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The title Administrator of the government (Administrator) has several uses in Australia.
| | This article needs additional citations for verification .(January 2021) |
The title Administrator of the government (Administrator) has several uses in Australia.
Section 4 of the Australian Constitution provides that:
The provisions of this Constitution relating to the Governor-General extend and apply to the Governor-General for the time being, or such person as the Queen may appoint to administer the Government of the Commonwealth; but no such person shall be entitled to receive any salary from the Commonwealth in respect of any other office during his administration of the Government of the Commonwealth. [1]
Accordingly, an administrator is appointed when the Governor-General dies, resigns or is absent from Australia. The administrator is styled either Administrator of the Commonwealth or, less commonly, Administrator of the Government of the Commonwealth. By convention, the administrator is usually the longest serving state governor, who holds a dormant commission from the sovereign (currently Charles III).
There have been four separate occasions during which a governor of one of the states has ascended to the office of Governor-General by dormant commission due to unforeseen circumstances:
On 11 May 2003, the letters patent commissioning the Governor-General were amended to enable Peter Hollingworth to stand aside as Governor-General following a controversy about his past handling of child abuse allegations, [2] and Tasmanian Governor Sir Guy Green was appointed Administrator [3] until Hollingworth's permanent replacement (Major General Michael Jeffery) took office on 8 August 2003. [4]
The present longest serving state governor is Margaret Beazley who has been Governor of New South Wales since 2 May 2019.
In 2023, former governor-general Sir Peter Cosgrove was appointed as Administrator of the Government as Governor-General David Hurley and all state governors were overseas to attend the coronation of Charles III. [5]
In the Australian states, when the governor dies, resigns or is absent, the lieutenant-governor (appointed by the governor on the advice of the state premier) performs the official duties of the governor as administrator until a new governor is appointed. In the absence of both a governor and lieutenant-governor, the chief of the state's supreme court or the next most senior puisne judge, traditionally holding, ex officio, the position of lieutenant-governor, assumes his or her position as head of the executive until a governor is appointed. [6] In 2001, the Constitution of Queensland was amended to restore the office of lieutenant-governor in that state.
Unlike the Australian states, each of which is a possession of the Crown in its own right and which therefore possesses a governor directly representing the King, all Australian territories are possessions of the Crown in right of the Commonwealth of Australia and the sole direct representative of the Crown therefore remains the Commonwealth Governor-General. Unlike the states, the territories fall within the exclusive legislative and administrative competence of the Commonwealth. In respect of several territories the Governor-General is represented in the territory by an Administrator appointed to administer the territory on his or her behalf. In those territories with an Administrator, the Administrator can be considered the indirect representative of the King in the territory.
In the Northern Territory, which is not a state and does not have a Governor, but which is self-governing with its own legislature and executive, the role of the Crown is filled by an Administrator of the Northern Territory appointed by the Governor-General-in-Council—that is, the Governor-General acting on the formal advice of the Federal Executive Council—on the recommendation of the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, in accordance with the provisions of the Northern Territory (Self-Government) Act 1978 (Cth). [7]
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) does not have an Administrator. As in all other Australian territories, the Governor-General of the Commonwealth remains the direct constitutional representative of the Queen in the Territory; however, pursuant to the provisions of the Australian Capital Territory (Self-Government) Act 1988 (Cwth) there is a Territory Executive consisting of the Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory and any other Ministers admitted by them to the Executive. The Crown is therefore represented by the Governor-General of Australia in the Government of the ACT. However, reserve powers analogous to those vested in a State Governor are vested by the Act in the Federal Minister for Territories, who may, for example, dissolve the ACT Assembly in cases of corruption or deadlock.
As well as the internal and largely self-governing territories of the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory, Australia also possesses (or lays claim to—since Australia's Antarctic claims are not universally recognised) seven external territories, each of which falls within the sphere of influence of the Commonwealth and is administered by the Commonwealth Government. Three of these, Norfolk Island (which enjoys a large degree of autonomy), the Territory of Cocos (Keeling) Islands and the Territory of Christmas Island have permanent populations and also have an Administrator appointed by the Governor-General-in-Council to administer the territory on their behalf. The remaining four external territories, the Australian Antarctic Territory, the Coral Sea Islands Territory, the Territory of Ashmore Reef and Cartier Island, and the Territory of Heard and McDonald Islands have no permanent population and do not have an Administrator as such but are administered directly by the Commonwealth Government, currently under the auspices of the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (Australian Antarctic Territory) and the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications (other territories).
