Latest news with #Mostyn
Sky News AU
a day ago
- Politics
- Sky News AU
'De facto Australian President': Governor-General Samantha Mostyn makes 'political' media blitz to woo progressive outlets ahead of parliament's opening
If you haven't already noticed, something odd is going on. The Governor-General of Australia, Samantha Mostyn, appears to have embarked upon a public relations campaign. Since speaking with SBS on 17 October last year, which the broadcaster itself described as 'a rare, wide-ranging interview,' Mostyn has appeared across or provided comment to several media platforms. In the last couple of months alone, she has spoken with Nine's newspaper arms, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, as well as A Current Affair. She has also featured as a podcast participant for Missing Perspectives and, just recently, The Daily Aus. This is highly irregular behaviour for a governor-general, even if it might otherwise reflect Mostyn's career in corporate affairs. Historically – that is, beyond the last twenty years – Australian governor-generals have not sought to occupy the limelight; rather, they have quietly discharged their constitutional duties, as well as supported the organisations they patronise. Moreover, the actual substance of Mostyn's most critical contributions to the media are grave. 'The King doesn't direct me,' she says, as printed by Nine's newspapers, 'and I don't seek his advice; it's the prime minister and the ministry I take my counsel from, and that I work with.' '[Australia has] a historical connection to the monarch, but that has no bearing on the way in which I conduct myself in the role,' she reaffirmed to The Daily Aus. Mostyn's words totally misrepresent the constitutional nature of her office; she is the King's vice-regal representative in Australia, bound by the authority of the Crown. The Australian Constitution is perfectly clear in Section 2, where it states that the governor-general 'shall have and may exercise in the Commonwealth during the Queen's pleasure, but subject to this Constitution, such powers and functions of the Queen as Her Majesty may be pleased to assign.' This, obviously, has a bearing, at least to some extent, on the way the governor-general conducts their duties, with those duties emanating from an office that without the Crown has no reason to exist. Mostyn's claim concerning the granting of royal assent to bills passed by the Australian Parliament – that she 'can't read the bill and [ask] questions' about it – is also not within the spirit of the Constitution. Section 58 provides our Governor-General, 'according to his discretion, but subject to this Constitution, [to declare] that he assents in the Queen's name, or that he withholds assent' to 'a proposed law passed by both Houses of the Parliament.' The Governor-General, Her Excellency the Honourable Sam Mostyn and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during the swearing-in ceremony at Government House, Canberra. Picture: NewsWire/ Martin Ollman Assent is not a rubber stamp just because convention requires it be granted in all but extraordinary circumstances, any more than weapons of mass destruction are superfluous if a suitable occasion to deploy them never arises. The writings of Sir Paul Hasluck affirm this, holding that Section 58 exists not so that elected representatives can be 'overruled' by governors-general but so that governors-general can 'check elected representatives in any extreme attempt by them to disregard the rule of law.' Sir David Smith concurs, arguing that, more broadly, a governor-general's 'presence in our system' is not about how much power that position itself has but, rather, how much 'absolute power' it denies to those 'who are in' government. It is concerning, then, that Mostyn, who describes herself as 'a constitutional law nerd,' told Nine Newspapers: 'As the governor-general, you should always be conscious of maintaining the kind of relationship with the prime minister and the government where, if you see trouble ahead, you work with them to avoid the trouble.' One wonders what Smith, who served as Sir John Kerr's official secretary during the Dismissal, might think about that. Beyond interpreting her constitutional duties before the public eye, Mostyn has seen fit to detail the changes – seemingly small, yet so very consequential – she is making to her office, ever with increasing confidence. For instance, she has moved Nathaniel Dance's famous 1776 portrait of James Cook, formerly centred in Admiralty House's entrance hall, to a poorly-lit crevasse behind the stairs. Cook's painting has been replaced with a work by an Aboriginal Australian artist. Mostyn's team has moved Nathaniel Dance's famous 1776 portrait of James Cook, formerly centred in Admiralty House's entrance hall, to a poorly-lit crevasse behind the stairs. Picture: Nine/A Current Affair Cook's painting has been replaced with a work by an Aboriginal Australian artist. Picture: Nine/A Current Affair Furthermore, in her podcast with Missing Perspectives, Mostyn goes as far to outline her ambitions for certain legislative agendas, including wage reform and subsidised