what turnbull said..., page-47

once one remembers that Australia is actually a monarchy, then it is not difficult to understand that the Governor general, who is the monarch's representative in Australia, has the sort of "executive" power which a monarch normally would have. In practical terms, this "executive" power has been tempered in practice by the concept of representative government. But, technically, the monarch's representative in Australia is the most powerful person in this country. Not many is probably aware that the Governor general is actually the head of our defence force.