Odtnhj

General Sir Peter Cosgrove, the 26th and current Governor-General of Australia

The Governor-General of Australia is the head of the executive branch of the federal government, serving as the representative of the Australian monarch (currently Elizabeth II). The position came into being with the adoption of the new national constitution on 1 January 1901, and has been held by 26 people since then. Governors-general have no fixed term, but have usually served for around five years.

For the first two decades after federation, governors-general were selected solely by the British Government. The monarch was consulted on the decision into the 1930s. The first four governors-general were peers; Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson (appointed 1914) was the first commoner to hold the position, although he was also later elevated to the peerage. In 1920, Billy Hughes became the first Prime Minister to be consulted over the governor-generalship. Stanley Bruce (1925) and Joseph Lyons (1935) either asked for or were given a list of suitable candidates to choose from.

James Scullin (1930) became the first Prime Minister of Australia to exercise complete discretion in the appointment; his nomination of Sir Isaac Isaacs made Australia the first Dominion to have a native-born governor-general. In 1945, John Curtin nominated Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, to the post – the first and only royal officeholder. A second Australian (William McKell) was appointed in 1947; he was followed by three more Britons, each chosen by Sir Robert Menzies. Menzies's fourth nomination was Richard Casey, who took office in 1965; he and all subsequent governors-general have been Australian citizens. All states except South Australia and Tasmania have provided at least one appointee. The first female governor-general, Quentin Bryce, took office in 2008.

List

No.	Portrait	Governor-General	Term of office		Length	Monarch(s)	Prime Minister(s)
1		John Hope, Earl of Hopetoun	1 January 1901	17 July 1902[a]	1 year, 197 days	Victoria (1837–1901)	Barton
						Edward VII (1901–1910)
2		Hallam Tennyson, Baron Tennyson	9 January 1903	21 January 1904	1 year, 12 days
							Deakin
3		Henry Northcote, Baron Northcote	21 January 1904	9 September 1908	4 years, 232 days
							Watson
							Reid
							Deakin
4		William Ward, Earl of Dudley	9 September 1908	31 July 1911	2 years, 325 days
							Fisher
							Deakin
							Fisher
						George V (1910–1936)
5		Thomas Denman, Baron Denman	31 July 1911	18 May 1914	2 years, 291 days
							Cook
6		Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson	18 May 1914	6 October 1920	6 years, 141 days
							Fisher
							Hughes
7		Henry Forster, Baron Forster	6 October 1920	8 October 1925	5 years, 2 days
							Bruce
8		John Baird, Baron Stonehaven	8 October 1925	2 October 1930[b]	4 years, 359 days
							Scullin
9		Sir Isaac Isaacs	21 January 1931	23 January 1936	5 years, 2 days
							Lyons
						Edward VIII (1936)
10		Alexander Hore-Ruthven, Baron Gowrie	23 January 1936	30 January 1945	9 years, 7 days
						George VI (1936–1952)
							Page
							Menzies
							Fadden
							Curtin
11		Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester	30 January 1945	11 March 1947	2 years, 40 days
							Forde
							Chifley
12		Sir William McKell	11 March 1947	8 May 1953	6 years, 58 days
							Menzies
						Elizabeth II (1952–present)
13		Sir William Slim	8 May 1953	2 February 1960	6 years, 270 days
14		William Morrison, Viscount Dunrossil	2 February 1960	3 February 1961[c]	1 year, 1 day
15		William Sidney, Viscount De L'Isle	3 August 1961	7 May 1965	3 years, 277 days
16		Richard Casey, Baron Casey	7 May 1965	30 April 1969	3 years, 358 days
							Holt
							McEwen
							Gorton
17		Sir Paul Hasluck	30 April 1969	11 July 1974	5 years, 72 days
							McMahon
							Whitlam
18		Sir John Kerr	11 July 1974	8 December 1977	3 years, 150 days
							Fraser
19		Sir Zelman Cowen	8 December 1977	29 July 1982	4 years, 233 days
20		Sir Ninian Stephen	29 July 1982	16 February 1989	6 years, 202 days
							Hawke
21		William Hayden	16 February 1989	16 February 1996	7 years, 0 days
							Keating
22		Sir William Deane	16 February 1996	29 June 2001	5 years, 133 days
							Howard
23		Peter Hollingworth	29 June 2001	28 May 2003[d]	1 year, 333 days
24		Michael Jeffery	11 August 2003	5 September 2008	5 years, 25 days
							Rudd
25		Dame Quentin Bryce	5 September 2008	28 March 2014	5 years, 204 days
							Gillard
							Rudd
							Abbott
26		Sir Peter Cosgrove	28 March 2014	Incumbent	4 years, 240 days
							Turnbull
							Morrison

See also

• History of Australia


• Constitutional history of Australia


• Governors of the Australian states


• British Empire


• 
  Governor-general (links to other countries which have governors-general)

Notes

Further reading

• 
  Christopher Cunneen (1983). Kings' Men: Australia's Governors-General from Hopetoun to Isaacs. Allen and Unwin. ISBN 0-86861-238-3..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
  


• 
  Bill Hayden (1996). Hayden: An Autobiography. Angus & Robertson. ISBN 0-207-18769-X. (pp 515, 519, 548)

External links

• The Office of the Governor-General


• The use of the reserve powers


• 
  A Mirror to the People a 58-minute documentary film on the Office of Governor-General of Australia 1999. Dir: Daryl Dellora. Features Sir William Deane, Sir Zelman Cowen, Sir Ninian Stephen. Special Commendation ATOM Awards.