Executive, serial board member and equality advocate Sam Mostyn has been sworn in as the country’s Governor-General.
Mostyn, who was appointed to the role back in April for a five-year term, has today been sworn in to her role as the country’s 28th Governor-General, succeeding David Hurley.
She is the second woman to hold the role, after Dame Quentin Bryce. Her CV spans business, policy, indigenous affairs, gender equity, sport and the arts. She chairs the boards of Ausfilm, ANROWS, Alberts, the Climate Council, and is the former President of Chief Executive Women and Citi Australia.
The former AFL commissioner made an oath to serve the King, and said she would be “an optimistic, modern and visible Governor-General”.
Mostyn took the opportunity to reflect on some of the issues facing Australia, including a rising lack of respect for women, and the need for respectful conversations to understand the place of men in our communities. She spoke of growing inequality, and the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, and said these times call for “an unstinting focus on kindness, on care and respect”.
“I have had to ask myself many questions about the role and impact of the office of Governor-General in 2024,” she said. “I decided there was only one way to answer these questions, to get on the road and listen to people. Listen carefully to those with unique experiences and insights.
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“Care is that gentle thought and the outstretched hand that Australians have always been ready to share when great challenges present themselves.
“Care is the quieter better part of ourselves and it is that sense of care that Simeon [Mostyn’s husband] and I will seek to depict and amplify as we take on this role.”
In appointing Mostyn, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Mostyn was an exceptional leader, who represented the best of modern Australia.
“The daughter of an army officer, and a lawyer by training, Sam is a deeply respected and highly accomplished business leader,” Prime Minister Albanese said. “With experience in a broad cross section of Australian life, she brings valuable new insights and experience to this important role.”
Earlier this month, the government passed legislation to raise the governor-general’s pay 43% to $709,017. In comparison, Dame Quentin Bryce’s salary was $394,000, and David Hurley’s was $495,000.
Assistant minister to the Prime Minister, Patrick Gorman, said the proposed salary was calculated by reference to the estimated average salary of the chief justice of the high court of Australia.
“Where, in the past, a governor general has been the recipient of other commonwealth entitlements – such as a military pension – the annual salary has been adjusted accordingly. Ms Mostyn is not a recipient of any such entitlements,” Gorman said.
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