Damian Drum (Murray, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I take great pleasure in rising to talk to the Governor-General Amendment (Salary) Bill 2019. It's good to see that the opposition are in support of this bill. Obviously, the purpose of the bill is to set out the salary of the incoming Governor-General, knowing that the salary is in place for five years and knowing that convention has it that we don't alter the salary of the Governor-General throughout the course of his term, and, therefore, it is set in line with the salary of the Chief Justice of the High Court. It has also been a practice that when incoming governor-generals have a pension associated with their term in the military that is taken into account. We have set the annual salary for the incoming Governor-General, His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley.

General Hurley is a former Chief of the Defence Force and he's been a very popular governor of New South Wales. General Hurley is known as being generous and very approachable with both young and old alike. This is seen in his weekly boxing work-outs with Indigenous children. He's got a program running called Tribal Warriors. He's a prodigious traveller throughout regional New South Wales. He's dedicated his life to serving and supporting the Australian nation, and his compassion and commitment to Australia was displayed during his 42 years in the Australian Army, for which he was appointed as a Companion of the Order of Australia for eminent service to the Australian Defence Force. Also, he received the Distinguished Service Cross for his leadership and service during Operation Solace in Somalia in 1993. I don't think anybody can have any doubt about the pedigree of the honourable David Hurley and the fact he's in line to become our next Governor-General. It looks like he's been an exceptional choice.

Under section 3, as I said, the salary of the Governor-General cannot be altered for the term of the appointment. So, whatever we set it at at the commencement of his term will be for the continuation of his term. We also know that the appointment of the Governor-General is the prerogative of the Prime Minister. It has to be subject to the approval of Her Majesty the Queen, but that tends to be acknowledged as just par for the course. Once someone is put forward, they are always accepted.

We have also through our history had a range of appointments that have happened very close to elections. I know that we've had noise coming out of the opposition, perhaps saying maybe this appointment could have waited till after the election, but Sir William Deane was appointed 15 days prior to John Howard winning his election in 1996, and we also know that Gough Whitlam chose John Kerr as Governor-General in May ahead of a July election in 1974.

So I would think that we understand that the time is coming for Sir Peter Cosgrove to step aside and, like the previous speaker, we need to be very respectful and mindful of what a fantastic job Sir Peter Cosgrove has done in the role as Governor-General. I too was there only last week when he started off about 10,000 walkers around Lake Burley Griffin to raise awareness for organ donation. It's a great cause to promote, because we tend to think that we must have thousands and thousands and thousands of people that are beneficiaries of organ donation, but in Australia, because of the unique way in which an organ donor has to pass away, it's a very small selection of Australians who are actually able to have their organs reused. We need to keep the message out there. Have that conversation with your families because everybody in your family has to know it is your wish, as it is mine, that, if you happen to die in the circumstances that allow the surgeons to prepare somebody to use your organs—and Peter Cosgrove has been out there pushing this cause for years and years.

The other aspect that Peter Cosgrove is well known for within the coalition government is with the ministers. It's his knowledge of the bills. As we understand our political system, it has to go over to the Governor-General for his sign-off, but the Governor-General is very adept, very good at questioning the ministers on each of the legislation, so he's taken the time to understand what the legislation is about and understand the impacts, positive and negative, about legislation that's put through. So, when asking for the royal assent, it's not unusual for Peter Cosgrove to be really putting the ministers under the grill and asking them all about the legislation that he is expected to be just signing off.

I was unaware of the work that Sir Peter Cosgrove did during Cyclone Larry and the work he did around Innisfail, but again it comes as no surprise that he is well regarded by the people there at the time. So I think that, again, this is a really fantastic time, and I must also add that there are always going to be some what are going to be calling for an end to our monarchical system. However, in my opinion it also needs to be acknowledged that it's one of these First World problems that people have. Nobody's life at the moment is diminished one iota by the fact that we have a monarchical system with a Governor-General as our head of state. If we change it tomorrow, no-one's life is going to be enhanced one iota. No-one's going to get a job. No-one's going to actually wake up and all of a sudden have their life improved in any material way. Will they have some greater sense of pride? If that's what floats their boat, fine, but, with all of the real problems this nation has—the real challenges that this nation has—with all the work, the effort and the energy we need to be putting into helping our farmers, our industry, our unemployed, our aged, our children and our First Peoples, we have so many challenges that are real and genuine needs for energy, effort and resources. To be worried about this First World problem that we've got a monarchical system that seems to be the envy of the rest of the world and yet we've got these people who are super concerned about it—I just don't quite get that. As I said, as we get up out of bed and we work as hard as we possibly can through every day to try to achieve outcomes. As an issue of global significance, this just doesn't even quite get onto the radar.

I want to thank the opposition for supporting this bill. I want to pay tribute to the outgoing Governor-General, Sir Peter Cosgrove, and thank him for the work that he has done in a million different areas—not just in his official capacity but in all the other extracurricular work that he has taken on board because he's a quality person. I also want to congratulate the incoming Governor-General, General Hurley. I congratulate him on his appointment. I'm sure he's going to be an amazing Governor-General for this great country.

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