Governor-General Sam Mostyn’s remarks reveal a deeper flaw in Australia’s constitutional arrangements – one that weakens the independence of the head of state and undermines democratic accountability.

I have great respect for Governor-General Sam Mostyn. Yet she has, unwittingly, revealed the central problem with the system that makes her effectively our head of state.

Ours is, of course, a Claytons monarchy, in which the King, literally as far away as is geographically possible, is nominally head while a governor general represents him. Most of us seem unfazed by a system which could have been invented by Gilbert and Sullivan and is further complicated by the existence of six state governors, who also represent the monarch.

After Sir John Kerr’s dismissal of Whitlam in 1975 it is extremely unlikely that a governor general would ever again exercise the considerable powers that are spelt out in the Constitution. Not only does the governor general have considerable reserve powers, but under clause 59 King Charles........

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