List of governors-general of Australia

File:David Hurley official photo (cropped).jpg

General David Hurley, the 27th and current Governor-General of Australia

The Governor-General of Australia is the head of the executive branch of the federal government, serving as the representative of the Australian monarch (currently Elizabeth II). The position came into being with the adoption of the new national constitution on 1 January 1901, and has been held by 26 people since then. Governors-general have no fixed term, but have usually served for around five years.

Background

For the first two decades after federation, governors-general were selected solely by the British Government. The monarch was consulted on the decision into the 1930s. The first four governors-general were peers; Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson (appointed 1914) was the first commoner to hold the position, although he was also later elevated to the peerage. In 1920, Billy Hughes became the first Prime Minister to be consulted over the governor-generalship. Stanley Bruce (1925) and Joseph Lyons (1935) either asked for or were given a list of suitable candidates to choose from.

James Scullin (1930) became the first Prime Minister of Australia to exercise complete discretion in the appointment; his nomination of Sir Isaac Isaacs made Australia the first Dominion to have a native-born governor-general. In 1945, John Curtin nominated Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester, to the post – the first and only royal officeholder. A second Australian (William McKell) was appointed in 1947; he was followed by three more Britons, each chosen by Sir Robert Menzies. Menzies's fourth nomination was Richard Casey, who took office in 1965; he and all subsequent governors-general have been Australian citizens. All states except South Australia and Tasmania have provided at least one appointee. The first female governor-general, Quentin Bryce, took office in 2008.

On 16 December 2018, prime minister Scott Morrison announced that the next Governor-General would be General David Hurley, then-governor of New South Wales. To provide continuity through general elections both federally and in New South Wales, Hurley succeeded General Sir Peter Cosgrove, who had planned to retire in March 2019, on 1 July 2019.

List

No.	Portrait	Governor-General	Term of office		Length	Monarch(s)	Prime Minister(s)
1	80px	John Hope, Earl of Hopetoun	1 January 1901	17 July 1902		Victoria (1837–1901)	Barton
						Edward VII (1901–1910)
2	80px	Hallam Tennyson, Baron Tennyson	9 January 1903	21 January 1904
							Deakin
3	80px	Henry Northcote, Baron Northcote	21 January 1904	9 September 1908
							Watson
							Reid
							Deakin
4		William Ward, Earl of Dudley	9 September 1908	31 July 1911
							Fisher
							Deakin
							Fisher
						George V (1910–1936)
5	80px	Thomas Denman, Baron Denman	31 July 1911	18 May 1914
							Cook
6	80px	Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson	18 May 1914	6 October 1920
							Fisher
							Hughes
7	80px	Henry Forster, Baron Forster	6 October 1920	8 October 1925
							Bruce
8		John Baird, Baron Stonehaven	8 October 1925	2 October 1930
							Scullin
9	80px	Sir Isaac Isaacs	21 January 1931	23 January 1936
							Lyons
						Edward VIII (1936)
10	80px	Alexander Hore-Ruthven, Baron Gowrie	23 January 1936	30 January 1945
						George VI (1936–1952)
							Page
							Menzies
							Fadden
							Curtin
11		Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester	30 January 1945	11 March 1947
							Forde
							Chifley
12		Sir William McKell	11 March 1947	8 May 1953
							Menzies
						Elizabeth II (1952–present)
13		Sir William Slim	8 May 1953	2 February 1960
14	80px	William Morrison, Viscount Dunrossil	2 February 1960	3 February 1961
15	80px	William Sidney, Viscount De L'Isle	3 August 1961	7 May 1965
16	80px	Richard Casey, Baron Casey	7 May 1965	30 April 1969
							Holt
							McEwen
							Gorton
17		Sir Paul Hasluck	30 April 1969	11 July 1974
							McMahon
							Whitlam
18	80px	Sir John Kerr	11 July 1974	8 December 1977
							Fraser
19	80px	Sir Zelman Cowen	8 December 1977	29 July 1982
20	80px	Sir Ninian Stephen	29 July 1982	16 February 1989
							Hawke
21		Bill Hayden	16 February 1989	16 February 1996
							Keating
22	80px	Sir William Deane	16 February 1996	29 June 2001
							Howard
23	80px	Peter Hollingworth	29 June 2001	28 May 2003
24		Michael Jeffery	11 August 2003	5 September 2008
							Rudd
25		Dame Quentin Bryce	5 September 2008	28 March 2014
							Gillard
							Rudd
							Abbott
26	80px	Sir Peter Cosgrove	28 March 2014	1 July 2019
							Turnbull
							Morrison
27	80px	David Hurley	1 July 2019	incumbent

See also

• History of Australia
• Constitutional history of Australia
• Governors of the Australian states
• British Empire
• Governor-general (links to other countries which have governors-general)

Further reading

• (pp 515, 519, 548)

External links

• The Office of the Governor-General
• The use of the reserve powers
• A Mirror to the People a 58-minute documentary film on the Office of Governor-General of Australia 1999. Dir: Daryl Dellora. Features Sir William Deane, Sir Zelman Cowen, Sir Ninian Stephen. Special Commendation ATOM Awards.