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 Charles III). The position came into being on 29 October 1900, just prior to the adoption of the new national constitution and has been held by 27 people since then. Governors-general have no fixed term, but have usually served for around five years.
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 to take up the post; however, in October 1938 Prince George, Duke of Kent had been announced as the successor to Lord Gowrie with effect from November 1939, [1] [2] but on 11 September 1939, owing to the outbreak of the Second World War, the Duke's appointment was postponed. It never eventuated, instead Lord Gowrie continued his incumbency until 1945, creating a still-unsurpassed record term of over 9 years. [3] 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. [4] [5]
On 3 April 2024, prime minister Anthony Albanese announced that General Hurley would be succeeded on 1 July 2024 by businesswoman Sam Mostyn, the second woman to be governor-general.
| No. | Portrait | Name (Birth–Death) | Term of office | Monarch Reign | Prime Minister Term of office | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Took office | Left office | Time in office | |||||
| 1 |  | John Hope 7th Earl of Hopetoun KT , GCMG , GCVO , PC (1860–1908) | 29 October 1900 | 17 July 1902 [lower-alpha 1] | 1 year, 197 days | Victoria (1837–1901) | Edmund Barton (1901–1903) |
| Edward VII (1901–1910) | |||||||
| 2 |  | Hallam Tennyson 2nd Baron Tennyson GCMG , PC (1852–1928) | 9 January 1903 | 21 January 1904 | 1 year, 12 days | ||
| Alfred Deakin (1903–1904) | |||||||
| 3 |  | Henry Northcote 1st Baron Northcote GCMG , GCIE , CB (1846–1911) | 21 January 1904 | 9 September 1908 | 4 years, 232 days | ||
| Chris Watson (1904) | |||||||
| George Reid (1904–1905) | |||||||
| Alfred Deakin (1905–1908) | |||||||
| 4 |  | William Ward 2nd Earl of Dudley GCB , GCMG , GCVO , TD , PC (1867–1932) | 9 September 1908 | 31 July 1911 | 2 years, 325 days | ||
| Andrew Fisher (1908–1909) | |||||||
| Alfred Deakin (1909–1910) | |||||||
| Andrew Fisher (1910–1913) | |||||||
| George V (1910–1936) | |||||||
| 5 |  | Thomas Denman 3rd Baron Denman GCMG , KCVO , PC (1874–1954) | 31 July 1911 | 18 May 1914 | 2 years, 291 days | ||
| Joseph Cook (1913–1914) | |||||||
| 6 |  | Sir Ronald Munro Ferguson GCMG , PC (1860–1934) | 18 May 1914 | 6 October 1920 | 6 years, 141 days | ||
| Andrew Fisher (1914–1915) | |||||||
| Billy Hughes (1915–1923) | |||||||
| 7 |  | Henry Forster 1st Baron Forster GCMG , PC (1866–1936) | 6 October 1920 | 8 October 1925 | 5 years, 2 days | ||
| Stanley Bruce (1923–1929) | |||||||
| 8 |  | John Baird 1st Baron Stonehaven GCMG , DSO , PC (1874–1941) | 8 October 1925 | 2 October 1930 [lower-alpha 2] | 4 years, 359 days | ||
| James Scullin (1929–1932) | |||||||
| 9 |  | Sir Isaac Isaacs GCMG (1855–1948) | 21 January 1931 | 23 January 1936 | 5 years, 2 days | ||
| Joseph Lyons (1932–1939) | |||||||
| Edward VIII (1936) | |||||||
| 10 |  | Brigadier-General Alexander Hore-Ruthven Baron Gowrie VC , GCMG , CB , DSO* , PC (1872–1955) | 23 January 1936 | 30 January 1945 | 9 years, 7 days | ||
| George VI (1936–1952) | |||||||
| Earle Page (1939) | |||||||
| Robert Menzies (1939–1941) | |||||||
| Arthur Fadden (1941) | |||||||
| John Curtin (1941–1945) | |||||||
| 11 |  | Prince Henry Duke of Gloucester KG , KT , KP , GCB , GCMG , GCVO , GCStJ , PC , ADC (1900–1974) | 30 January 1945 | 11 March 1947 | 2 years, 40 days | ||
| Frank Forde (1945) | |||||||
| Ben Chifley (1945–1949) | |||||||
| 12 |  | Sir William McKell GCMG , PC (1891–1985) | 11 March 1947 | 8 May 1953 | 6 years, 58 days | ||
| Robert Menzies (1949–1966) | |||||||
| Elizabeth II (1952–2022) | |||||||
| 13 |  | Field Marshal Sir William Slim KG , GCB , GCMG , GCVO , GBE , DSO , MC , KStJ (1891–1970) | 8 May 1953 | 2 February 1960 | 6 years, 270 days | ||
