I think we can already know she will do at great deal more than that.
I dont find comments of that nature directed to the lady either neccessary or acceptable.

I hope she will have some quite infulence and perhaps some good advise on occassion for Mr Rudd.

He could sure use it.

the blind urge of 'progressives' to transfer all power to parliament may have some genetic connection with the reported tendency of north european field rodents to jump off cliffs into the sea. but probably it's just blind ignorance, and curable.

the governor general can, legally, fire the pollies in parliament. everyone knows this and should encourage the gg to do it often. by sending parliament to the people whenever the government presents to the gg a bill that polls show to be vastly unpopular, a sort of rough and ready referendum could be introduced to oz. that is why a president of a republic should be elected by the people, to act as our tribune against the politicians. an elected president need not be a cowed non-entity, a walking rubber-stamp, as the pollies have demanded since kerr showed the nation that the constitution means what it says.

actual democracy would be vastly more efficient and effective, but only evolutionary changes can be hoped for. ozzies are terrified of democracy because they have no experience of it, have no political education, and are constantly told it's too hard for them. this is a lie: consider the performance of pollies and you can see immediately that politics as state management is too hard for them. they are the ones who said we must have 'work choices', and also said we must not. they are the ones who say we must be the gun-dogs of america,but most ordinary people see the insanity, and immorality, of invading countries that have done us no harm.

bryce should be the last gg. let's hope the first president is the elected champion of the people, and not some fig-leaf over the corruption and incompetence of politicians.

antonios, are you insane?

parliament is the problem, not the solution. of course the monarchy is a joke, but the only hope for evolution to democracy is an elected president whose role is to say "no, go to the people" whenever s/he thinks incompetence, corruption, or megalomania have gone too far.

so we must use the monarchy as a bargaining counter, demanding an elected president with the power to dissolve parliament. from there we can get to democracy someday, maybe. but if we put all power in the hands of the politicians guild, it will never happen.

so open your mind to the process of empowering the people. don't let empty symbols like bryce lead you to throwing away the goal to get a bauble.

Sadly for the legions of wishful thinkers who believe that the Rudd/Bryce combo will steer Australia into the calm waters of a Republic, it is not going to happen in their political lifetimes.

It should, of course. There is no reason on earth why we should still maintain the colonial umbilical cord. But we will.

And the reason is that we are still insufficiently politically mature to make an orderly transfer from constitutional monarchy to republic.

Would that it were otherwise. But we only have to look around us and see the quality of debate that passes for our political process to understand that our pollies are still just a bunch of kids, running around the playground in gangs and pulling on girls' pigtails.

Look at the shambles that is NSW.

And the pork-barrelling that will shortly leave an indelible mark on the outcome of the current WA election.

The manner in which State governments ride roughshod over local councils.

The petty triumphalism that seems to be the Federal Liberals' only response to the recession we are experiencing. The opportunity for robust debate is inevitably trumped by the temptation to indulge in personal abuse and denigration.

Not to mention the incredible - and daily - abuse of freedom-of-information laws, which, far from providing what is advertised on the packet, seem tailor-made to shield the antics of government from the very people they are supposed to serve.

We have a lot to learn.

If our new Governor-General is able to make headway against the tide of vested interests that flow against change, then she will have performed a great service for all of us.

If she actually gets the republic debate as far as the people, she will be a miracle worker.

But I still believe that a visceral distrust of our politicians - any politician - is at the heart of every "no" vote on the topic of a republic. And that until this changes, the noes will continue to have it.

So will this be our last female Governor General?

No.

We have time for many more.

Dear Forrest,

I didn't realize just how large the
title of this thread appears. You're
right, It does jump out at you.
Using caps was a mistake. Thanks for
pointing it out to me.

Thanks also to you and other posters
for your inputs so far.

My personal feelings are that she won't
be the last female Governor General.

>>"...we embrace change as a natural and
necessary consequence of our evolution..."

Which makes me wonder what sort of change
did she foresee in Australia's future?<<

I'd like to see the governance arrangements in this country evolve to one where the head of state is a normal person who has distinguished himself/herself in some way. By normal, I mean not from the traditional ruling class or lofty strata of society, but one of the ordinary people.

I agree with Pericles point about the Australian polity not being politically mature enough. Another point is that the public will never support a Republic as long as it's not clear to them what they're really supporting. That's why the 1999 Referendum failed, too many silvertails were associated with selling the idea.

As for making predictions, we'll have a Republic in, say, 2025.