The Prime Minister announces that our Head of State has approved his recommendation to appoint Ms Sam Mostyn as the next Governor-General from 1 July 2024 for five years. Ms Mostyn, only the second female occupant of the office, is an interesting appointment. Although initially graduating in law from the ANU, she has worked mainly in the corporate and philanthropic sectors and has also been a Commissioner of the AFL; well-connected she is and refreshingly different from the usual ex judicial and military appointments that have characterised occupants of this job in Australia (Canada and New Zealand have been much more adventurous and appointed more women). This sets a new standard for what the President of the Australian Republic, however selected, may be like – a breath of fresh air. The appointment was immediately criticised in conservative circles as letting “an activist for woke causes” loose in Buckingham Palace as well as onshore and for being paid too much during “a cost of living crisis” – the increase in Ms Mostyn’s salary at commencement brings her level with the Chief Justice of the High Court as intended; the salary of the former G-G was reduced because he was already in receipt of (handsome) military pensions at the time of his appointment.
WfaAR comment: Our usual response to the appointment of another Governor-General is to say we hope this is the last but, this time, we know Ms Mostyn isn’t going to be the final G-G while the 2029 appointment offers scope for a changed approach to selection, possibly including a vote of some type. The road to a Republic is now a long one: at least 5-10 years from now, even for the referendum necessary to introduce.