childcare, only to eventually add: 'Now, I can't speak to… policy in this role.' It is a disclaimer that should never need be expressed in the first place; unequivocally, governors-general cannot be involved with any part of the policymaking process. So, why is Mostyn doing all that she is, and why now? Well, responding to whether she is a republican or not, Mostyn told A Current Affair, 'I have no views on the republic issue.' Notably, she didn't say, 'I am not a republican.' We also know Mostyn considered herself a republican as little time ago as 2020, when she revealed to the Australian Institute of Company Directors that Paul Keating's republican vision was something she 'really cared about.' It's hard to know what her previous beliefs were, considering her digital footprint was totally expunged, without explanation, when her appointment was first announced in 2022. I am becoming increasingly disillusioned by what seems to be Mostyn's unconditional altruism; that is, her focus on care, kindness, social cohesion, modern Australia and – on the face of it, now amplified following the federal election – civics education. My strong suspicion is that Mostyn has a mandate from Anthony Albanese, her appointee, to progress republicanism in Australia by converting her privileged post, insofar as she can, into a de facto presidential office. To recall Edmund Burke's wisdom: 'You may have subverted monarchy, but not recovered freedom.' Parliament opened this month, at which time Mostyn discharged various constitutional duties, and her words and actions in relation to those duties carry weight. No doubt, the purpose of her recent liaison with the media shall shortly reveal itself. Alexander Voltz is a composer. As well as contributing to he is the founding Music Editor of Quadrant, and writes also for The Spectator Australia. He directed The Queen's Platinum Jubilee Concert, Australia's largest musical tribute during the Platinum Jubilee of Elizabeth II. His music has been performed across the country and abroad.
Wales Online
07-07-2025
- Business
- Wales Online
Historic Llandudno hotel has gone up for sale
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info An historic hotel in the heart of Llandudno has gone up for sale. The property was commissioned by Lady Henrietta Augusta Mostyn, who played a key role in the development of the resort - including financing the construction of Marine Drive and the foundation of the Oriel Mostyn Art Gallery. The house was called Trostrey and was sold on before later being bought back by the Mostyn family. In October 1934 it was sold to Amos Hubert Coleman a theatrical agent of Llandudno who used the house to lodge his acts that were performing in the then many theatres in town. After the war Coleman sold the house to a local family called the Stanhope's. They owned hotels in town and commissioned architect J A Humphries to convert the building into the Annan Hotel. In 2018 Ian and Shelly Tate bought The Annan Hotel along with their son David. Now the 16 bedroom hotel - with owners' accommodation - on Abbey Road has been placed up for sale for £1.2m with Christie and Co. The commercial agent said: "The Annan Hotel, a magnificent, detached building on the corner of Abbey Road, is surrounded by stunning Victorian properties. A short walk away from Llandudno town centre, with its excellent coast, the hotel benefits from being in a quiet area but also has several restaurants, bars and shopping areas a very short distance away. Llandudno is easily accessed, either by rail, or by car using the A55. "General areas include an opulent guest lounge with licensed bar, dining room with c.32 covers. Commercial kitchen on the lower ground floor with smaller service kitchen on the ground floor. Reception area. Public ground floor toilet. Patio with c.12 covers, with potential for further covers, was installed in March 2025 – Northwest facing to benefit from the evening sun." They added: "An opportunity to acquire one of the best independent hotels in the area, with scope to improve revenues. The Annan Hotel has not been previously listed on booking portals (first listed May 2025), continuing with this should lead to greater exposure and drive revenues. The hotel currently offers bed & breakfast; a greater F&B (food and beverage) offering would potentially increase revenues further also." Join the North Wales Live WhatsApp community group where you can get the latest stories delivered straight to your phone
North Wales Live
07-07-2025
- Business
- North Wales Live
Historic Llandudno hotel has gone up for sale
