LATIKA M BOURKE: Two years into the role, most Australians could not name our Governor-General, Sam Mostyn

Most Australians have never heard of the country’s Governor-General, Sam Mostyn, with new polling revealing One Nation Senator Malcolm Roberts is more recognised by voters.

When she was sworn into the top role, Ms Mostyn told Parliament she would be an “optimistic, modern and visible”.

But two years after being named Australia’s Governor-General, polling conducted by the apolitical research firm RedBridge showed 52 per cent of those surveyed said they had never heard of her.

Of those who had heard of Ms Mostyn, they struggled to hold a strong view of her, with 20 per cent saying they held neither a favourable nor unfavourable view, translating into a net rating of 1 per cent.

By contrast, more Australians had heard of Malcolm Roberts, the One Nation Senator who regularly spreads conspiracy theories and has posted anti-Semitic content.

His net rating was minus five, just six points shy of the Governor-General. This made him slightly more popular than billionaire Gina Rinehart, a political donor of One Nation’s who had a net rating of minus nine.

The role of Governor-General is apolitical and usually confined to ceremonial tasks. But Ms Mostyn has been more active than her predecessors and often speaks publicly and conducts media interviews — something past GG’s have normally shunned.

She said it was imperative because of the lack of understanding about Australia’s democratic system among children and adults.

“Every part of what I do we film and we share it (via social media) with the Australian public and say if you don’t believe in this democracy, you don’t understand our particular form of democracy, have a look at what you should be proud of,” Ms Mostyn said.

She said she was staggered that it was not just children who did not understand the processes of Australian democracy, but also adults who encouraged her role to veto laws passed by the Parliament.

“(I meet) grown-ups around the country who for the first time learn that I can’t refuse to sign a bill,” she said, speaking recently in the UK, where she attended the Commonwealth Games.

“It’s amazing the number of people who think the Governor-General should just become part of the political system.”

Ms Mostyn said it was her mission to be open, authentic and share every part of her role with voters on social media platforms.

But she hit out at online trolls, labelling them cowards. She said she was initially criticised as “soft” when she vowed to put care, kindness and respect at the centre of her work.

“The care I was talking about was care for each other, the incredible amount of care that goes on in the community,” she said.

“I find when I travel around Australia and to go back to that concept of caring about those things, the community wants to care about those things, they don’t agree with what’s online, which is often driven by, I think, a group of people who lack courage and don’t put their names to the comments.”

She said while the mainstream media sowed the seeds of a narrative that Australia’s social cohesion was breaking, that was not her experience and could not be allowed to become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

“We can’t let apathy and disinformation and collision of those two things drive us away from what is one of our great strengths,” she said.

Historian Frank Bongiorno, who specialises in political history at the University of Canberra, said he did not think it unusual that Australians were not aware of Ms Mostyn.

“I suspect it’s inherent in the role of the G-G that many Australians won’t be much aware of who holds the office,” he said.

“The G-G isn’t part of the ordinary news cycle unless there’s a scandal or controversy and many Australians would likely struggle to understand what the role involves.

So I’d see it as partly about lack of civic knowledge and partly about the relatively low-profile nature of the role in the ordinary course of events.”