Honorary President

Senate Submission

 Overview 
 Title
 Introduction
 Framework
 Origins
 Advantages


 The Amendments 
 20 References
 Section 126
 Section 59
 Section 60
 Section 61
 Section 2
 Section 4
 The States
 All Amendments


 The Election 
 Why Elect
 Apolitical
 Electoral Law
 Timing


 Independence 
 Introduction
 The Two Roles
 Costs v Benefits
 Free Speech


 Other Issues 
 Referendum
 One Royal Link
 Honorary Vice Pres
 Spectrum of Powers
 Questions
 More Questions
 Conclusion

An Independent Institution

In the same way that the High Court is established by the constitution as an independent institution with certain protections against the Executive Branch, so too is the office of Honorary President an independent institution at arms-length from both the Parliament and the Federal Executive Council.

The independence of the office would clearly be a positive attribute of the model in the minds of voters deciding whether to support a republic at a referendum. It is also a sign of the minimal change the model brings to the constitution, as we can observe that the Queen is independent of the Australian Government entirely.

Nevertheless, despite the eloquence of its unified federal structure, the fulfilment of the people’s demand to elect the Head of State and the ease in which transitional problems are resolved, this model will be criticised for suggesting the introduction of unnecessary and expensive Head of State, who is apparently paid to do nothing.

In this section, we introduce the independent Honorary President as an achiever for the Australian community, costing comparatively little and delivering much in return.

• Two Heads are Better than One
• Average Annual Costs
• Financial Benefits
• Free Speech

Next: Two Heads are Better than One