Parliament should vote on next GG: ex-G-G
'THE next Governor-General should be nominated by the Prime Minister and elected by Parliament, former Governor-General and constitutional lawyer Sir Zelman Cowen said today. Sir Zelman Cowen says both houses of Parliament should vote. Sir Zelman, Governor-General from 1977 to 1982, said it was no longer appropriate for the Prime Minister to appoint the Governor-General without reference to other elements in the Constitution.'

If the constitution were then altered to remove all mentions of the Queen or Monarchy, a de facto republic would be attained, which would be as close to the current system as is practically possible. But John Howard has no such vision on these things, and seems destined to let matters drift until some time after he is gone when the country will probably endorse an elected President, the very thing that nearly all conservatives and even many Labor MPs and Republicans think is undesirable and unnecessary.

Parliament should vote on next GG: ex-G-G
'THE next Governor-General should be nominated by the Prime Minister and elected by Parliament, former Governor-General and constitutional lawyer Sir Zelman Cowen said today. Sir Zelman Cowen says both houses of Parliament should vote. Sir Zelman, Governor-General from 1977 to 1982, said it was no longer appropriate for the Prime Minister to appoint the Governor-General without reference to other elements in the Constitution.'

If the constitution were then altered to remove all mentions of the Queen or Monarchy, a de facto republic would be attained, which would be as close to the current system as is practically possible. But John Howard has no such vision on these things, and seems destined to let matters drift until some time after he is gone when the country will probably endorse an elected President, the very thing that nearly all conservatives and even many Labor MPs and Republicans think is undesirable and unnecessary.