NEW DELHI: Australia appointed Sam Mostyn on Monday as its second woman governor-general, a ceremonial role representing the British monarch, King Charles III. This is the first appointment of its kind under Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and aims to replace the British monarch with an Australian president as head of state.
Mostyn, a businesswoman and advocate for gender equality, has now become the 28th governor-general of Australia since the role was established in 1901.Mostyn made history earlier in her career when she became the first woman Australian Football League Commissioner in 2005.
In her first speech as governor-general, Mostyn referred to Australia’s first woman governor-general, Quentin Bryce, who held the position from 2008 to 2014 after being appointed by Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of a Labor PM.
“I will be an optimistic, modern and visible governor-general, committed to the service and contribution that all Australians expect and deserve from the holder of this office,” Mostyn stated in her first address in the new role.
Mostyn said she met King Charles III in Britain in May, passing on best wishes from Australians for the health of both him and Kate, Princess of Wales, who are being treated for cancer.
“I am not the first Australian to be struck by the interest and warmth the king feels for this country where he lived and studied as a young man,” Mostyn noted, referring to King Charles’s time in an Australian boarding school in 1966.
Mostyn shared that she had discussions about her new responsibilities with all five surviving former governors-general, including Quentin Bryce.
Albanese’s government, elected in 2022, supports a referendum to establish an Australian republic with an Australian citizen as head of state. However, the government prioritised holding a referendum within its first three-year term to create a constitutional Indigenous panel that would advise the government on indigenous issues. That referendum was defeated last year.
Although Albanese has not yet announced plans for a republic referendum, the office of the assistant minister for the Republic has been established to prepare the nation for such a change.
Mostyn succeeds Gen. David Hurley, the former chief of the Australian Defense Force. Recently, the government passed a law to increase the governor-general’s salary to 709,000 Australian dollars ($473,000) per year for Mostyn’s five-year term. Some lawmakers have criticised the salary as excessive, noting that Hurley received AU$495,000 (330,000) annually, in addition to a military pension.
Critics have also pointed fingers at Mostyn’s past activism when she had described Australia Day, the arrival of the first British colonists on January 26, 1788, as ‘Invasion Day,’ a term some Indigenous leaders use.
Mostyn, a businesswoman and advocate for gender equality, has now become the 28th governor-general of Australia since the role was established in 1901.Mostyn made history earlier in her career when she became the first woman Australian Football League Commissioner in 2005.
In her first speech as governor-general, Mostyn referred to Australia’s first woman governor-general, Quentin Bryce, who held the position from 2008 to 2014 after being appointed by Queen Elizabeth II on the advice of a Labor PM.
“I will be an optimistic, modern and visible governor-general, committed to the service and contribution that all Australians expect and deserve from the holder of this office,” Mostyn stated in her first address in the new role.
Mostyn said she met King Charles III in Britain in May, passing on best wishes from Australians for the health of both him and Kate, Princess of Wales, who are being treated for cancer.
“I am not the first Australian to be struck by the interest and warmth the king feels for this country where he lived and studied as a young man,” Mostyn noted, referring to King Charles’s time in an Australian boarding school in 1966.
Mostyn shared that she had discussions about her new responsibilities with all five surviving former governors-general, including Quentin Bryce.
Albanese’s government, elected in 2022, supports a referendum to establish an Australian republic with an Australian citizen as head of state. However, the government prioritised holding a referendum within its first three-year term to create a constitutional Indigenous panel that would advise the government on indigenous issues. That referendum was defeated last year.
Although Albanese has not yet announced plans for a republic referendum, the office of the assistant minister for the Republic has been established to prepare the nation for such a change.
Mostyn succeeds Gen. David Hurley, the former chief of the Australian Defense Force. Recently, the government passed a law to increase the governor-general’s salary to 709,000 Australian dollars ($473,000) per year for Mostyn’s five-year term. Some lawmakers have criticised the salary as excessive, noting that Hurley received AU$495,000 (330,000) annually, in addition to a military pension.
Critics have also pointed fingers at Mostyn’s past activism when she had described Australia Day, the arrival of the first British colonists on January 26, 1788, as ‘Invasion Day,’ a term some Indigenous leaders use.