In addition to the two self-governing internal territories and Australia's seven external territories, there is also the internal territory of Jervis Bay. Prior to ACT Self-Government in 1989, what is now the Jervis Bay Territory constituted part of the Australian Capital Territory. Upon ACT Self-Government it became a separate territory located on the Australian mainland; for the most part it is populated with Defence Force personnel. The territory does not have an Administrator and is administered directly by the Commonwealth Government.
In Australia, local government areas are the third tier of government in Australia administered by the states and territories, and in cases where the state government has been obliged to dismiss or suspend the operations of local government in an area, an Administrator is appointed to take the place of the elected mayor and councillors. In New South Wales, with 132 local government authorities in 2016, the powers of an Administrator are set out in Chapter 9, Part 2, Division 6 (Appointment of administrator), Sections 255-259, of the Local Government Act 1993. Prominent recent examples of NSW councils being operated by administrators include: Port Macquarie-Hastings Council (2008–2012), City of Wollongong (2008–2012), Tweed Shire (2005–2008), Warringah Council (1965–1967, 1985–1987, 2003–2008), Wingecarribee Shire Council (2021-present) and Central Coast Council (2020–present).
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.
The governor of New South Wales is the representative of the monarch, King Charles III, in the state of New South Wales. In an analogous way to the governor-general of Australia at the national level, the governors of the Australian states perform constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level. The governor is appointed by the monarch on the advice of the premier of New South Wales, and serves in office for an unfixed period of time—known as serving At His Majesty's pleasure—though five years is the general standard of office term. The current governor is retired judge Margaret Beazley, who succeeded David Hurley on 2 May 2019.
Governor-general, or governor general, is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy to represent the monarch of a personal union in any sovereign state over which the monarch does not normally reign in person. Governors-general have also previously been appointed in respect of major colonial states or other territories held by either a monarchy or republic, such as Japan in Korea and Taiwan and France in Indochina.
High commissioner is the title of various high-ranking, special executive positions held by a commission of appointment.
An administrator in the constitutional practice of some countries in the Commonwealth is a person who fulfils a role similar to that of a governor or a governor-general.
The administrator of the Northern Territory is an official appointed by the governor-general of Australia to represent the government of the Commonwealth in the Northern Territory, Australia. They perform functions similar to those of a state governor.
Resident commissioner was or is an official title of several different types of commissioners, who were or are representatives of any level of government. Historically, they were appointed by the British Crown in overseas protectorates, or colonies, and some still exist in this capacity. The United States of America once had a resident commissioner in the Philippines and the Puerto Rico resident commissioner resides in Washington DC. State governments of today's Republic of India have a resident commissioner to represent them in New Delhi.
Each Australian state has a governor to represent Australia's monarch within it. The governors are the nominal chief executives of the states, performing the same constitutional and ceremonial functions at the state level as does the governor-general of Australia at the national or federal level. In practice, with notable exceptions the governors are generally required by convention to act on the advice of the state premiers or the other members of a state's cabinet.
The following is the order of precedence for Australia:
The states and territories are the second level of government of Australia. The states are administrative divisions that are self-governing polities that are partly sovereign, having ceded some sovereign rights to the federal government. They have their own constitutions, legislatures, executive governments, judiciaries and law enforcement agencies that administer and deliver public policies and programs. Territories can be autonomous and administer local policies and programs much like the states in practice, but are still legally subordinate to the federal government.
A dormant commission is a commission in a Commonwealth realm that lies dormant or sleeping until it is triggered by a particular event.
In the Commonwealth of Nations, a high commissioner is the senior diplomat, generally ranking as an ambassador, in charge of the diplomatic mission of one Commonwealth government to another. Instead of an embassy, the diplomatic mission is generally called a high commission.
In Australia, a lieutenant-governor is a standing appointment for a deputy governor of a state, who acts in place of the governor if the governor is unable, unavailable or unwilling to act.
The Succession to the Crown Act 2015(Cth) is an Act of the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia, which was enacted at the request of all six Australian states as required by the Australian Constitution. The Australian acts were the final part of the Perth Agreement's legislative program agreed by the prime ministers of the Commonwealth realms to modernise the succession to the crowns of the sixteen Commonwealth realms, while continuing to have in common the same monarch and royal line of succession, as was the case at the time of the Statute of Westminster 1931.