Cabinet of Georgeland
The Cabinet of Georgeland is the primary policy-making body in the Georgeland government, consisting of the most senior Ministers and chaired by the Prime Minister. The Cabinet is a constitutionally-mandated body, and is the source of formal 'advice' on executive decisions to the President of Georgeland; in practice, Cabinet makes decisions and the President merely gives approval, though the theory remains that the President makes executive decisions in 'consultation' with the Cabinet. The President is theoretically entitled to attend meetings of the Cabinet (and chair them); however, no President has yet done so.
All members of the Cabinet are required to be either a member of the House of Commons or the Senate. It is possible to be a member of Cabinet for a maximum of eight weeks without being a member of either house - this allows for governments to continue in office once an election is called and Parliament dissolved. While the majority of Cabinet members are drawn from the Commons, the Senate is usually well-represented. The Leader of the Government in the Senate is always a member of the Cabinet.
Due to Westminster tradition, all decisions made by Cabinet are considered to be unanimous, and any Minister (including the Prime Minister) who is unwilling to abide by the decision of Cabinet is duty-bound to resign. This has happened a handful of times, but the general principle is that all Cabinet members support (publicly at least) the decisions made by the Cabinet.
Another tradition associated with Cabinet is that the Prime Minister, while acting as the Chair and the President's chief adviser, is nonetheless merely 'first among equals' and that no member of the Cabinet is superior in rank or status to any other. In practice, however, the Prime Minister exercises significant control over the Cabinet, and 'senior' ministers such as the Treasurer and Foreign Minister are seen as having greater influence than other Cabinet ministers.
The portfolios represented by Cabinet members are at the discretion of the Prime Minister. While certain posts such as Treasurer and Foreign Minister are constant, the nuances of individual ministerial portfolios tends to fluctuate from administration to administration.
Formerly, all Cabinet Ministers recieved the title of Right Honourable for life. This practice ended in 1929. All ministers, including those outside Cabinet, now are styled The Honourable for life.
Present Cabinet
Main article: Ministry of Tom Elderton Ministers in orange represent the Georgeland Alliance. Those in purple represent Reform.
Portfolio | Minister | Term |
---|---|---|
Prime Minister
Minister for the Civil Service |
Hon. Tom Elderton MP | 1 July 2019 - |
Deputy Prime Minister | Hon. Edwina Haggard MP | 1 July 2019- |
Leader of the Government in the Senate | Sen. Hon Dr. Ryan Stone | 1 July 2019- |
Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate | Sen. Hon. Florence Roberts | 1 July 2019- |
Treasurer | Hon. Natalie Smith MP | 1 July 2019- |
Minister for Foreign Affairs | Sen. Hon. Andrew Taylor | 1 July 2019- |
Minister for Defence | Hon. John Bedford MP | 1 July 2019- |
Minister for Small Business and Competition | Hon. Niall Summers MP | 1 July 2019- |
Minister for Immigration and Border Control | Sen. Hon. Neil Hassan | 1 July 2019- |
Minister for Energy and Resources | Sen. Hon. Jasmine Furner | 1 July 2019- |
Minister for Finance and Economic Growth | Hon. Frank Bowman MP | 4 Jan 2020-
1 Jul 2019- |
Minister for Commerce, Workplace Relations and Employment | Hon. Toby Semmell MP | 1 July 2019- |
Minister for Education, Youth Affairs and Culture | Hon. Christa Dickson MP | 1 July 2019- |
Minister for Human and Community Services | Hon. August Powers MP | 1 July 2019- |
Minister for Health, Ageing and Childhood | Hon. Yvonne Otway MP |
1 July 2019- |
Minister for Trade and Industry | Sen. Hon. Leanne Pershaw | 1 July 2019- |
Attorney General
Minister for Disaster Relief and National Security |
Sen. Hon. Lisa Foster | 1 July 2019- |
Minister for Innovation and Science | Hon. Jo Harlend MP | 1 July 2019- |
Minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries | Hon. Petra Starke MP | 1 July 2019- |
Minister for Communications, Digital Transformation and Cybersecurity | Hon. Nina Wolcott MP | 1 July 2019- |