Editing Governor-General of Australia (section)

==Ceremonial role==
In addition to the formal constitutional role, the governor-general has a representative and ceremonial role, though the extent and nature of that role has depended on the expectations of the time, the individual in office at the time, the wishes of the incumbent government, and the individual's reputation in the wider community. Governors-general generally become patrons of various charitable institutions, present honours and awards, host functions for various groups of people including ambassadors to and from other countries, and travel widely throughout Australia. Sir [[William Deane]] (governor-general 1996–2001) described one of his functions as being "Chief Mourner" at prominent funerals. In ''Commentaries on the Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia'', [[Robert Garran]] wrote that, since the Australian executive is national in nature (being dependent on the nationally elected House of Representatives, rather than the Senate), "the Governor-General, as the official head of the Executive, does not in the smallest degree represent any federal element; if he represents anything he is the image and embodiment of national unity and the outward and visible representation of the Imperial relationship of the Commonwealth".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Quick |first1=John |url=https://archive.org/details/annotatedconstit00quicuoft |title=The Annotated Constitution of the Australian Commonwealth |last2=Garran |first2=Robert |publisher=[[Angus & Robertson]] |year=1901 |isbn=0-9596568-0-4 |location=Sydney, NSW |page=700 |name-list-style=amp |via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

That role can become controversial, however, if the governor-general becomes unpopular with sections of the community. The public role adopted by Sir [[John Kerr (governor-general)|John Kerr]] was curtailed considerably after the [[1975 Australian constitutional crisis|constitutional crisis of 1975]]; Sir [[William Deane]]'s public statements on political issues produced some hostility towards him; and some charities disassociated themselves from [[Peter Hollingworth]] after the issue of his management of sex abuse cases during his time as Anglican [[Anglican Diocese of Brisbane|archbishop of Brisbane]] became a matter of controversy.

===Diplomatic role===
[[File:Dame Patsy and Sir David with Governor-General and Mrs Hurley.jpg|thumb|Governor-General [[David Hurley]] and Linda Hurley with [[Governor-General of New Zealand|New Zealand Governor-General]] Dame [[Patsy Reddy]] and Sir [[David Gascoigne]] in 2021]]

The governor-general makes [[state visit]]s overseas on behalf of Australia, during which an [[administrator of the government]] is appointed.<ref>{{Cite web |date=23 April 2023 |title=Governor-General to attend Coronation and undertake State Visit to Greece |url=https://www.gg.gov.au/about-governor-general/media/governor-general-attend-coronation-and-undertake-state-visit-greece |website=Governor-General of the Commomwealth of Australia}}</ref> The right of governors-general to make state visits was confirmed at the [[1926 Imperial Conference]], as it was deemed not feasible for the sovereign to pay state visits on behalf of countries other than the United Kingdom.<ref name=smith96>{{cite journal|url=https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Powers_practice_n_procedures/~/~/link.aspx?_id=D704CA6CD1B549AF8654FDCFBA383150&_z=z|title=An Australian Head of State: An Historical and Contemporary Perspective|first=David|last=Smith|author-link=David Smith (public servant)|year=1996|journal=Papers on Parliament|publisher=Australian Parliamentary Library|volume=27|access-date=7 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209124434/https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Senate/Powers_practice_n_procedures/~/~/link.aspx?_id=D704CA6CD1B549AF8654FDCFBA383150&_z=z|archive-date=9 February 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> However, an Australian governor-general did not exercise that right until 1971, when [[Paul Hasluck]] visited New Zealand.<ref name=smith96/><ref>{{cite news|url=https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-2466|title=State visit by Governor-General of New Zealand - statement by the prime minister, Mr William McMahon|publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet|date=8 September 1971|access-date=7 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209124216/https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-2466|archive-date=9 February 2019|url-status=live}}</ref> Hasluck's successor [[John Kerr (governor-general)|John Kerr]] made state visits to eight countries, but Kerr's successor [[Zelman Cowen]] made only a single state visit – to Papua New Guinea – as he wished to concentrate on travelling within Australia.<ref name=smith96/> All subsequent governors-general have travelled widely while in office and made multiple state visits. Occasionally governors-general have made extended tours visiting multiple countries, notably in 2009 when [[Quentin Bryce]] visited nine African countries in 19 days.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/criticism-over-ggs-africa-tour-20090308-8sgk.html|title=Criticism over G-G's Africa tour|newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|date=9 March 2009|access-date=7 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209124310/https://www.smh.com.au/national/criticism-over-ggs-africa-tour-20090308-8sgk.html|archive-date=9 February 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=6 March 2009 |title=Governor-General's Visit to Africa |url=https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-16450 |website=Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet}}</ref>