An historic hotel in the heart of Llandudno has gone up for sale. The property was commissioned by Lady Henrietta Augusta Mostyn, who played a key role in the development of the resort - including financing the construction of Marine Drive and the foundation of the Oriel Mostyn Art Gallery. The house was called Trostrey and was sold on before later being bought back by the Mostyn family. In October 1934 it was sold to Amos Hubert Coleman a theatrical agent of Llandudno who used the house to lodge his acts that were performing in the then many theatres in town. After the war Coleman sold the house to a local family called the Stanhope's. They owned hotels in town and commissioned architect J A Humphries to convert the building into the Annan Hotel. In 2018 Ian and Shelly Tate bought The Annan Hotel along with their son David. Now the 16 bedroom hotel - with owners' accommodation - on Abbey Road has been placed up for sale for £1.2m with Christie and Co. The commercial agent said: "The Annan Hotel, a magnificent, detached building on the corner of Abbey Road, is surrounded by stunning Victorian properties. A short walk away from Llandudno town centre, with its excellent coast, the hotel benefits from being in a quiet area but also has several restaurants, bars and shopping areas a very short distance away. Llandudno is easily accessed, either by rail, or by car using the A55. "General areas include an opulent guest lounge with licensed bar, dining room with c.32 covers. Commercial kitchen on the lower ground floor with smaller service kitchen on the ground floor. Reception area. Public ground floor toilet. Patio with c.12 covers, with potential for further covers, was installed in March 2025 – Northwest facing to benefit from the evening sun." They added: "An opportunity to acquire one of the best independent hotels in the area, with scope to improve revenues. The Annan Hotel has not been previously listed on booking portals (first listed May 2025), continuing with this should lead to greater exposure and drive revenues. The hotel currently offers bed & breakfast; a greater F&B (food and beverage) offering would potentially increase revenues further also."
Sydney Morning Herald
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Sydney Morning Herald
Living next to the PM, putting up with party boats and hosting the Queen: Sam Mostyn on being G-G
I am about halfway through my lunch with Governor-General Sam Mostyn when I grow concerned about her nutritional intake. There is a structural inequality to Lunches With – the subject must do all the talking, leaving little time to eat. And such is the pace of conversation, and the breadth of topics to cover, that the head of state can barely manage a mouthful. 'Oh no, no, don't worry!' she tells me. 'I can eat any time.' We are sitting at a round antique table in the Governor-General's private study in Admiralty House, Sydney, having been served a light and delicious lunch of curried chickpea soup with a croque madame, prepared by the in-house chef, Graeme Stewart. We drink water and there is no bill – lunch is on the gracious taxpayer. The Governor-General and I had originally planned to meet at Deus Ex Machina, a cafe in Sydney's inner west which Mostyn frequented in her former life as a regular civilian. But heads of state come with large security details, and it was deemed easier to eat together at the Governor-General's official Sydney residence, originally home to the Admiral of the Royal Navy's Australian Squadron. The Herald / Age photographer and I arrive at a bucolic scene – a posse of young sniffer-dogs-in-training is frolicking on the rolling harbourside lawn. Mostyn is weaving among them, chatting to their Australian Federal Police handlers, buffeted by the winds coming off the magnificent harbour. The view, a splendid eyeful, must surely be one of the best in the world. The elegant sandstone residence, with its magnificent colonnaded verandah, is directly opposite the Opera House, under the gaze of the Harbour Bridge, and in full view of the sundry seacraft of the busy harbour. Mostyn says that sometimes the passing party boat revellers yell out ripe comments intended for the Prime Minister, whose official Sydney residence, Kirribilli House, is next door. There is no fence between the two houses (Kirribilli House once served as a staff residence for Admiralty House) but the Governor-General says the two neighbours do not socialise. 'He wouldn't come over and hang out,' she tells me. 'That would be a breach of convention.' But the PM does use the Admiralty House pool, and on the morning after the federal election he contacted Mostyn to say he would be walking his dog Toto across her lawn. Mostyn, who has opted out of voting for the duration of her role, stepped out to meet the re-elected PM, and then invited him inside to discuss the timing of the swearing-in of his new cabinet. This vignette strikes me as an exquisite glimpse behind the curtain of our constitutional democracy. It's the kind of anecdote Ms Mostyn shares candidly, along with stories about the last Pope's funeral (where she lent a fan to the president of Iceland Halla Tomasdottir, who was schvitzing in the Italian heat), reminiscences from the King and Queen's visit last year (they bunked upstairs, while Mostyn and her husband, barrister Simeon Beckett, went briefly home to their inner west house, and Queen Camilla was thwarted from swimming in the pool by a paparazzi drone) and her trip to meet President Erdogan of Turkey. The governor-general's candour is the natural corollary of her interpretation of the role. She wants the institution she represents to be visible, transparent and accessible. This is particularly necessary because many Australians do not know who the Governor-General is, or what she does. 