Prime Minister Scott Morrison names David Hurley as next Governor-General

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has announced Australia’s new Governor-General today, despite pleas from Labor to not do it.

Australia’s next Governor-General has been revealed as David Hurley.

The current New South Wales Governor - a former senior officer in the Australian Army - will be the 27th Governor-General of Australia, after the Queen accepted Prime Minister Scott Morrison’s recommendation.

Mr Morrison made the announcement on Sunday morning, replacing current Governor-General Peter Cosgrove who was set to finish his commission in March.

Sir Cosgrove, 71, will retire when his five-year term ends, but Mr Morrison said he would stay on until the end of June before Governor Hurley officially takes over.

The PM has announced Australia’s new Governor-General. Picture: Aaron Favila/AP

“General Hurley has served Australia for almost half a century and I’ve had the privilege to serve with him as a minister of a government in which he serve as the Chief of the Defence Force,” Mr Morrison said in a press conference this morning.

“He joined the Army in 1972. That was not a time when military service was popular, sadly, in our country.

“He served for 42 years and rose to become the Chief of the Defence Force - a role he was appointed to by the former Labor government.

“It was General Hurley who first spoke the words, ‘The standard you walk past, is the standard you accept’. That is a lesson to all of us. It is a phrase that embodies what Australian leadership is all about and it is a phrase that has embodied the service of General Hurley.”

Mr Cosgrove announced he was retiring in September, telling The Australian the role needed someone with “new vigour”.

“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,” he said.

PM Scott Morrison announcing the next Governor-General David Hurley at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: Kym Smith

The appointment comes despite Labor having urged the government to extend Mr Cosgrove’s post so whomever holds power after the next election can fill the role.

Mr Morrison said he needed to make the decision to provide certainty around the role going into next year.

“Next year is an election year and it is very important that I think this appointment be seen well outside the context of any electoral issues,” he said.

“It wasn’t my first order of issues the deal with, as I said at the time, but it was one that I knew I would have to resolve and make a recommendation to the palace before the end of the year, which I have now done.

“This is a recommendation that is made by the Prime Minister

“(The) Labor Party may think they are the government at the moment - and they be carrying like they think they have already won an election - but that has not occurred and I am assure them, they have got a fight on their hands.”

Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove and Lady Cosgrove at Admiralty House in Sydney meeting Prince Harry and Meghan. Picture: Steve Christo/AFP

Opposition Bill Shorten wrote to the PM earlier this year asking him to hold off after speculation over who would be selected.

“Given that a general election must be held in or before May of next year, an extension to his term would allow an incoming prime minister to nominate to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II an appropriate successor and new governor-general following the next election,” Mr Shorten wrote.

“Such an extension is within convention and would be supported by the opposition.”

Governor Hurley said he was surprised to be requested but proud and humbled.

“It is the highest honour to be asked to be the Governor-General of Australia,” he said.

“Australians have an amazing and, indeed, an enormous capacity to contribute their time, their energy, their time, their efforts and indeed their money to assist others I look forward to continuing to be involved with them in these pursuits.”