An interesting contrast can be found in relation to command of the naval
and military forces. The Australian Constitution states that‘The command in
chief of the naval and military forces of the Commonwealth is vested in the
Governor-General as the Queen’s representative’(section 68). The British
North America Act simply stated:‘The Command-in-Chief of the Land and
Naval Militia, and of all Naval and Military Forces, of and in Canada, is hereby
declared to continue and be vested in the Queen’(section 15). By Letters
Patent issued in 1947, however, the Governor General has also been styled
‘Commander-in-Chief in and over Canada’.
There is very little comparison between Governors-General and the Queen.
The Queen, since ascending the throne in February 1952, has had twelve
prime ministers and attended six changes of government as a consequence
of an election. Her representatives in Australia rarely witness more than one
change of government or prime minister (and two, Sir Zelman Cowen and
Bishop Peter Hollingworth have seen neither; and Sir Peter Cosgrove has, thus
far, presided only over a change of prime minister). Moreover, the heir appar-
ent, the Prince of Wales, has had several decades of a partial participation in
government affairs of a kind which future Governors General are unlikely to
have had. Nor has there been any instance, either in Australia or Canada, of a
Governor General establishing the kind of confidential relationship with a
prime minister exemplified in the weekly meetings which the Queen has with
her prime minister of the day. Australian prime ministers, indeed, have treated
some Governors-General fairly peremptorily.
The procedure for selecting and advising on appointment of the Governor
General in Australia has remained the same since adoption of the Statute of
Westminster, 1931: it is a tightly held prerogative of the prime minister. Peter
Costello, Treasurer (1996–2007), said that were he to become prime minister,
advising on an appointment of a Governor-General would be, along with that
of Chief Justice of the High Court and governor of the Reserve Bank of
Australia, among his most important responsibilities.
Canada has, however, recently established a procedure for advice on selection.
First used in 2010, the Advisory Committee on Vice-Regal Appointments has now
been placed on a permanent footing and used for Governor General and lieuten-
ant governor appointments, and also commissioners of Canadian territories.
In Australia, the federal structure is activated when it is necessary to have a
temporary occupant during absence of a Governor-General. Administrators
of the Commonwealth invariably come from the ranks of state governors,
usually the most senior, though several hold the necessary commissions. In
Canada, for absences of more than a month, a Justice of the Supreme Court of
Canada willfill in. For an opening of parliament, if there is no Governor
General or the Governor General is indisposed or otherwise unavailable, the
Chief Justice stands in.
J. R. Nethercote