Governor Bashir, Minister for Transport Carl Scully
Courtesy of News Ltd Photo Library

THE next governor of NSW could be a republican, but don't expect Dr Marie Bashir to advocate a divorce from Britain.

"I feel, in regard to that, that I'm free of labels about everything and I always have been," Dr Bashir told The Sunday Telegraph.

"That may once have been termed being rebellious, but I don't want to be owned by specific sub-groups. I'd prefer to be part of the whole spectrum."

Dr Bashir refused to comment on how she voted in the referendum on the republic and said she never promoted her own political beliefs.

"I never reveal my voting practices -- not even in the family," she said. "I would be concerned that my own attitudes might influence them."

Dr Bashir said she was not asked to play a role in the referendum debate and felt many other issues were more important in Australia.

"Many other issues were more important ... I knew that in time, the evolutionary process would provide what was best for the people of
Australia," she said.

"It seems to me that in time, the Australian population have made very wise decisions, including that regarding Federation."

Whether or not she is a republican, Dr Bashir is unequivocal in her enthusiasm to meet her new boss, the Queen.

"I would be looking forward to that very much," she said. Premier Bob Carr announced last week that in March, Dr Bashir would succeed Gordon Samuels as the next State governor.

The psychiatrist and renowned reconciliation advocate will become the first woman to be appointed to the post.

Dr Bashir acknowledged some might see her appointment as tokenism, but she hoped gender had played no role in her appointment. "I don't think there is any notion of tokenism," she said.

"To appoint a woman for a tokenistic reason would be taking a terrible gamble. I think hopefully, with some modesty, that the Premier's judgment was based on objective reasons, other than gender.

"I think our society, particularly in NSW, has been evolving in a sophisticated way. Women are occupying high positions in every sphere now, not only in government offices."

"I think medicine in NSW has not discriminated against women for decades, and academia has increasingly involved women in high-level appointments."

Dr Bashir graduated in medicine from Sydney University in 1956, married footballing businessman Nicholas Shehadie -- later to be Sydney's lord mayor -- the following year and has three children and six grandchildren.

The decision to accept the governorship was not easy for the Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at Sydney University.

"It was one that engendered some deep thinking," explained Dr Bashir, who had been contemplating semi-retirement.

When she was growing up in Narrandera of Lebanese descent, her parents encouraged her to contribute to society.

Dr Bashir, who acknowledged she would have to "zip up" her mouth when she was governor, said she hoped to travel widely to listen to people's concerns.