The governor-general [[accredits]] (i.e. formally validates) Australia's [[ambassador]]s through sending a formal [[letter of credence]] (and a letter of recall at the end of a tenure) to heads of state and government<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal |title=Diplomatic and Consular Relations |url=https://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/journals/AUYrBkIntLaw/1989/24.pdf |journal=Australian Year Book of International Law}}</ref> and similarly formally receives foreign letters during credentials ceremonies for [[Head of mission|heads of mission]] on their arrival in Canberra.<ref>{{Cite web |title=2. Heads of mission |url=https://www.dfat.gov.au/about-us/publications/corporate/protocol-guidelines/2-heads-of-mission |accessdate=21 January 2024 |website=Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade |series=Protocol Guidelines |at=2.6 Presentation of credentials to the Governor-General}}</ref> Before 1987, ambassador and [[High commissioner (Commonwealth)|high commissioner]] appointments were formally made by the monarch instead.<ref name=":12" />

===Military role===
[[File:Corporal Ben Roberts-Smith VC investiture (1).jpg|thumb|Governor-general Quentin Bryce awarding the Victoria Cross to Corporal [[Ben Roberts-Smith]], 2011]]
[[File:Governor General of Australia rank insignia.svg|80px|thumb|Governor-General's rank insignia<ref>{{cite web |date=2019-12-20 |title=Army Dress Manual |url=https://www.army.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-08/Army-Dress-Manual-AL5.pdf |url-status= |archive-url= |archive-date= |publisher=Department of Defence |at=Appendix 4H1 |location=}}</ref>]]

[[Section 68 of the Constitution of Australia|Under section 68 of the Constitution]], the [[command-in-chief]] of Australia's military forces is "vested in the Governor‑General as the Queen's representative".<ref name="s68">{{Cite Legislation AU|Cth|act|coaca430|Australian Constitution|68}}</ref> Views on the effect of this section vary, from merely making the governor-general "in effect no more than a glorified Patron of the Defence Forces" to alternatively making the governor-general the ultimate head of military chain of command who may influence or deny the use of the military if it is to be used for domestic political ends.<ref name=":8">{{Cite web |last=Stephen |first=Ninian |author-link=Ninian Stephen |date=21 June 1983 |title=The Governor-General as Commander-in-Chief |url=https://www.gg.gov.au/about-governor-general/governor-general-commander-chief |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180320174412/https://www.gg.gov.au/about-governor-general/governor-general-commander-chief |archive-date=20 March 2018 |website=Governor General of the Commonwealth of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Twomey |first=Anne |author-link=Anne Twomey (academic) |date=2024-09-03 |title=Explainer: the governor-general is also commander-in-chief of the defence forces. What does this mean in practice? |url=https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-governor-general-is-also-commander-in-chief-of-the-defence-forces-what-does-this-mean-in-practice-237959 |website=The Conversation |language=en-AU}}</ref> Ex-governor-general Sir [[Ninian Stephen]] stated that his view of the section was that it vests command of the military in the governor-general personally, but only to the extent that the power to give orders or call out the military does not require formal advice from the Federal Executive Council but instead the direct advice of the relevant minister.<ref name=":8" /> Other powers exist in the ''Defence Force Act 1903'', such as the power to appoint the [[Chief of the Defence Force (Australia)|chief of the Defence Force]],<ref>{{Cite Legislation AU|Cth|act|da190356|Defence Act 1903|12}}</ref> to call out the Defence Force,<ref>{{Cite Legislation AU|Cth|act|da190356|Defence Act 1903|33}}</ref> and declare a time of war, exercised as ordinary executive powers on advice.<ref name=":9">{{cite news |author=McKeown |first1=Deirdre |last2=Jordan |first2=Roy |date=22 March 2010 |title=Parliamentary involvement in declaring war and deploying forces overseas |url=https://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/download/library/prspub/5M8W6/upload_binary/5m8w60.pdf;fileType=application%2Fpdf#search=%22library/prspub/5M8W6%22 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180929003716/https://www.aph.gov.au/binaries/library/pubs/bn/pol/parliamentaryinvolvement.pdf |archive-date=29 September 2018 |access-date= |work=Parliamentary Library Background Note |publisher= |pages=}}</ref> Additionally, all officers are appointed by the governor-general on behalf of the monarch with a personally signed commission.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ranks |url=https://www.army.gov.au/about-us/ranks |access-date=2024-01-21 |website=Australian Army}}</ref>

