Australia’s new Governor-General, Sam Mostyn, recently said that she does not fit the usual idea of a governor-general – especially the type of person we expect to see as the commander-in-chief of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). But those expectations are beginning to change, and Mostyn, from a military family, is challenging them, while respecting the importance of the role of the military in Australia and the sacrifices involved in military life.
What is the governor-general’s role as commander-in-chief?
Section 68 of the Commonwealth Constitution vests the command-in-chief of the naval and military forces of the Commonwealth in the governor-general, as the monarch’s representative. This is of symbolic importance, as it ensures the defence force is formally headed by a civilian (even though the governor-general has sometimes been an ex-military officer), rather than a military leader or a politician.
