Governor General

With the demise of Queen Elizabeth 2, it is inevitable that the push to proclaim Australia as a Republic will re-emerge sometime in the not too distant future, and so too will emerge the problematic process of selecting the Governor General.

The Governing party of the day and indeed, the Opposition as well, would prefer the GG be selected by the Parliament from a field of eminent citizens acceptable to the major parties to maintain the status and integrity of the position. 

However, Australians, not being particularly well disposed toward politicians, would prefer a non-political appointment, and would demand the post be filled by popular plebiscite. Unfortunately the result of such a selection process would counterintuitively lead to just the opposite of what the Australian people would have expected, because each of the political parties would pour finance, advertising and resources into the selection of the candidate whose background best matched their philosophical agenda, and the country would end up with a head of state biased toward one side or other of the political spectrum, just as is the American President beholden to the agenda of the party which supports his candidature.

I suggest that to satisfy both the People and the Politicians, the Governing and Opposition parties draw up a list of candidates acceptable to both sides of Government and follow up with a plebiscite allowing the People to vote for the person on that list whom they find most suited for the position.