Solicitor-General Stephen Donaghue has neatly summarised Scott Morrison’s political misdemeanour in having himself secretly appointed to all those ministries.
Queen Elizabeth II with Prime Minister John Howard (left) and the Australian governor-general, Sir William Deane, at Government House in 2000.
Megan Lewis/AAP
More than 2,000 pages of letters spanning 36 years and nine prime ministers have now been made public, albeit with disappointing redactions throughout.
Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh with Governor-General, Sir Ninian Stephen and Lady Stephen at Government House, Canberra, 1982.
National Archives of Australia
While many of the letters are quite candid, their release after so many years is hardly damaging, and the efforts to keep them secret for so long are again shown to be absurd.
A new book argues no-one writing an Australian constitution today would argue for creating a head of state on the other side of the world who is hand-picked by the head of government.
A new poll shows nearly two-thirds of Australians want an Australian head of state. A new republic model, however, would require compromise to succeed.
Had Peter Dutton won the 2018 leadership ballot and become prime minister, the governor-general may have had some tricky legal arguments on his hands.
AAP/Ellen Smith
The Constitution says that the governor-general can only act to fill a vacancy in the prime ministership if there is one - but in this case, some complex questions would have arisen.
Scott Morrison has been returned as prime minister, but we don’t yet know if the Coalition will get to the 77 seats it needs to form majority government (minus the speaker).
AAP/Joel Carrett
We now wait for the final count of seats in the House of Representatives and the Senate - and in the meantime, government continues.
With the Morrison government now in minority, it is possible a bill for the transfer of asylum seekers from Nauru could pass against the government’s wishes.
AAP/Mick Tsikas
There has been recent speculation that governments could advise royal assent not be granted if bills are passed against their wishes. Here’s why this is very unlikely to happen.
Shorten’s message is that Labor is ready for office.
Lukas Coch/AAP
The government is worried about a conference which is a highly managed affair where divisions are being contained and participants have their eyes firmly on the prize of Labor winning power next year.
He will be regarded as a safe and uncontroversial choice, although some critics will say the government should have looked beyond former military ranks.
Sean Davey/AAP
Prime Minister Scott Morrison timed his news conference in Canberra with the governor-general designate to coincide with Bill Shorten’s opening address at the ALP national conference in Adelaide.
A proposed model for an Australian republic encourages active citizenship while preserving the non-partisan, ceremonial role of the head of state.
AAP/Lukas Coch
This model for an Australian republic aims to ensure the process of a choosing a head of state is democratic, but also that the dignity of the office is maintained.
Australia’s Constitution vests executive power in the Queen and says that that power is exercised ‘on her behalf’ by the governor-general.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Many of the questions that would arise if Australia wants to become a republic have been successfully tackled elsewhere.
Labor says it will move a motion in the Senate this week for a message to be sent to the Governor-General, requesting he dismiss Dyson Heydon as royal commissioner.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Given the Governor-General usually acts on the advice of the government and its ministers, an address from the Senate on Dyson Heydon is unlikely to have any effect.
Major General Michael Jeffery, Chairman of Soils for Life.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
A speech given by Major General Michael Jeffery at Victoria University College of Law and Justice on October 15 was the second of a series of four tapping into the vast experience of eminent Australians…
A down-to-earth bloke with a CV to make some other leaders blush, Peter Cosgrove was made to be a modern governor-general.
AAP/Dave Hunt
In racing terms, there are favourites, odds-on favourites and unbackable favourites. Then there is Peter Cosgrove. About the only person not certain over the past three months that Cosgrove would be appointed…
Prime minister Tony Abbott has formally announced General Peter Cosgrove as Governor General designate.
AAP/Alan Porritt
Governor-General designate Peter Cosgrove wants to visit “stressed” indigenous communities in tandem with Australian of the Year Adam Goodes to see what their conditions are like. But Cosgrove, 66, whose…
Now that governor-general Quentin Bryce has issued the writs for the election and dissolved parliament, the government is in caretaker mode. But what does this mean?
AAP/Alan Porritt
The Coalition has raised concerns that the Memorandum of Understanding with Papua New Guinea over the Manus Island asylum seeker processing deal was entered into after the caretaker conventions commenced…