7 days ago
'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.
