People belittling GG's job as royal stamp licker don't understand the role

In 1930, the retiring governor-general, Lord Stonehaven, informed prime minister James Scullin that the UK government would welcome a suitable successor.

Isaac Isaacs, one of the drafters of the Australian constitution, a former High Court judge and the first Australian born nominee was recommended.

By April 1930 the rumoured appointment had produced violent opposition. The concern about this new step - of a local man - was problematic - a distinguished citizen of the United Kingdom would better secure the bonds of empire, surely?

Of course, Samantha Mostyn is not the first woman to be appointed governor-general but being in a class of two (two in 28) in the more than 120 years since Federation is novel enough to still bristle opinion - opinion accustomed to male governor-generals with a military, judicial, gubernatorial, university chancellor or, even, former politician, stamp.

Mostyn does come from a military family but that is as far as it goes, her broad career of enlightened advocacy sees her breaking the mould and thus, for some, difficult to absorb and accept.

Of course, there are others with a different, though equally misguided, line of attack. They have little regard for the role and see Mostyn's distinguished public policy work as being more important than their pejorative view of the governor-general as royal stamp licker and fete opener.

Both reactions reflect a failure to understand the office and its importance to the exercise of public power in Australia. Until Australia becomes a republic, the role of governor-general is arguably the most important in our public law system.

While the Crown is formally Australia's head of state, the governor-general is the Crown's representative and fulfills all the roles set out in the constitution for the head of state, including proroguing and dissolving parliament (s5), issuing writs for the general elections (s32), resolving a deadlock in providing for a double dissolution (s57), assenting to bills (s58), appointing ministers (s64), and acting as commander-in-chief of the naval and military forces (s68).

While these powers as exercised by the governor-general are limited by the constitutional convention that the governor-general acts on the advice of the prime minister, there are reserve powers of the governor-general and, in addition, even with those powers exercised with the advice of the government of the day, the governor-general is an important source of advice and counsel.

There have been many examples of governors-general counselling prime minister's about decisions and sending them back to the drawing table. One well-publicised occasion (there are others) is when Sir Ninian Stephen sent Malcolm Fraser back from Yarralumla to give Stephen time to consider the letter giving reasons for the double-dissolution request in 1983.

Later the governor-general telephoned the prime minister seeking further detail about the request.

But in addition, beyond these formal powers, Australia's G-G has important ceremonial duties.

These are the duties that speak to national cohesion and community building which is a power beyond resolving disputes.

In many ways, the difference between the ceremonial duties and the constitutional duties can be likened to the way we think about different forms of power in society more broadly - often described as the public/private divide.

We think of the public sphere as those areas of government power that traditionally have been exercised by men because those areas of governing, law-making and public power have mainly been exercised by men until recent times.

As the second only woman governor-general, Mostyn reflects that reality.

The ceremonial duties of the governor-general relate more to what is often identified as the "private sphere" - the families, the communities, the places in which we all impact on one another.

This exercise of power requires a more caring, inclusive concern for the wellbeing of all. With this exercise of private power in the role of governor-general, our social, personal, and spiritual needs are recognised by having a person designated to represent Australia as a community.

This symbolic position, included in the role and responsibility of the governor-general speaks to the importance of national identity and the value of community.

This is broader than the power framework as expressed in the technical aspects of our democratic system. It can be likened to being concerned with the private aspects of the state.

Indeed, one of the values of this system (which could be continued in a republic) is that given the ceremonial and constitutional deadlock roles are combined, it emphasises the necessary synthesis between the public and private responsibilities in our political framework.

This lessens a singular political brute-character role of the head of state often seen through the choice of former military leaders as governor-general.

When the position of constitutional check is coupled with the symbolic duties of community and cohesion, it broadens our conception of public power.

Many people champion Sir William Deane's term as governor-general in being able to combine these aspects of the role with such compassion and commitment. So too Sir Zelman Cowan when he was appointed following the end of Sir John Kerr's term.

This is a point of some significance. It suggests that the responsibility of the position of head of state should not be limited to constitutional experts, but rather people who can both represent the community, and are intelligent and sensible people able to properly consider their umpire's role in Australia's constitutional framework.

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The values relevant to the choice of who to occupy the role of such a conception of governor-general include the capacity to build national cohesion, harmony; someone who has experience in coordinating and working with different social groups, valuing the diversity of Australian experience together with promoting stability, consensus, and representation.

By the time Sir Isaac Isaacs retired on January 23, 1936 it was generally acknowledged that he had served as governor-general during the harsh Depression years with dignity and distinction. It will be interesting to reflect on Samantha Mostyn's term as governor-general at the end of her term.

Considering her remarkable work to date, and her capacity to be sensitive to the public and private duties in the role itself, I believe we can hold high hopes for her in the years ahead.

She has the building blocks from her years of leadership in such a broad range of community areas to bring out the private and public aspects of the role; to remind all Australians that any exercise of public power reflects a responsibility to represent the whole nation, and exercise wisdom and judgment in doing so.