'Wherever I go now, I'd say the majority of people start by saying, 'It's nice that you visited … but sorry, what do you do? What is the Governor-General?'' Mostyn tells me. 'They link it to some kind of royal role. Many still give me a semi-curtsy or a bow, which is absolutely not required.' 'It's clear to me we have done a very poor job talking about civics and our institutions, and the very basis under which our constitutional arrangements work.' Recent exam results released by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) show she is correct – Australian students' knowledge of civics and citizenship have fallen to their lowest level in two decades. Queen Elizabeth II (an informal photo-realist portrait of whom the GG keeps 'at my shoulder', on the wall next to her desk) used to say of royalty that 'we have to be seen to be believed'. Ms Mostyn has adopted the same credo for the vice-regal role. To that end, she has built a strong presence on Instagram (66,000 followers), where she serves up content such as videos of electoral commissioner Geoff Pope returning the writs for the federal election. Working with the National Gallery of Australia, Mostyn has brought more modern and contemporary artworks into the official residences. This grand sandstone pile, with its heavily patterned Victorian wallpaper, used to be hung exclusively with dark oils of important men – former Governors-General, and 'a lot of Cook paraphernalia', she says. Now it is adorned with an eclectic mixture of Arthur Streeton, a 1929 Grace Cossington-Smith painting of the Harbour Bridge being built, a bark painting by Nyapanyapa Yunupingu and a Sidney Nolan or two. The Captain Cook painting that used to adorn the entry hall has been moved to a position underneath the grand staircase. In its place is a bright canvas by Indigenous artist Paddy Nyunkuny Bedford. 'In modernising the office, it was important to consider how the art and artefacts in official residences could reflect the full story of Australia in all of its diversity,' she says. When the Prime Minister approached Mostyn about the job in January 2024, she was greatly surprised. Mostyn was not a male in the military, which made her unusual enough for the head-of-state gig. She had spent most of her career in corporations, not institutions. A law graduate who worked as an associate to Justice Michael Kirby (when he was at the NSW Court of Appeal), she went on to become a policy advisor to two successive Labor ministers for communications, and then as a senior communications policy advisor to prime minister Paul Keating. She left that job to take up a senior executive position at Optus Vision, and from there, she went on to an executive role at Optus and Cable and Wireless in London, where her daughter, Lotte (now 25) was born. Her business career flourished, and her CV is too dense to summarise neatly, but it includes senior executive roles at companies including Insurance Australia Group, and multiple board and chair roles at Virgin Australia, Transurban, Mirvac, Citigroup and Aware Super, as well as charitable organisations like Beyond Blue, Foundation for Young Australians, the Climate Change Authority and Reconciliation Australia. In 2005, she was the first woman AFL Commissioner (she was accused of being a 'quota pick') and in 2023 the Prime Minister appointed her to the Women's Economic Taskforce. As the daughter of an army colonel, who served in Vietnam during her childhood, Mostyn understands service and she respects institutions. 'I'd been to Government House many times ... I'd studied constitutional law in Canberra and I had been to the High Court many times,' she says. 'As a country, we had debated many years ago the issue of whether we would be a republic, and we'd just been through the referendum on constitutional change for a Voice for First Nations people. 'So I think the job of Governor-General was one I understood.' Next week, she will have been in the job a year. Her law background prepared her well for the constitutional part of her role, which involves giving the royal assent to laws, but also providing extra probity for government appointments in presiding over the federal executive council, which gives legal effect to decisions made by ministers. More generally, she is a guardian of the constitution and must help ensure the stability of the government. To this end, she sought extensive legal advice from the Solicitor-General on what to do if the result of the last election had not been clear-cut. Loading 'After the Dismissal in 1975, people were acutely aware the Governor-General could do one thing, and that was dismiss the Prime Minister,' she says. 