CANBERRA, July 1 (Xinhua) -- Former Army veteran and Defence Force chief David Hurley has been sworn in as Australia's 27th governor-general.
Hurley, who served in the Australian Army for 42 years and as head of the Defence Force from 2011 to 2014, was welcomed to the Parliament House by Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Monday morning before being officially sworn in by High Court Chief Justice Susan Kiefel.
As the governor-general of the Commonwealth of Australia, Hurley will act as the representative of the Australian monarch, currently Queen Elizabeth II.
He is the 16th person to represent the Queen since her coronation in 1952.
Addressing the Parliament after being sworn in, Hurley said that his priorities in the role would be supporting indigenous Australians, protecting democracy and supporting organizations that help veterans, asylum seekers and rural communities.
"We can be informed by many sources of the ills of our society, it is important that we are reminded of its goodness," he said. "There are countless organisations and people demonstrating how rich this country is every day.
"As Governor-General, I am committed absolutely to supporting these people in their work."
Hurley was named to the role by Morrison after having served the last 4.5 years as the governor of New South Wales - his home state.
Announcing his appointment back in December 2018, Morrison said that Hurley was the only candidate he had considered.
Hurley became renowned during his time as governor of NSW for regularly joining boxing sessions with young indigenous people, an activity which earned him the nickname "the governator," and for his many visits to regional communities.
He is the second consecutive governor-general to come from a military background, having been preceded by Peter Cosgrove who was also Chief of the Defence Force between 2002 and 2005.
During his 42-year military career Hurley was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for commanding the first battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR) deployment to Somalia in 1993.