| 14 |  | William Morrison 1st Viscount Dunrossil GCMG , MC , PC , QC (1893–1961) | 2 February 1960 | 3 February 1961 [lower-alpha 3] | 1 year, 1 day | ||
| 15 |  | William Sidney 1st Viscount De L'Isle VC , GCMG , GCVO , PC (1909–1991) | 3 August 1961 | 7 May 1965 | 3 years, 277 days | ||
| 16 |  | Richard Casey Baron Casey KG , GCMG , CH , DSO , MC , PC (1890–1976) | 7 May 1965 | 30 April 1969 | 3 years, 358 days | ||
| Harold Holt (1966–1967) | |||||||
| John McEwen (1967–1968) | |||||||
| John Gorton (1968–1971) | |||||||
| 17 |  | Sir Paul Hasluck KG , GCMG , GCVO (1905–1993) | 30 April 1969 | 11 July 1974 | 5 years, 72 days | ||
| William McMahon (1971–1972) | |||||||
| Gough Whitlam (1972–1975) | |||||||
| 18 |  | Sir John Kerr AK , GCMG , GCVO , QC (1914–1991) | 11 July 1974 | 8 December 1977 | 3 years, 150 days | ||
| Malcolm Fraser (1975–1983) | |||||||
| 19 |  | Sir Zelman Cowen AK , GCMG , GCVO , QC (1919–2011) | 8 December 1977 | 29 July 1982 | 4 years, 233 days | ||
| 20 |  | Sir Ninian Stephen AK , GCMG , GCVO , KBE , QC (1923–2017) | 29 July 1982 | 16 February 1989 | 6 years, 202 days | ||
| Bob Hawke (1983–1991) | |||||||
| 21 |  | Bill Hayden AC (1933–2023) | 16 February 1989 | 16 February 1996 | 7 years | ||
| Paul Keating (1991–1996) | |||||||
| 22 |  | Sir William Deane AC , KBE (born 1931) | 16 February 1996 | 29 June 2001 | 5 years, 133 days | ||
| John Howard (1996–2007) | |||||||
| 23 |  | Peter Hollingworth AC , OBE (born 1935) | 29 June 2001 | 28 May 2003 [lower-alpha 4] | 1 year, 333 days | ||
| 24 |  | Major General Michael Jeffery AC , CVO , MC (1937–2020) | 11 August 2003 | 5 September 2008 | 5 years, 25 days | ||
| Kevin Rudd (2007–2010) | |||||||
| 25 |  | Dame Quentin Bryce AD , CVO (born 1942) | 5 September 2008 | 28 March 2014 | 5 years, 204 days | ||
| Julia Gillard (2010–2013) | |||||||
| Kevin Rudd (2013) | |||||||
| Tony Abbott (2013–2015) | |||||||
| 26 |  | General Sir Peter Cosgrove AK , CVO , MC (born 1947) | 28 March 2014 | 1 July 2019 | 5 years, 95 days | ||
| Malcolm Turnbull (2015–2018) | |||||||
| Scott Morrison (2018–2022) | |||||||
| 27 |  | General David Hurley AC , DSC (born 1953) | 1 July 2019 | Incumbent | 4 years, 299 days | ||
| Anthony Albanese (since 2022) | |||||||
| Charles III (since 2022) | |||||||
| 28 |  | Sam Mostyn AO (born 1965) | 1 July 2024 | Designate | −67 days | ||
 |  | ||
The governor-general of Australia is the representative of the monarch of Australia, currently King Charles III, and performs many constitutional, ceremonial and community roles in the Australian political system. When performing these roles, the governor-general acts independently and is not the King's delegate or agent. The current governor-general is David Hurley, having been appointed on 1 July 2019. Samantha Mostyn has been chosen by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to be the next governor-general, beginning 1 July 2024.
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Sir Edmund "Toby" Barton was an Australian statesman, barrister and jurist who served as the first prime minister of Australia from 1901 to 1903. He held office as the leader of the Protectionist Party, before resigning in 1903 to become a founding member of the High Court of Australia, on which he served until his death. He was highly regarded as one of the leaders and founding fathers of the Federation movement and for his work in drafting and later interpreting the Constitution of Australia and early federal laws.
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John Adrian Louis Hope, 1st Marquess of Linlithgow, 7th Earl of Hopetoun, was a British aristocrat and statesman who served as the first governor-general of Australia, in office from 1901 to 1902. He was previously Governor of Victoria from 1889 to 1895.
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