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Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Anthony Albanese have spoken at ceremonies following the swearing in of the new Governor-General, David Hurley.
All three men spoke of the role and value of the Governor-General’s position.
Hurley was sworn in at a Senate ceremony at 10.30am today. His first constitutional duty will take place tomorrow when he opens the 46th Parliament.
Watch the speeches (28m):
Listen to the speeches (28m):
Retired General David Hurley has been sworn in as Australia’s 27th Governor-General.
The ceremony to install Hurley in place of Sir Peter Cosgrove took place in the Senate chamber at Parliament House.
Hurley, 65, was the 38th Governor of New South Wales from 2014 to 2019.
Listen to the swearing-in ceremony (16m):
Watch the swearing-in ceremony (16m):
The 2019 Federal Election is officially over, following today’s return of the writs by the Australian Electoral Commission.
The AEC returned the writ for the House of Representatives elections to the Governor-General, Sir Peter Cosgrove. Writs for state senators were returned to state governors. The Senate territory writs were also returned to the Governor-General.
The writ is an official command from the Governor-General to the AEC to conduct elections. Section 12 of the Constitution specifically outlines the requirements for Senate writs.
Now that the election is over, Section 5 empowers the Governor-General to summon parliament. This must occur within thirty days of the return of the writs. The government has already indicated the Parliament will meet on July 2. The Governor-General issued a proclamation to this effect on June 19.
Media release from the AEC announcing the return of the election writs.
The Governor-General, Sir Peter Cosgrove, has issued a proclamation summoning the 46th Parliament to convene on July 2.
The proclamation was issued on the advice of the prime minister, Scott Morrison, in accordance with the Governor-General’s power under Section 5 of the Constitution.
The first day of the new parliament will be largely ceremonial. All 151 members of the House of Representatives will be sworn in, as will the 40 senators elected on May 18. The other 36 senators, elected in 2016, remain in office until the next election and do not need to be sworn in.
Proclamation issued by the Governor-General, Sir Peter Cosgrove.