'I talk to people about the reserve powers and why I don't believe that will ever happen again … as the Governor-General, you should always be conscious of maintaining the kind of relationship with the Prime Minister and the government where, if you see trouble ahead, you work with them to avoid the trouble.' Because Ms Mostyn had been a strong advocate for progressive causes including The Voice, and gender inequality, she sustained harsh criticism when her role was announced. She was derided as an 'activist'. News Corp columnist Andrew Bolt wrote that her appointment was 'the triumph of affirmative action over talent or accomplishment'. His stablemate Janet Albrechtson opined that Mostyn was 'no business heavyweight' and that she 'reflects the worst of modern woke Australia'. Further, Albrechtson wrote, 'if her chromosomes were XY she wouldn't have been considered for the role'. Is this the right time to note that the croque madame is delightfully buttery and exactly the right amount of crunchy? I have devoured mine. Beyond a few discreet mouthfuls, the GG has barely touched hers. I don't want to damage Australia's constitutional democracy, but my journalistic duty is to the reader, not to the Governor-General's blood sugar levels. I press on. How did those personal attacks feel for her? 'How did I feel? I felt really disappointed that so many people were angry at the notion that a woman who had not served in the defence force could possibly be a governor-general,' she says, somewhat carefully. Was disappointment all she felt? 'I had a lot of emotions running at the time, but I came into this with very clear eyes that this would happen,' she says. 'I can get angry about that, but I find anger is a pretty wasted emotion … so I think, 'What do they need to see?' What they need to see is a person showing up in the job and doing it.' In preparation for the role, Mostyn spoke to former governors-general, and consulted former prime ministers about how they managed the relationship with the head of state. Sir William Deane, who is now 94, told Mostyn to always show compassion and to stay at each event for at least an hour. He also advised her to find a seat. 'People don't share how they're feeling standing up, he said. But you sit down, and people tell you their stories.' The Governor-General coughs. She is now getting a dry throat. I ask if she needs to pause and eat and drink something. 'No, no, I'm all right!' she says. 'I'll just drink this.' She sips her water. I ask her what she does to unwind. 'I'm a knitter, I'm a weaver. I always have something in my bag that I'm doing,' she says. An attendant clears our plates away – mine is clean, Mostyn's still quite full. She asks for a tea with some lemon and honey in it. I take a regular tea. I ask Mostyn if she is a royalist. 'What do you mean by royalist?' she asks. 'Someone who reveres the royal family,' I reply. 'I don't think I've heard any former Governor-General use that language,' she says. 'I'm deeply respectful of the role that the monarchy plays. I'm deeply respectful of our constitutional monarchy and our strong set of institutions. I think King Charles shows us what a modern king looks like.' Loading 'But the King doesn't direct me and I don't seek his advice. It's the Prime Minister and the ministry I take my counsel from, and that I work with.' Her larynx fortified by herbal tea, the Governor-General is happy to continue our chat. 'I talk all the time about a mighty Australian democracy,' she says. But it is me who has to end our nearly three-hour-long conversation, to attend to the un-vice-regal responsibility of the school pickup. 'That is a real deadline,' Mostyn says, and she sees me out, while issuing an invitation to bring my daughter another day for afternoon tea. I walk out through the entrance hall, now devoid of Captain Cook pics. Behind me, the door stays open.
The Age
24-06-2025
- Politics
- The Age
Living next to the PM, putting up with party boats and hosting the Queen: Sam Mostyn on being G-G
I am about halfway through my lunch with Governor-General Sam Mostyn when I grow concerned about her nutritional intake. There is a structural inequality to Lunches With – the subject must do all the talking, leaving little time to eat. And such is the pace of conversation, and the breadth of topics to cover, that the head of state can barely manage a mouthful. 'Oh no, no, don't worry!' she tells me. 'I can eat any time.' We are sitting at a round antique table in the Governor-General's private study in Admiralty House, Sydney, having been served a light and delicious lunch of curried chickpea soup with a croque madame, prepared by the in-house chef, Graeme Stewart. We drink water and there is no bill – lunch is on the gracious taxpayer. The Governor-General and I had originally planned to meet at Deus Ex Machina, a cafe in Sydney's inner west which Mostyn frequented in her former life as a regular civilian. But heads of state come with large security details, and it was deemed easier to eat together at the Governor-General's official Sydney residence, originally home to the Admiral of the Royal Navy's Australian Squadron. The Herald / Age photographer and I arrive at a bucolic scene – a posse of young sniffer-dogs-in-training is frolicking on the rolling harbourside lawn. Mostyn is weaving among them, chatting to their Australian Federal Police handlers, buffeted by the winds coming off the magnificent harbour. The view, a splendid eyeful, must surely be one of the best in the world. The elegant sandstone residence, with its magnificent colonnaded verandah, is directly opposite the Opera House, under the gaze of the Harbour Bridge, and in full view of the sundry seacraft of the busy harbour. Mostyn says that sometimes the passing party boat revellers yell out ripe comments intended for the Prime Minister, whose official Sydney residence, Kirribilli House, is next door. There is no fence between the two houses (Kirribilli House once served as a staff residence for Admiralty House) but the Governor-General says the two neighbours do not socialise. 