Guy Barnett (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

The document is a letter of advice relating to lists of departmental and agency appointments and vacancies. In the response, which I have here, it notes that the response was nil. But, with respect to the Office of the Official Secretary to the Governor-General, I want to alert the Senate that I am in possession of a letter from Richard Egan, of Western Australia, who has written to Her Excellency Quentin Bryce AC, Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, where he says:

I understand that Your Excellency was not in attendance at the ecumenical service for the opening of the 43rd Parliament held at Wesley Uniting Church, National Circuit, Forrest, ACT at 7.30 am on Tuesday the 28th September 2010. I believe this may be the first time the incumbent Governor-General has not attended the service. Would I be correct in assuming that Your Excellency was invited to attend? If so, I would be grateful if you could let me know why Your Excellency declined this invitation. The absence of both the Prime Minister and Your Excellency has occasioned some comment and it would be helpful to understand the reasons.

Yours faithfully,

Richard Egan

I have also been provided with the answer, from Mark Fraser OAM, who writes to Mr Egan:

Thank you for your email to the Governor-General. Her Excellency has asked me to reply on her behalf. The ecumenical church service before the opening of Parliament is organised by the Parliamentary Christian Fellowship, a group of Christian parliamentarians. It is not a formal part of the opening of Parliament proceedings and is for those members of Parliament who hold Christian beliefs. It is a personal choice of Governors-General as to whether they attend the service and, in the past, some governors-general have attended the service and others not. Thank you for bringing your views to the attention of the Governor-General.

I would be very interested to know which governors-general have not attended the service at the opening of parliament. Since I arrived at the parliament, in 2002, at every opening the Governor-General has attended as, indeed, has the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Opposition and many members of parliament of different faiths, not just the Christian faith. It is a very important service and I think it should be noted that in many respects it is a priority for many people.

I asked the question in the Senate at the time, because I was quite shocked that the Governor-General was not in attendance at the service, whether a public statement would be made by the Governor-General as to why Her Excellency was unable to attend. I had not been made aware of any public statement, but, of course, I am now in possession of this correspondence, which does make things a little clearer, although, for me, very disappointing, and it also raises further questions. The key question is: does the Governor-General only attend functions where she shares the beliefs of those who sponsor the function? Is that now the protocol for the office of the Governor-General? It would be interesting to know what religious functions the Governor-General has attended since taking office. I am also aware that an organisation, ISRA Australia, was launched nationally in Canberra on 24 November 2009 in the presence of the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia.