Peter Cosgrove announces impending retirement as Governor-General

SIR Peter Cosgrove has announced he wants to retire as Governor-General in March — two months from the likely federal election — setting off a debate about when he should step down, and who should step into the job.

SIR Peter Cosgrove has announced he intends to retire as Governor-General when his five-year term ends in March in a move which will spark a political storm over who will be his successor.

Liberal MP Julie Bishop was tipped as a potential candidate last week in the wake of her decision to step down as Foreign Affairs Minister after Malcolm Turnbull was rolled in a leadership spill.

But the move would anger Labor leader Bill Shorten, who wrote to Prime Minister Scott Morrison amid the speculation about Ms Bishop last week urging him to extend Sir Peter’s term as Governor-General for six months to September.

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The Governor-General, General Sir Peter Cosgrove.

That would extend it past the next federal election, which is due to be held before May, and allow a new government to appoint the next Governor-General.

“My plan is to retire at the end of March,” Sir Peter has told The Australian.

“That’s when my five years is up. It’s not fixed, but if you do the job properly, at the end of five years you’re probably running out of puff a bit … after five years, the job deserves and ­demands new vigour.”

The 71-year-old told the publication he intended to “take a back seat” from public life when he retired.

“I’ll do what most governors-general do,” he said.

“You very much, when you retire, you take, in a profile sense, a back seat.

“You don’t want an immediate past governor-­general turning up and making a pro­nounce­ment or something.”

Former Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has been touted as a potential candidate. Picture: Kym Smith

Sir Peter said he planned to still be involved in community projects but in a “less noticed way”.

“I notice my predecessors do that very effectively. You can still add your name and any residual profile that you own to that. You try not to be on the front pages,” he said.

There is precedent for a Governor-General’s term being extended if Sir Peter is open to the option.

Julia Gillard as Prime Minister extended Dame Quentin Bryce’s term for six months until after the 2013 election.

Then-Opposition leader Tony Abbott had demanded the move.

He appointed her successor Sir Peter, who had a distinguished military career for service in Vietnam and as the head of army and chief of the defence force.