'He wouldn't come over and hang out,' she tells me. 'That would be a breach of convention.' But the PM does use the Admiralty House pool, and on the morning after the federal election he contacted Mostyn to say he would be walking his dog Toto across her lawn. Mostyn, who has opted out of voting for the duration of her role, stepped out to meet the re-elected PM, and then invited him inside to discuss the timing of the swearing-in of his new cabinet. This vignette strikes me as an exquisite glimpse behind the curtain of our constitutional democracy. It's the kind of anecdote Ms Mostyn shares candidly, along with stories about the last Pope's funeral (where she lent a fan to the president of Iceland Halla Tomasdottir, who was schvitzing in the Italian heat), reminiscences from the King and Queen's visit last year (they bunked upstairs, while Mostyn and her husband, barrister Simeon Beckett, went briefly home to their inner west house, and Queen Camilla was thwarted from swimming in the pool by a paparazzi drone) and her trip to meet President Erdogan of Turkey. The governor-general's candour is the natural corollary of her interpretation of the role. She wants the institution she represents to be visible, transparent and accessible. This is particularly necessary because many Australians do not know who the Governor-General is, or what she does. 'Wherever I go now, I'd say the majority of people start by saying, 'It's nice that you visited … but sorry, what do you do? What is the Governor-General?'' Mostyn tells me. 'They link it to some kind of royal role. Many still give me a semi-curtsy or a bow, which is absolutely not required.' 'It's clear to me we have done a very poor job talking about civics and our institutions, and the very basis under which our constitutional arrangements work.' Recent exam results released by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) show she is correct – Australian students' knowledge of civics and citizenship have fallen to their lowest level in two decades. Queen Elizabeth II (an informal photo-realist portrait of whom the GG keeps 'at my shoulder', on the wall next to her desk) used to say of royalty that 'we have to be seen to be believed'. Ms Mostyn has adopted the same credo for the vice-regal role. To that end, she has built a strong presence on Instagram (66,000 followers), where she serves up content such as videos of electoral commissioner Geoff Pope returning the writs for the federal election. Working with the National Gallery of Australia, Mostyn has brought more modern and contemporary artworks into the official residences. This grand sandstone pile, with its heavily patterned Victorian wallpaper, used to be hung exclusively with dark oils of important men – former Governors-General, and 'a lot of Cook paraphernalia', she says. Now it is adorned with an eclectic mixture of Arthur Streeton, a 1929 Grace Cossington-Smith painting of the Harbour Bridge being built, a bark painting by Nyapanyapa Yunupingu and a Sidney Nolan or two. The Captain Cook painting that used to adorn the entry hall has been moved to a position underneath the grand staircase. In its place is a bright canvas by Indigenous artist Paddy Nyunkuny Bedford. 'In modernising the office, it was important to consider how the art and artefacts in official residences could reflect the full story of Australia in all of its diversity,' she says. When the Prime Minister approached Mostyn about the job in January 2024, she was greatly surprised. Mostyn was not a male in the military, which made her unusual enough for the head-of-state gig. She had spent most of her career in corporations, not institutions. A law graduate who worked as an associate to Justice Michael Kirby (when he was at the NSW Court of Appeal), she went on to become a policy advisor to two successive Labor ministers for communications, and then as a senior communications policy advisor to prime minister Paul Keating. She left that job to take up a senior executive position at Optus Vision, and from there, she went on to an executive role at Optus and Cable and Wireless in London, where her daughter, Lotte (now 25) was born. Her business career flourished, and her CV is too dense to summarise neatly, but it includes senior executive roles at companies including Insurance Australia Group, and multiple board and chair roles at Virgin Australia, Transurban, Mirvac, Citigroup and Aware Super, as well as charitable organisations like Beyond Blue, Foundation for Young Australians, the Climate Change Authority and Reconciliation Australia. In 2005, she was the first woman AFL Commissioner (she was accused of being a 'quota pick') and in 2023 the Prime Minister appointed her to the Women's Economic Taskforce. As the daughter of an army colonel, who served in Vietnam during her childhood, Mostyn understands service and she respects institutions. 