Senator Jacqui Lambie says the governor-general’s compliance with Scott Morrison’s ministerial power grab is an insight into ADF culture. 

Governor-general David Hurley has been criticised for not pushing back against the former prime minister’s secret self-appointment to five ministerial portfolios.

In his defence, Governor Hurley says he acted within the constitution and noted that publicising ministerial appointments is the responsibility of the federal government.

He also said he “had no reason to believe that appointments would not be communicated”, despite the fact that the appointments occurred over the course of many months, and it was clear that previous secret appointments had not been publicised by the time he was helping make subsequent appointments. 

Senator Jacqui Lambie says the G-G’s unquestioning obedience is a culture fostered by the military.

“If you’ve been institutionalised in the military, your head is just going to nod all the time. It doesn’t matter what you think [of the PM], whether you reckon he’s making the right decision or not,” Senator Lambie has told reporters.

Former military generals are seen as good candidates for G-G because their military careers give them experience interacting with foreign dignitaries. Three of Australia’s last four G-Gs have been from military backgrounds.

But Senator Lambie says generals have been fostered in a culture of nepotism that often starts at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA), and creates officers that have no leadership skills and no respect for service people or civilians.

“We put young rich kids through there for four years, where they get their education paid for and they’re kissed on the arse. Then they come out as ‘leaders’ where, you know, diggers start from the bottom and have to make their way up.”

“I’d like to see it closed tomorrow,” Senator Lambie said.

Senator Lambie says that someone from outside the military, like former human rights commissioner Gillian Triggs, should be Australia’s next governor-general.

“There’s a big talent pool out there. Just ’cause you wear a uniform doesn’t mean you’re any good,” she said.

“Women [who are] like that — they don’t need a uniform.”

More broadly, she has also called for the creation of a fourth arm of the military - a “national guard” to act as the first line of defence in the case of domestic crises.

“You can’t continue to rely on people who have served, who are broken to go out there and do aged care,” Senator Lambie said. 

“We need to prepare for climate change, which means when we know on events coming, we need to be sandbagging, all that sort of stuff.

“I’ve got my own thoughts, but of course I want to hear what everybody else has got to say on what that should look like.”