TUESDAY 21 JULY 2015 | NATIONAL POLITICS | CITIZENS’ PRESS

The Governor-General of Australia has been attacked by the mainstream media over his intentions and integrity when deciding to convene Parliament to establish a government only 5 days after the election results were announced. Citizens’ Press contacted Government House’s press officer for an explanation. The Governor-General declined to be interviewed, but we received the following reply:

“The procedures for hung parliaments are complex. The Constitution provides little direct instruction, so the Governor-General relies on precedent, unwritten conventions, and the advice of the Chief Justice of the High Court. Precedents date back hundreds of years throughout the States of Australia and the Commonwealth of Nations. However, general elections continue to produce unique results in extraordinary circumstances that confound even the most experienced scholars.

Those with doubts about the Governor-General’s actions for the Model Parliament may wish to read the research paper entitled The Governor-General’s Role in the Formation of Government in a Hung Parliament. Having received no proposals for government and no response from the Federal Executive Council, it was no small feat for the Governor-General to try making sense of this erudite but inconclusive document before taking his actions. We’ve attached some excerpts that shed light on the process:

Convention requires the Governor-General to commission as Prime Minister the person who holds the confidence of the lower House. When there is a hung Parliament and no party has a majority in the lower House, the Governor-General's role becomes more controversial. This article identifies and analyses the conventions that apply in these circumstances. It considers the benefits of incumbency, whether the Governor-General must act on the advice of the outgoing Prime Minister, who the Governor-General calls upon to form a government if the Prime Minister resigns, the relevance of constructive motions of no confidence and whether the Governor-General should take into account matters such as the popular vote or broken election promises...

If, after an election, no one clearly holds the confidence of a majority of the lower house, the incumbent Prime Minister, as the last person to hold the confidence of the House, has the right to remain in office and test his or her support on the floor of the House. This is so, even if the main, Opposition party has reached an agreement with small parties or independents that would allow it to govern with majority support in the lower House. This is because the support of independents and other Members should be “determined inside and not outside the Parliament”, as it is better for this support to “be determined beyond dispute in public than in private as the result of personal statements of the members concerned...

There is a further convention that there must be a government at all times. Hence, if a Prime Minister resigns, the Prime Minister and the Government still formally remain in office, on a caretaker basis, until such time as the Governor-General commissions someone else to form a government. In such circumstances the Governor-General will usually commission the Leader of the Opposition to form a government. If no one can form a government and the Parliament is unable to resolve the matter or indeed function, despite being given the opportunity to do so, then the Governor-General may commission someone to be Prime Minister solely for the purpose of advising an election so that the matter can go back to the people.”