'I'd been to Government House many times ... I'd studied constitutional law in Canberra and I had been to the High Court many times,' she says. 'As a country, we had debated many years ago the issue of whether we would be a republic, and we'd just been through the referendum on constitutional change for a Voice for First Nations people. 'So I think the job of Governor-General was one I understood.' Next week, she will have been in the job a year. Her law background prepared her well for the constitutional part of her role, which involves giving the royal assent to laws, but also providing extra probity for government appointments in presiding over the federal executive council, which gives legal effect to decisions made by ministers. More generally, she is a guardian of the constitution and must help ensure the stability of the government. To this end, she sought extensive legal advice from the Solicitor-General on what to do if the result of the last election had not been clear-cut. Loading 'After the Dismissal in 1975, people were acutely aware the Governor-General could do one thing, and that was dismiss the Prime Minister,' she says. 'I talk to people about the reserve powers and why I don't believe that will ever happen again … as the Governor-General, you should always be conscious of maintaining the kind of relationship with the Prime Minister and the government where, if you see trouble ahead, you work with them to avoid the trouble.' Because Ms Mostyn had been a strong advocate for progressive causes including The Voice, and gender inequality, she sustained harsh criticism when her role was announced. She was derided as an 'activist'. News Corp columnist Andrew Bolt wrote that her appointment was 'the triumph of affirmative action over talent or accomplishment'. His stablemate Janet Albrechtson opined that Mostyn was 'no business heavyweight' and that she 'reflects the worst of modern woke Australia'. Further, Albrechtson wrote, 'if her chromosomes were XY she wouldn't have been considered for the role'. Is this the right time to note that the croque madame is delightfully buttery and exactly the right amount of crunchy? I have devoured mine. Beyond a few discreet mouthfuls, the GG has barely touched hers. I don't want to damage Australia's constitutional democracy, but my journalistic duty is to the reader, not to the Governor-General's blood sugar levels. I press on. How did those personal attacks feel for her? 'How did I feel? I felt really disappointed that so many people were angry at the notion that a woman who had not served in the defence force could possibly be a governor-general,' she says, somewhat carefully. Was disappointment all she felt? 'I had a lot of emotions running at the time, but I came into this with very clear eyes that this would happen,' she says. 'I can get angry about that, but I find anger is a pretty wasted emotion … so I think, 'What do they need to see?' What they need to see is a person showing up in the job and doing it.' In preparation for the role, Mostyn spoke to former governors-general, and consulted former prime ministers about how they managed the relationship with the head of state. Sir William Deane, who is now 94, told Mostyn to always show compassion and to stay at each event for at least an hour. He also advised her to find a seat. 'People don't share how they're feeling standing up, he said. But you sit down, and people tell you their stories.' The Governor-General coughs. She is now getting a dry throat. I ask if she needs to pause and eat and drink something. 'No, no, I'm all right!' she says. 'I'll just drink this.' She sips her water. I ask her what she does to unwind. 'I'm a knitter, I'm a weaver. I always have something in my bag that I'm doing,' she says. An attendant clears our plates away – mine is clean, Mostyn's still quite full. She asks for a tea with some lemon and honey in it. I take a regular tea. I ask Mostyn if she is a royalist. 'What do you mean by royalist?' she asks. 'Someone who reveres the royal family,' I reply. 'I don't think I've heard any former Governor-General use that language,' she says. 'I'm deeply respectful of the role that the monarchy plays. I'm deeply respectful of our constitutional monarchy and our strong set of institutions. I think King Charles shows us what a modern king looks like.' Loading 'But the King doesn't direct me and I don't seek his advice. It's the Prime Minister and the ministry I take my counsel from, and that I work with.' Her larynx fortified by herbal tea, the Governor-General is happy to continue our chat. 'I talk all the time about a mighty Australian democracy,' she says. But it is me who has to end our nearly three-hour-long conversation, to attend to the un-vice-regal responsibility of the school pickup. 'That is a real deadline,' Mostyn says, and she sees me out, while issuing an invitation to bring my daughter another day for afternoon tea. I walk out through the entrance hall, now devoid of Captain Cook pics. Behind me, the door stays open.
