressed by their elected representatives (the Parliament).

The Executive shall comprise the Governor-General and the Heads of Government Departments. (Permanent Public Servants).

Heads of Departments shall be responsible, and accountable to the Parliament, for the activities of their Departments. They are required to report to Parliament on a regular basis and can be summoned to the Parliament for questioning at any time. They shall provide advice to the Parliament and Parliamentary Committees on an 'as-required' basis. Departments shall be responsible for forward planning.

Heads of Departments shall be appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the Public Service Board (a Board comprising the heads of Departments and community leaders appointed by the Governor General). Appointments to head Departments and to the Public Service Board are subject to review by the Parliament.

The effect of the above is to amalgamate into one position much of what the Governor General and the PM currently do. There would be no Ministers and no Prime Minister. The whole of the Parliament would decide what is to be done and the Executive would have the task of implementing those decisions. The dictatorial powers currently assumed by Prime Ministers will disappear and the Governor General will cease to wander around as a lame symbol of nothing much.

Our Task for this month is to define in more detail the role, function and powers of the Governor General in an arrangement such as this. When we have decided exactly what it is we want the Governor General to do, in a subsequent Task we can examine the most appropriate method of appointing or electing the person to do that job. We could also, at that time, decide whether or not to change the title of that person.

Perhaps a good place to start is to try and list everything we would like the Governor General to do. The following list is an attempt to do this. You may wish to add or subtract from the list.

A. The role of the Governor General is to be the Head of Government.

B. Subject to this Constitution the Governor General is required to fulfil the following functions:

1. Guardian of this Constitution
2. Ceremonial Head of the Nation.
3. Spokesperson for the whole of Government.
4. Chief Executive.
5. Commander in Chief of the Armed Services.
6. Receive visiting Heads of State of other countries.
7. Appoint Australian Ambassadors and Consuls (on advice).
8. Appoint Heads of Government Departments (on advice).
9. Appoint Justices of the High Court (on advice).
10. Appoint Justices of the C’wealth Supreme Court (on advice).
11. Appoint Commissioners, Ombudsmen, etc (on advice).
12. Appoint Chairpersons of the Senate (on advice).
13. Appoint Chairpersons of the House of Reps (on advice).
14. Sign Legislation into Law.
15. Address the Parliament at least once annually.

C. Subject to this Constitution the powers of the Governor General are as follows:

1. To speak on behalf of the Nation both domestically and in the international forum. (The Governor General would be guided by the Parliament in this.)
2. To negotiate with other nations. (On the advice of and subject to veto by the Parliament.)
3. To deploy the Armed Services within Australia in time of emergency. (Subject to ratification by referenda and/or Parliament within three months.)
4. To declare war and peace (subject to referenda).
5. To sign legislation into law.
6. To send legislation back to the Parliament for reconsideration with or without recommendations.
7. To initiate referenda.
8. To authorise the conduct of Referenda initiated by Citizens.
9. To initiate parliamentary agenda items.
10. To establish such Government Departments and Offices as considered necessary for the good governance of the Commonwealth of Australia. (On advice from the Parliament.)
11. To hold Heads of Departments, Ombudsmen, Commissioners, etc, accountable for their performance.
12. To hold the Chairpersons of Parliament accountable.
13. To sack a Member of Parliament for misconduct or dereliction on the advice of the Parliament.

The idea with the above is to spell out exactly what the Governor General is empowered to do and to have no such thing as ‘reserve powers’ as at present.

The intention is also that the Governor General would be a powerful individual with a clear leadership role. However, much of the time, the Governor General would, of course, be speaking and acting on behalf of the Parliament.

At the same time, it is necessary that the Parliament should have the power to pull the Governor General into line if he gets too big for his boots. That is to say, there must be checks and balances to prevent the situation developing to the stage we now endure where the Prime Minister (a representative of no more than the people of his or her electorate) has the power to start a war in our name. (We should re-consider those powers of the Parliament when we consider the Parliament in more detail and when we ensure our whole draft Constitution ‘hangs together’.)

The role, function and powers outlined above are impressive and might appear to some to create an office that is too powerful. However, they confer no more power than present-day, Australian Prime Ministers exercise - with no constitutional authority or constraint. The primary point is that, currently, the Constitution makes no provision for a Prime Minister let alone spell out his powers; or the limitations on his powers; nor does it provide any checks or balances.

You will notice that the role of the Governor General does not include representing the Queen. It is considered that, should we decide to retain the Monarchy as Queen of Australia, there is no need for the Governor General to be her representative. In this day and age of instant communication and fast international travel, the Queen will be quite capable of fulfilling that role herself.

Task 22 - The Governor General

The Task for this month is to express your view on the role, functions and powers of the Governor General. To facilitate this, the following questions are posed.

Question 1. Do you consider the current role of the Governor General justifies the expense of maintaining the office, the bureaucracy, Government House and all the other associated costs?

Question 2. Do you consider the powers currently assumed by Prime Ministers appropriate in our democracy?

Question 3. Do you consider the Governor General should have ‘reserve powers’? That is, powers not specifically spelled out in the Constitution?

Question 4. Do you consider it desirable to have a powerful figure readily recognised both nationally and internationally as the leader of Australia?

Question 5. Do you consider it desirable that there should be careful checks and balances on the power of the leader of our Nation?

Question 6. Do you consider checks and balances on the power of the Governor General should be spelled out in the Constitution?

Question 7. Do you wish to add any powers or functions of the Governor General to those listed above?

Question 8. Do you wish to remove or restrict any of the powers or functions of the Governor General as listed above?

Question 9. Do you think the system outlined above would improve the separation of powers between the Legislative and Executive branches of government?

Question 10. Do you have any further suggestions on the role, powers and functions of the Governor General?

As stated earlier, once we have determined exactly what it is we want the Governor General to do, we can then go on and determine the best method of appointing or electing that person, the term of office, etc.

Your response by the end of March 2003 would be appreciated.

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Last updated: 3 May 2006