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When I was sworn in as Governor-General, I undertook, together with my wife Marlena, to do my best to fulfil the constitutional and public obligations of this high office, with dedication, dignity and integrity.

 

I also indicated that my wife and I would move across the length and breadth of this vast country and to commit ourselves to upholding those values that continue to make for a happy, cohesive and tolerant society.

 

While it will be for others to judge, I would hope that we will have been seen to have met the goals I outlined 5 years ago.  The details can be found on our website www.gg.gov.au.

 

 

 

Well, for a start, there is no objective measure of a Governor-General’s public profile.  NEWS Ltd reported on a survey it did a couple of years ago early on in our term, but that survey, based on questionable methodology, did not include, as far as I am aware, people from Western Australia, the ACT, or rural areas.

 

Further, if you base an assessment about profile on the news pages of the metro dailies you see only part of the picture. I suggest you get a different view if you monitor the regional press where we get a pretty good run, and radio to which we give a lot of emphasis.

 

Rather than rely on journalists to carry a message, and I accept that many of the things a Governor-General does has low news value, in their view, we try and communicate direct to the community via radio and our Internet site that is now averaging around 700,000 hits per month.

 

At the end of the day the media can’t have it both ways: if newspapers choose not to report what the Governor-General is doing it is disingenuous to then claim the person is unknown because they do not have a presence in these same papers.

 

This is a nonsense. I run my own program and have done so since the day I was appointed. I have been involved in some 150 military events, from the welcoming home of soldiers, to the awarding of battle honours, and speaking at significant anniversaries at the Australian War memorial, In Turkey and in Egypt. Very few of these have been reported publicly so there may be an impression “kept under wraps” but it is a false one.

 

The reality is that the Prime Minister of the day rightly travels with a large media contingent and therefore the things that he does tend to get reported. I have no problem with that – it is the reality of public life.

 

 

There is a fine balance to be drawn here. In my view it is not appropriate for a Governor-General to be actively involved in public debates about what are essentially political matters. The Prime Minister is answerable to the people through the ballot box whereas a Governor-General is not. However, this office provides the occupant with a unique insight into public life and affords a rich array of experiences.

 

From earliest days a Governor-General is seen as having the right to encourage public debate and I have tried to do this through a very heavy speech program – nearly 900 over the last five years. These speeches have touched on the key issues of the day including climate change, family breakdown, indigenous affairs, security, terrorism and renewable energy.

 

These speeches are on our website and are available to anyone who cares to read them.  You will see they are not prescriptive in policy content.

 

 

 

It is not always practical for the Governor-General to lead national mourning but I have done so on a number of occasions.

 

 

No. It is often a question of who is available – you can’t be in two places at once.  And to suggest that Mr Howard set out to do this would be grossly inaccurate.

 

 

 

I have never leaked confidential information to the then Coalition or anybody else and I knew very well that my posting as Chief of Materiel would be my last as a serving Army Officer.

 

The suggestions are both repugnant and defamatory.

 

The allegation has never been raised with me – the first I was aware of these claims was the email from NEWS Ltd.

 

A check with senior figures in the Department of Defence, that were serving at the time of these allegations, found no confirmation that such allegations were made. The people we spoke to indicated if such allegations had been raised in the Department they would have been aware of them - they weren’t.

 

It is noteworthy that the allegations are being made now, some 18 years after the matters were alleged to have taken place.

 

At no time, in the many Senate Estimates Hearings that I attended or any other forum, were these allegations raised or suggested.

 

This was the first time the Governor-General had invited the members of the Rudd “Ministry” to dinner at Government House.

 

Their Excellencies have also invited members of the Howard Ministry and the then ALP Shadow Ministry (before last year’s election).

 

It has been common practice for Governors-General to host such functions during their term of office.

 

Last Tuesday’s dinner was just such an occasion.