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© 2004 David Latimer
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Frequently Asked Questions
The following are a series of frequently asked questions
which will hopefully answer some of your concerns and
explain some of the practical implications of the model.
If your question is not answered here, send it to the
author who will try to respond
promptly. The author especially welcomes challenging questions,
although if you are asking a hypothetical question, try to
provide as much contextual detail as possible.
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Under the Honorary President Republican Model who will
be Australia’s Head of State?
The Head of State will be the new position Honorary
President. This is due to the principle that through election, the Honorary
President represents all the people of Australia. It is also due to his/her
constitutional position appointing the Governor General and state governors.
What is Honorary about the Honorary President?
It is a convention that persons in Honorary positions have
no executive power, yet are regarded as having the same status. It is
conferred to recognise the contribution of the person to an organisation or to
society in general. The concept of an Honorary position communicates the
essential elements of the proposed Australian Head of State – no executive
power yet a great honour conferred by the Australian people upon an esteemed
citizen.
What is the term of the Honorary President?
The term is five years, extendable by law in lots of six
months up to eight years. In practice the term will be approximately the same
as two terms of Federal Parliament. If the life of the two Parliaments were
less than five years, the Honorary President would remain for the third term.
What are the powers of the Honorary President?
The Honorary President has the power to appointment the
Governor General, the State Governors and Lieutenant Governors. This power is
very limited, as the Prime Minister must first nominate the Governor General
beforehand. Similarly, a State Premier must first nominate a State Governor or
Lieutenant Governor.
What prevents the Honorary President from taking more power?
The main barrier to the Honorary President taking more
power would be the constitution. It absolutely forbids Honorary President from
exercising power and gives Parliament the power to remove the Honorary
President if he or she attempts to do so.
Who would be the commander-in-chief of the military?
The Governor General would continue to hold this position.
What would change for the new Governor General?
Very little. The constitutional provisions, the
Westminster conventions and the other laws and regulations relating to the
Governor General would continue without interruption.
Isn't it too complicated having both an Honorary
President and Governor General?
The model is no more complicated than having a King of
Australia and Governor General. The model provides a distinct role for the
Honorary President and resolves a number of theoretical questions of our
federation and constitution.
Isn’t this a radical change from our existing constitution?
On the contrary, the change is minimal. All the important
offices under the constitution continue with no significant alteration and the
operation of Parliament and the courts is not affected. The model simply allows
an elected Australian citizen to succeed the King of Australia.
Where would the Honorary President live?
The Honorary President would continue to live in their own
home. The government would not pay for their home nor would they need to
live in Canberra. They would only be offered accommodation at Government House
or Admiralty House as a visitor.
What would be the cost?
The greatest expense would be holding a national election
approximately every six years. This is unavoidable for all direct-election
models, but some effort has been made to minimise the cost through
synchronisation with general elections and by using postal voting.
The ongoing cost would be the salary of the Honorary
President, his/her staff and some transportation and administrative costs. His
or her salary would be the same as the Prime Minister (about $175,000 before
tax) with total costs of about two million dollars annually. The amount
would be set in the federal budget and paid out of consolidated revenue.
Would it not be better to spend this money on hospitals or schools?
Probably yes, however these costs are a miniscule compared
to the Federal Health and Education Budgets. In contrast, the social leadership
of the Honorary President should bring intangible non-financial benefits for
the community, where hospitals and schools play an important role. This could
be in promoting research, encouraging volunteerism, honouring achievers or
simply visiting a community in need.
How likely would it be for a women or an indigenous
person to become Head of State?
The likelihood would depend on the State Premiers and
Prime Minister choosing women and indigenous persons to the office of Governor
and Governor General. In recent years, Premiers have shown greater interest in
nominating diversely and there is no reason why this trend would reverse under
the model. Up to six candidates for Honorary President would be taken from this
pool of former governors. Each would be able demonstrate the qualities wanted
and experience required to be a successful Honorary President.
The Honorary President is elected, so wouldn’t that
make him/her a politician?
No. Elections are used throughout the community at all
level to choose officeholders few of whom are politicians. The model is
constructed so the Honorary President is also not a politician and the law
would demand they resign from all political association.
Wouldn’t the election be a contest between the Liberals and Labor?
Parliaments dominated by the major parties are restricted
to appointing former governors and governors-general for election. Prime
Ministers and Premiers would be loath to appoint a governor or Governor General
who stood little chance of being nominated by the same Parliament in six or
more years hence. At election time, rivalry between state parliaments would
ensure that a major political party could not unite behind one candidate. The
more successful candidate would be the impartial former governor or Governor
General with bi-partisan support. Finally, the office offers a major party
little political advantage in pursuit of its agenda or policies.
Perhaps the election would advantage the minor parties?
Minor parties would be stretched trying to use their
limited resources for Presidential election, when an upper house seat offers
greater opportunities for legislative influence. It is possible that a minor
party could successfully nominate a candidate by public-petition, however the
candidate would be unlikely to do well in the election unless they were popular
in their own right.
Wouldn’t a former governor reject the idea of
contesting an election?
Australians in high-office are typically capable and
experienced individuals with excellent people skills and a belief in democratic
processes. Provided the former governor was not contesting in association with
a political party and the election was fairly contested there would be no
reason of principle why a nomination by Parliament would be turned down.
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