Rainier, well chosen my man, Sir Les in my view could be the front man, but for the real brains in the background, I suggest Dame Edna, already both honoured by the Queen

There is only one way to ensure that the next Governor General is the last, and that is to make such a disastrous botch of the appointment that it brings the entire role into disrepute.

This was clearly the objective with our "very model of a modern Major General", but unfortunately he has been kept out of the limelight so much that nobody actually has anything to say about him.

The appointment of Hollingworth was a brave attempt to achieve instant notoriety, but had an additional subtle agenda. Howard, being aware that the whole republican thing was still a niggle, chose to foist on us someone who possessed the absolute maximum of undesirable characteristics.

A sort of "double dare-ya" slap in the face of the Australian people.

What's the point of wittering on about a republic, he seemed to say. Little Johnny is in charge, and Hollingworth was merely proof that the GG position had finally become utterly without meaning or relevance.

All this, of course, was also a response to the incumbency of one William Deane. What Prime Minister could countenance a Governor General who was compassionate, outspoken and impervious to insult, innuendo and blackmail?

He was the last of the real Governors General, I suspect. The role has since been substantially debased. So Bindi Irwin sounds good.

As an alternative, how about Andrew Johns, perhaps? Or Andrew Symonds? Both upholding the great Australian tradition of win-at-all-costs, while simultaneously maintaining the twin roles of egregious cheat and sporting hero.

What about Pauline Hanson? Female, feisty, xenophobic and muddle-headed? That would bring on a republic faster than you could say knife. And I'd give a fortune to see Betty's face at the investiture.

Peter Jensen would be an ideal choice too, I think. Open, honest, forthright, clear-thinking, compassionate, forgiving, charitable, considerate... [shurely not? - ed]

Better stop there, the medication's beginning to kick in.

judging by all these recommendations I get the impression that integrity is not a requirement for GG.

In our political system, surely the position itself is far more important than the person who occupies it.

Except for Whitlam’s experience, the PM actually runs the administrative part of the nation and makes all the decisions, so the GG is nothing more than the impotent symbolic occupant of a position within a working system.

For example, as wonderfully decent and inspirational as Sir William Deane was, he made absolutely no difference to our society except to show us what it could/should be, but had no way to implement any changes.

We don’t need to change the system itself but we can control who represents it.
Given the actual tangible physical responsibilities of the occupant, does it really have to be a person at all?

Therefore, why not appoint an inanimate object, like a housebrick for instance, as GG?

The occasional physical responsibility (ribbon cutting, document signing, hand-shaking, medal pinning etc) of the role could be delegated to any nearby existing Public Servant but all the other symbolic parts of the role would remain intact.

There would be no chance of public embarrassment or scandal by the GG and no problem with security, not to mention the significant savings to the taxpayer for all the associated costs in lavish accommodation and maintaining a supporting entourage.

There would be no need to periodically replace the GG so no chance of the role becoming politicised or becoming a threat to the status quo.

If several interchangeable housebricks were used, the GG could make simultaneous public appearances for the cost of postage alone.

In the case of any unforseen constitutional crisis, QE2 can take always direct control anytime she deems it necessary.

Ridiculous as it seems, it’s probably not far from reality.

Yet we may have seen the next GGs name in these threads what a fantastic way to say sorry.

Rache

Well according the H. M.The Queen the G General is charged with many duties.

Below is a letter from H. M. explaining the G Generals role.

Please make sure you scroll past the letter to view the bottom of the page.
http://www.livexports.com/queen.html

This one is the Governer Generals reply.>

http://www.livexports.com/letter3.html

So now we all understand buck pasing really does start right at the top and work its way down. I hope the next GG takes H.M.the Queens letter more seriously. Perhaps they could discuss it over high tea.

No wonder why they call it Buckingham Palace