Is the Governor-General allowed inside the House of Representatives?
The Governor-General delivers a speech at the opening of a new Parliament
Penny Bradfield/DPS Auspic
The Governor-General delivers a speech at the opening of a new Parliament
Penny Bradfield/DPS Auspic
Description
The Governor-General gives a speech in the Senate at the opening of a new Parliament. There is a raised platform where the Governor-General sits in a large wooden chair speaking into a microphone. The President of the Senate is sitting in a high backed chair to the left of the Governor-General. Three people stand behind the chairs under a wood and metal representation of the Australian coat-of-arms. Senators and other dignitaries sit around the end of a T-shaped table and in rows around the room.
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Thanks for your question, Michael.
By convention – tradition – the Governor-General does not enter the House of Representatives while it is meeting.
Like many traditions in the Australian Parliament, this practice is inherited from the British Parliament where the monarch does not enter the House of Commons or ‘people’s house’.
The convention has existed since 1642 when King Charles I, accompanied by armed guards, entered the House of Commons and attempted to arrest some of its members. He was unsuccessful in making any arrests. Since then, no king or queen has entered the House of Commons.
The tradition continues in the Australian Parliament where the Governor-General – the official representative of the monarch – does not enter the House of Representatives. This means that when the Governor-General opens a new Parliament, they do so from the Senate.