A journalist for Governor-General

Clarkson's paternal grandfather emigrated from China to Australia and opened a general store in Chiltern, Victoria.

The current office holder is Michelle Jean, the first black Canadian to do so. She was born in Haiti, in the Caribbean, and later immigrated to Canada, and became a prominent French speaking journalist.

Prominent Canadian defence reporter Scott Taylor has written about how she has earned the respect of the Canadian military.

There have been female governors of Australian states, Dame Roma Mitchell of South Australia, and Professor Marie Bashir of New South Wales, come to mind.

Dame Roma Mitchell was a trailblazer. She was the first woman in Australia to be made a QC, the first female Supreme Court Judge, female university chancellor and female Governor.

In 2001, Professor Bashir, of Lebanese Christian ancestry, became the first female state governor of New South Wales.

Sir Douglas Nicholls was the first indigenous Australian to be a state governor - of South Australia.

Four journalist names appear to me as the perfect candidates for Australia's next Governor General, and I would urge Prime Minister Julia Gillard or her successor to seriously consider them.

Number one on my list is Les Carlyon, award winning journalist, former editor of the Herald and Weekly Times, and bestselling author. Les, in his books on Gallipoli and the Great War, has done more than anyone to preserve and promote Australia's Anzac legend, the very ethos on which this country was built. Furthermore, as a horse racing man, he would have mixed easily with all sections of society. One of the prerequisites for the job of Governor General is to be a people person.

Caroline Jones, 1938, is a public broadcaster and award winning journalist and author who has touched the hearts of many ordinary people with her uplifting and inspirational look at the meaning of life. She was an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO).

Caroline was a foundation member of the Australian Council for the Arts (1973) and a foundation member of The National Films Board of Review (1971). In 1988 she was appointed an Ambassador for Reconciliation by The Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation

In 1997 Caroline Jones was voted one of Australia's 100 National Living Treasures.