Editing Governor-General of Australia (section)

===Role in executive government===
[[File:Peter Cosgrove with Second Turnbull Ministry 2016.jpg|thumb|Governor-General [[Peter Cosgrove]] with ministers and parliamentary secretaries of the [[Second Turnbull ministry]], 2016]]

Under the Constitution, the executive power of the Commonwealth is vested in the monarch, but is exercisable by the governor-general.<ref name="s61">{{Cite Legislation AU|Cth|act|coaca430|Australian Constitution|61}}</ref> However, such power is only exercised on the advice of ministers in accordance with the principles of [[responsible government]]. This occurs formally through the [[Federal Executive Council (Australia)|Federal Executive Council]], a body of all current (and technically former) ministers that advises the governor-general.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.pmc.gov.au/resources/federal-executive-council-handbook-2021 |title=Federal Executive Council Handbook 2021 |date=2021 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |isbn=978-1-925364-53-8 |page=3}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last= |first= |title=House of Representative Practice |date=2018 |publisher=Department of the House of Representatives |isbn=978-1-74366-654-8 |editor-last=Elder |editor-first=D R |edition=7th |location=[[Canberra]], Australia |pages= |language=en-AU |chapter=Federal Executive Council |editor-last2=Fowler |editor-first2=P E |chapter-url=https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/House_of_Representatives/Powers_practice_and_procedure/Practice7/HTML/Chapter2/Federal_Executive_Council}}</ref> Such advice is generally the result of decisions already made in [[Cabinet of Australia|Cabinet]], the ''de facto'' highest executive body in Australia.<ref>{{Cite web |date=10 Nov 2023 |title=Cabinet |url=https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/parliament-and-its-people/government/cabinet |access-date= |website=Parliamentary Education Office |language=en}}</ref> While some provisions in the Constitution refer the "Governor-General" and others to the "Governor-General in Council", this does not mean that there is in element of discretion in the former; this distinction merely indicates that the former powers were those that were historically classified as belonging to the prerogative of the monarch alone.<ref name=":2" />

Many executive powers are also bestowed on the governor-general by statute. This allows the government of the day (acting through the governor-general) to perform certain acts that would otherwise require legislation. Such provision are often made where legislating may be too slow, as for the declaration of emergencies. An example this was the declaration on the advice of the health minister of a [[state of emergency|human biosecurity emergency]] under the ''[[Biosecurity Act 2015]]'' in March 2020, due to the outbreak of the [[COVID-19 pandemic]].<ref name=emergdec>{{cite web | last=McPhee | first=Sarah | title=Human biosecurity emergency declared in Australia | website=NewsComAu | date=17 March 2020 | url=https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/coronavirus-australia-human-biosecurity-emergency-declared/news-story/cd7fbff78297c076c8bb774595459c59 | access-date=23 March 2020}}</ref><ref name=decl>{{cite web|url=https://nswbar.asn.au/uploads/pdf-documents/biosecurity_emergency.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200329074727/https://nswbar.asn.au/uploads/pdf-documents/biosecurity_emergency.pdf |archive-date=2020-03-29 |url-status=live|title=Biosecurity (Human Biosecurity Emergency) (Human Coronavirus with Pandemic Potential) Declaration2020| access-date=29 March 2020|publisher=Commonwealth of Australia}}</ref>

Formally, the governor-general may exercise the traditional rights of the monarch as identified by [[Bagehot]]: the right to be consulted, to encourage and to warn.<ref>{{Cite AustLII|litigants=FAI Insurances Ltd v Winneke|source=HCA|num=26|year=1982|parallelcite=(1982) 151 CLR 342}}, Wilson J para 24.</ref> However, the practical ability to exercise this right is limited. Unlike in Canada or the UK, there is no tradition of regular weekly meetings between the governor-general and the prime minister, with meetings instead sporadically held at the request or either party. There is a greater capacity to exercise influence at the regular meetings of the Federal Executive Council at Government House; however this requires the governor-general to have existing legal experience due to the volume of material, the lack of any requirement for executive-councillors to be briefed or otherwise senior in the government, and the expectation by some governments that the governor-general should only act as a [[Rubber stamp (politics)|rubber stamp]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Boyce |first=P. J. |title=The Queen's other realms: the Crown and its legacy in Australia, Canada, and New Zealand |date=2008 |publisher=Federation Press |isbn=978-1-86287-700-9 |location=Sydney |pages=124–30 |language=en}}</ref>