Talk:Federal Executive Council (Australia)

Cabinet vs Council
I corrected this page, and the page concerning the Cabinet of Australia, to properly reflect the distinction between the Cabinet and the Executive Council.

I have added a source (from the Australian Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet) that supports the distinction--they are not quite the same thing. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 129.79.144.72 (talk • contribs).

It is correct that the Cabinet is not the same as the Council, but not all Ministers are members of the Cabinet. I have edited to correct this, and since there seems to be confusion, explained the difference between the two bodies (but I'm new to this, so...). Also Parliamentary Secretaries are members of Council, see 2.1.3 in the listed reference. --Qsjet 14:42, 24 April 2007 (UTC)

Also, people can be members of the Federal Executive Council without being ministers or former ministers. The Governor-General may summon anyone to be a member of Federal Executive Council - eg some members of the judiciary are members of the Federal Executive council. Regrettably the Aus govt directory does not list the members.Suastiastu (talk) 22:30, 17 August 2015 (UTC)

Why isn't the Opposition Leader a member
Unlike the Opposition Leaders of Canada and Britain who are members of those countries' Privy Councils, the Opposition Leader in Australia is not a member of the Executive Council. Why is that?

It rather explains why an Opposition Leader who has no ministerial experience does not have the Honourable title unlike the British and Canadian Opposition Leaders who get that title just by being members of the Privy Council regardless of whether they have been ministers or not.122.108.156.100 (talk) 10:17, 6 December 2015 (UTC)


 * Anyone who's ever been sworn in to EXCO remains an Executive Councillor-on-call until their death (apart from rare expulsions such as Glen Sheil). Theoretically, any or all of them could be called to attend and advise the Governor-General. That's why they remain "The Hon".  But our tradition is that the GG is advised by the current Prime Minister and his/her fellow ministers, and by no-one else.


 * The advice Sir John Kerr took from Sir Garfield Barwick in 1975 was done contrary to Gough Whitlam's explicit instructions. And the advice Kerr took from Anthony Mason was done without the knowledge of either Whitlam or Mason's superior, Barwick; or, indeed, of anyone else until 2012.  Then there was Kerr's secret consultations with the Opposition Leader, Malcolm Fraser.  All of this extraordinary behaviour on Kerr's part was an extreme case of divergence from the tradition.  --  Jack of Oz   [pleasantries]  21:05, 6 December 2015 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20150427142015/http://www.dpmc.gov.au/pmc/publication/federal-executive-council-handbook to http://www.dpmc.gov.au/pmc/publication/federal-executive-council-handbook
 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20070720225659/http://www.pmc.gov.au/guidelines/docs/executive_handbook.pdf to http://www.pmc.gov.au/guidelines/docs/executive_handbook.pdf

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