Another complication of GG altering models: Thanks Cam for identifying another complication of republican models which seek to promote the Governor-General to the position of Head of State or alter our existing federal structures.
Under the Australian constitution there is no need for emergency powers to temporarily suspend the constitution. In an emergency there is nothing in the constitution which would prevent the executive from responding appropriately. Even under the most extreme unimaginably horrible situtations there are a series of dormant commissions under which government continues.
Under the Copernican proposals (
http://www.copernican.info
), these would not be altered. The office of Governor-General and the office of state governor are maintained and it is through these offices allow government to continue in emergencies and for parliament to be reformed when the emergency to continue.
However the codification of the Governor-General\'s power would necessarily involve the possibility of suspending the constitution to deal with extreme emergencies, as codified provisions may be impossible to comply with if communication is disrupted or worse.
It is certainly possible to add further layers to the constitution to deal with emergency powers, however it is hard to see how adding further constitutional machinery will do anything but hinder executive response or create loopholes a government may exploit for politicial purposes.
Keep in mind that a emergency provision may not be ever needed. Let\'s imagine it is first used after 100 years. The practicalities of its actual use could be quite confusing.
Hence it is better to stick with the current system, which responds directly. That is what the Copernican proposal (
http://www.copernican.info
) deliberately retains from the current constitutional arrangements.
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