Editing Governor-General of Australia (section)

===Reserve powers===
[[File:Malcolm Turnbull visits Peter Cosgrove to request double dissolution.jpg|thumb|Prime Minister [[Malcolm Turnbull]] meeting with Governor-General Sir [[Peter Cosgrove]] on 8 May 2016 to request a [[double dissolution]]]]

The reserve powers are those powers that the governor-general may exercise independently, that is in the absence of or against ministerial advice.<ref name=":5">{{Cite web |last= |first= |title=Infosheet 20 - The Australian System of Government |url=https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/House_of_Representatives/Powers_practice_and_procedure/00_-_Infosheets/Infosheet_20_-_The_Australian_system_of_government |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=Parliament of Australia |language=en-AU |quote=}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Downing |first=Susan |date=23 January 1998 |title=The Reserve Powers of the Governor-General |url=https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/IAR30/upload_binary/iar303.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22library/prspub/IAR30%22 |series=Parliamentary Library Research Note |issn=1328-8016 |id=Number 25, 1997–98}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2016976825/view |title=Final report of the Constitutional Commission |date=1988 |isbn=0-644-06897-3 |pages=92–93 |publisher=Australian Government Pub. Service |language=en-AU |via=Trove}}</ref> While most of these powers are listed in the Constitution, the circumstances in which they can be used with discretion is not prescribed and is a matter of convention.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=14 December 2023 |title=What are reserve powers? |url=https://peo.gov.au/understand-our-parliament/your-questions-on-notice |access-date= |website=Parliamentary Education Office |language=en-AU}}</ref>

The reserve powers that are generally accepted are:<ref name=":4" /><ref name=":3" /><ref name=":6">{{Cite book |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-2016976825/view |title=Final report of the Constitutional Commission |date=1988 |isbn=0-644-06897-3 |pages=326–7 |publisher=Australian Government Pub. Service |language=en-AU |via=Trove}}</ref>
* the discretion to select a prime minister if an election results in a parliament in which no party or coalition has a clear majority
* the power to dismiss a prime minister that has lost the support of the House of Representatives
* the power to refuse to dissolve the House of Representatives

The reserve powers that are the subject of greater debate are:<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":3" />

* the power to refuse a double-dissolution
* the power to refuse a [[prorogation]]<ref>{{Cite book |last=Twomey |first=Anne |author-link=Anne Twomey (academic) |title=The Veiled Sceptre: Reserve Powers of Heads of State in Westminster Systems |date=2018 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-107-29784-5 |pages=587–9 |chapter=Prorogation}}</ref>{{Efn|For instance, during the [[2017–18 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis]], Governor-General [[Sir Peter Cosgrove]] indicated to Prime Minister [[Malcolm Turnbull]] that he would have refused to prorogue the parliament had he been asked while the resolution of by-elections was to be determined.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Turnbull |first=Malcolm |author-link=Malcolm Turnbull |title=A Bigger Picture |date=2020 |publisher=Hardie Grant Books |isbn=978-1-74379-563-7 |location= |pages=554–5 |oclc=}}</ref>}}
* the discretion to select a prime minister following the dismissal of a prime minister that has lost the support of the House of Representatives
* the power to dismiss a prime minister who is unable to obtain supply and refuses to resign or advise a dissolution
* the power to dismiss a prime minister that has broken the law
* the power to refuse royal assent

The most prominent use of the reserve powers occurred in the course of the [[1975 Australian constitutional crisis]], in which governor-general Sir [[John Kerr (governor-general)|John Kerr]] dismissed the government of [[Gough Whitlam]] and appointed opposition leader [[Malcolm Fraser]] as prime minister while an election was held.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Twomey |first=Anne |date=2017-04-19 |title=Australian politics explainer: Gough Whitlam's dismissal as prime minister |url=http://theconversation.com/australian-politics-explainer-gough-whitlams-dismissal-as-prime-minister-74148 |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}}</ref> Kerr acted following the blocking of [[Appropriation bill|supply]] by the opposition controlled Senate, arguing that this gave him both the right and duty to dismiss the government when they did not resign or advise an election.<ref>{{cite web |title=Reserve Powers and the Whitlam dismissal |url=https://www.ruleoflaw.org.au/constitution/reserve-powers-and-the-whitlam-dismissal/ |website=Rule of Law Education Centre |access-date=5 March 2023}}</ref> The event remains one of the most highly debated and controversial in Australian political history.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cooper |first=Michael |date=2005 |title=The Dismissal 30 years on |url=https://dismissed.moadoph.gov.au/epilogue.html |access-date=2024-01-17 |website=Dismissed!: Whitlam, Fraser, Kerr and the story of 1975 |publisher=Museum of Australian Democracy at Old Parliament House |language=en-AU}}</ref>