Example of an emergency: I am not familiar with this particular legend. It reminds me of George Washington\'s decision to not contest a third election, a precedent followed until Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
The sort of emergency the Romans worried about was an army occupying the capital. The Roman system of government was dependent on the actual city of Rome being under Roman control. Anyway Sulla was dictator for many years, and Julius Caesar became dictator for life.
This is again the example that infrequently used provisions are difficult for subsequent generations to understand the practicalities of their intended use.
And again I wonder what this has to do with the Australian constitutional system which allows the governors to exercise executive power, but does not afford them the rights of a dictator. Unless someone can explain why a governor would be either unable to respond to an emergency OR be unwilling work towards the restoration of democratic institutions (assuming they were affected) at the first opportunity, then I cannot see why we\'d not retain the present system on this.
I believe we have a superior system to the US in this regard, and yet the checks and balances of that system are taking note of this issue. It leads me to strongly support retaining the office of governor (and governor-general) within a Australian republican system and it surprises me that knowledgeable people would support codifying these powers.
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