Historically, the power to declare war and make peace rested with the monarch (as advised by the British government) in their role as head of the [[British Empire]].<ref>{{Cite AustLII|litigants=Farey v Burvett|link=Farey v Burvett|source=HCA|num=36|year=1916|parallelcite=(1916) 21 CLR 433}}. "The creation of a state of war and the establishment of peace necessarily reside in the Sovereign himself as the head of the Empire".</ref> This was the position of Robert Menzies in 1939, who assumed that the declaration of war by the United Kingdom in World War II automatically applied to Australia.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Menzies |first=Robert |author-link=Robert Menzies |title=War in Europe Again - 'My Melancholy Duty' |url=https://www.nla.gov.au/digital-classroom/year-10/internment-world-war-ii-1939-45/themes/war-europe-again-my-melancholy |website=National Library of Australia |quote=Fellow Australians, ... Great Britain has declared war upon her, and that, as a result, Australia is also at war.}}</ref> However, in 1941 opinion had shifted and the [[Curtin government]] advised the governor-general to declare war on several [[Axis powers]]. However, it was still unclear whether the governor-general had the constitutional power to declare war, so in addition to requesting the assignment of powers by the monarch to the governor-general, the government also requested King [[George VI]] make similar proclamations of war on Australia's behalf.<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 |page=342 |publisher=Australian Government Pub. Service |language=en-AU |via=Trove}}</ref><ref name=":9" /> No formal declarations of war have been made since World War II, although other declarations on the start and end of time of "active service" have been made in other conflicts.<ref name=":9" />

The powers of command-in-chief are vested in the governor-general rather than the "Governor-General in Council", however this does not denote an element of personal discretion in their exercise.<ref>{{cite web |author=[[Ninian Stephen]] |date=21 June 1983 |title=The Governor-General as Commander-in-Chief |url=http://www.gg.gov.au/about-governor-general/governor-general-commander-chief |url-status=dead |access-date=22 April 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180422113620/http://www.gg.gov.au/about-governor-general/governor-general-commander-chief |archive-date=22 April 2018 |quote=It seems clear that no question of any reserve power lurks within the terms of s.68 and practical considerations make it essential, even were constitutional ones not also to require it, that the Governor-General should have no independent discretion conferred upon him by that section...}}</ref> However, in 1970 governor-general [[Paul Hasluck]] refused prime minister [[John Gorton]]'s request to authorise a [[Pacific Islands Regiment]] peacekeeping mission in the [[Territory of Papua and New Guinea]], on the grounds that cabinet had not been consulted. Gorton agreed to put the matter to his ministers, and a cabinet meeting agreed that troops should only be called out if requested by the territory's [[List of Administrators and High Commissioners of Papua New Guinea|administrator]]; this did not occur. Defence minister [[Malcolm Fraser]], who opposed the call out, was responsible for informing Hasluck of the prime minister's lack of consultation.<ref>{{cite book|author=[[Malcolm Fraser]] and [[Margaret Simons]]|title=Malcolm Fraser: The Political Memoirs|page=206|publisher=The Miegunyah Press|year=2011}}</ref> The incident contributed to Fraser's resignation from cabinet in 1971 and Gorton's subsequent [[Liberal Party of Australia leadership spill, 1971|loss of the prime ministership]].<ref>Fraser & Simons (2011), p. 222.</ref>