Michael Jeffery was sworn in as Australia's 24th Governor-General at Parliament House in Canberra Monday morning.

Jeffery, 65, was a soldier of the Australian army in the Vietnam War, former Special Air Service commander and governor of Western Australia. He replaces Peter Hollingworth, who resigned from the office in May.

Jeffery becomes the first Australian-born governor-general to have had a full time military career.

At the ceremony, Jeffery said he is proud and humbled to take up the job.

"I will do my best to fulfill the constitutional and public obligations of this high office with dedication, dignity and integrity," he said.

His predecessor Hollingworth stood down after controversy over his handling of sex abuse claims against the church while being Anglican Archbishop of Brisbane.

Jeffery has said before that he wanted to restore public confidence in the office of Governor General and that he hoped he would be able to unify the nation after the controversy surrounding his predecessor.
 
(Xinhua News Agency August 11, 2003)