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

 * Prime Minister: Hon. Zoe Parker, MP
 * Deputy Prime Minister: Hon. Tom McCully, MP
 * Leader of the Government in the Senate and Minister for Home Affairs and Administration: Senator Hon. Janet Hunt
 * Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate and Minister for Industrial Relations, Employment and Business: Senator Hon. Alan Swan
 * Treasurer: Hon. Xavier McLaren, MP
 * Minister for Foreign Affairs: Hon. Lawrence Porter, MP
 * Minister for Defence and National Security: Hon. Dr. Keith Briggs, MP
 * Minister for Finance and Economic Development: Hon. Dr. Christine Hinkle, MP
 * Attorney General: Hon. Dr. David Keeler, MP
 * Minister for Education, Science and Youth Affairs: Senator Hon. Felicity Porthrop
 * Minister for Health and Social Services: Hon. Clare Price, MP
 * Minister for the Environment and Resources: Hon. Wendy Chamberlain, MP
 * Minister for Social Security and Veterans Affairs: Hon. Michael Boyle, MP
 * Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts: Hon. Geraldine McLean, MP
 * Minister for Industry, Trade and Commerce: Hon. Dr. Erica Lucas, MP