Bob Hawke v the Queen: Standoff detailed in governor-general’s palace letters
The Palace issued then-PM Bob Hawke a stunning rebuke over plans to remove an oath to the monarch in citizenship pledge.
Former governor-general Sir Ninian Stephen accused Bob Hawke of “impropriety” and Buckingham Palace accused him of “discourtesy” over mooted changes to the citizenship pledge that would omit the oath or affirmation of loyalty to the monarch and that were not discussed with the Queen.
Stephen’s vice-regal letters between 1982 and 1989, open for access by the National Archives of Australia, reveal further disagreements with Hawke over the national anthem and vice-regal salute, and include candid assessment of politics and discussion of the use of reserve powers.
“At no time was there any consultation or discussion with me regarding the proposed amendment to the Australian Citizenship Act,” Stephen wrote to Sir Philip Moore, the Queen’s private secretary in December 1983. “I very much doubt whether the prime minister … has appreciated the impropriety of what has occurred.”
Buckingham Palace took up the suggestion by Stephen to rebuke Hawke and provided a statement to be conveyed to the prime minister coupled with a request to review the proposal that new citizens should not be required to take an oath to the monarch.
“The Queen would, I am sure, have found it very valuable to discuss with him personally the reasons why such a change was in mind and it would also have avoided any possible charge of discourtesy in the introduction of a change closely affecting Her Majesty,” Moore wrote.
In January and April 1984, Stephen told Moore that he opposed Hawke’s decision to make Advance Australia Fair the national anthem and have it replace God Save the Queen as the vice-regal salute. Hawke was also considering changing the national flag.
Stephen was so unhappy that he took the extraordinary step of amending by pen both the Executive Council minute and the proclamation to ensure that God Save the Queen could still be played if the monarch was not present.
In his June 1984 reply, Moore said it was “disappointing” that Hawke did not “consult the Queen” about changes to the citizenship oath or the anthem, and argued it was “a mistake” that God Save the Queen was no longer the vice-regal salute.
Stephen took the further remarkable step of summoning Hawke to Government House. The prime minister made it clear, Stephen told Moore in August 1984, that there would be no change to his decisions.
Hawke held firm but reassured the Queen that these moves were not a sign of disrespect towards the monarch nor were they a step towards a republic.
The vice-regal letters also cast new light on Malcolm Fraser’s double-dissolution election request made on the same day that Hawke became Labor leader when Bill Hayden stepped aside in February 1983.
Fraser arrived at Government House to request a snap election “without prior arrangement”, Stephen told Buckingham Palace.
Fraser was not granted the election right away. Stephen said he needed to give it “consideration” and was due to lunch with the Polish ambassador and his wife. The rejected bills that were the basis for the double dissolution, Stephen thought, did not seem “of critical importance” and he asked Fraser for more information. Eventually, after further advice was provided, Stephen agreed to the election just before 5pm. Sir William Heseltine, then the Queen’s deputy private secretary, said Stephen was right to take his time to consider the election request “and it was perhaps a salutary reminder to the prime minister not to take the governor-general too much for granted”.
The governor-general often wrote to the Queen that he was impressed with the Hawke government’s stability, style and productivity, and the prime minister’s command of the job and rapport with voters.
He did, however, in January 1986, suggest Hawke had suffered from “media overexposure”.
“He was perhaps too blatant in his search after publicity and acclaim, turning quite trivial occasions to that end,” Stephen wrote to Moore. “The result seemed to be that, in the eyes of an originally enthusiastic public, he endangered his standing as a serious person and as a reliable national leader.”
When High Court judge Lionel Murphy was subject to multiple inquiries about his conduct, Stephen suggested to Buckingham Palace in November 1984 that he might have to intervene.
Buckingham Palace said it thought it best if Murphy resigned.
Stephen reported to Heseltine, then the private secretary, in June 1986 that he had met with Murphy to discuss his future. The judge refused to resign.
Later that year, Murphy died of cancer. Stephen reported in March 1987 that “his death was an outcome very convenient to government” and he had ceased to be “an embarrassment”.
In March 1985, Stephen took the highly improper step of reporting to Buckingham Palace about a dispute between the Victorian governor Sir Brian Murray and premier John Cain, and suggesting the palace intervene.
Moore replied in April 1985, appropriately, that the Queen “must be kept out of this dispute”.
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