Australia's Governors-General: From Hopetoun to Jeffery Book

By the time Peter Hollingworth gave up the office, in April 2003, Australia had seen 23 governors-general come and go. Not one escaped criticism. And although Hollingworth had seemed reluctant to go, some could hardly wait to get away. At times, it was hard to get takers for the job. Some hoped it would lead to something better -- even Viceroy of India, the real Imperial prize. At least one just wanted to get out of England. The history of Australia's governors-general parallels Australia's gradual disengagement from Britain. Until 1926, the governor-general was appointed by the monarch (starting with Queen Victoria) on the advice of the British Cabinet. By the 1920s, the Australian Government had a choice -- from a British list. From 1926, the monarch made the appointment without British Cabinet involvement. King George V did not like the advice of his Australian prime minister, James Scullin, who wanted an Australian-born Jew, Sir Isaac Isaacs, in the job. The King had to give in, and Isaacs became the first Australian-born governor-general. Scullin had won the right for the Australian prime minister to appoint the governor-general. From then on, the role see-sawed between British-born and Australian-born, until Prime Minister Menzies, in 1965, chose Richard (Lord) Casey. Since then, every governor-general but one has been Australian born. Even the one exception was Australian raised and educated. The two most newsworthy, Sir John Kerr and Dr Peter Hollingworth, were Australian born. In modern Australian constitutional debate, the future of the governor-general in an Australian republic is a topic of constant conjecture.Read More