Leader of the Government in the Senate (Australia)
The Leader of the Government in the Senate, also known (especially before the 1940s) as Leader of the Senate, is a party office held by the most senior minister in the Australian Senate, elected to lead the governing party (or parties) in the body.[1] Though the leader in the Senate does not have the power of the office of prime minister, there are some parallels between the latter's status in the House of Representatives and the former's in the Senate.[1] In addition to his or her own ministerial portfolio, the leader has overarching responsibility for all policy areas and acts as the government's principal spokesperson in the upper house. The leader, like the prime minister, is entitled to sit at the table of the Senate,[1] and has priority in gaining recognition from the President of the Senate to speak in debate. Another similarity is that the leader typically announces changes to government officeholders in the Senate, including ministers, leadership and whips.[2] The leader also has some responsibility for appointing government senators to committees, a role filled by the Leader of the House and whips in the lower house. The current leader is George Brandis. The leader is assisted by a Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate, currently Mathias Cormann.
Leaders of the Government
Leader | Term began | Term ended | Portfolio[3] | Party | Prime Minister | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Richard O'Connor | Federation[4][5] | 24 September 1903 | Vice-President of the Executive Council | Protectionist | Edmund Barton | |
Tom Playford | 24 September 1903[6] | 27 April 1904 | Vice-President of the Executive Council | Protectionist | Alfred Deakin | |
Gregor McGregor | 27 April 1904[7] | 18 August 1904 | Vice-President of the Executive Council | Labor | Chris Watson | |
Josiah Symon | 18 August 1904[8] | 5 July 1905 | Attorney-General | Free Trade | George Reid | |
Tom Playford | 5 July 1905[9][10] | 31 December 1906[n 1] | Defence | Protectionist | Alfred Deakin | |
Robert Best | 20 February 1907[3][12] | 13 November 1908 | Vice-President of the Executive Council | Protectionist | Alfred Deakin | |
Gregor McGregor | 13 November 1908[13][14] | 2 June 1909 | Vice-President of the Executive Council | Labor | Andrew Fisher | |
Edward Millen | 2 June 1909[15] | 29 April 1910 | Vice-President of the Executive Council | Commonwealth Liberal |
Alfred Deakin | |
Gregor McGregor | 29 April 1910[16][17] | 24 June 1913 | Vice-President of the Executive Council | Labor | Andrew Fisher | |
Edward Millen | 24 June 1913[18] | 17 September 1914 | Defence | Commonwealth Liberal |
Joseph Cook | |
George Pearce | 17 September 1914[19][20] | 17 February 1917 | Defence | Labor | Andrew Fisher | |
Billy Hughes | ||||||
National Labor | ||||||
Edward Millen | 17 February 1917[21] | 9 February 1923 | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
|
Commonwealth Liberal |
||
Nationalist | ||||||
George Pearce | 9 February 1923[22][23] | 19 October 1929 | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
|
Nationalist | Stanley Bruce | |
John Daly | 22 October 1929[24] | 3 March 1931 | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
|
Labor | James Scullin | |
John Barnes | 3 March 1931[25] | 6 January 1932 | Vice-President of the Executive Council | Labor | ||
George Pearce | 6 January 1932[26] | 29 November 1937 | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
|
United Australia |
Joseph Lyons | |
Alexander McLachlan | 29 November 1937[27] | 7 November 1938 | Postmaster-General | United Australia |
||
George McLeay | 8 November 1938[28] | 7 October 1941 | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
|
United Australia |
||
Earle Page | ||||||
Robert Menzies | ||||||
Arthur Fadden | ||||||
Joe Collings | 7 October 1941[29][30] | 20 September 1943 | the Interior | Labor | John Curtin | |
Richard Keane | 20 September 1943[31] | 26 April 1946 | Trade and Customs | Labor | ||
Frank Forde | ||||||
Ben Chifley | ||||||
Bill Ashley | 17 June 1946[32] | 19 December 1949 | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/> | Labor | ||
Neil O'Sullivan | 21 February 1950[33] | 8 December 1958 | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
|
Liberal | Robert Menzies | |
Bill Spooner | 8 December 1958[34] | 2 June 1964[35] | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/> | Liberal | ||
Shane Paltridge | 10 June 1964[36] | 19 January 1966[37] | Defence | Liberal | ||
Denham Henty | 26 January 1966[38] | 10 January 1968 | Supply | Liberal | Harold Holt | |
John McEwen | ||||||
John Gorton | 10 January 1968[39] | 1 February 1968 | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/> | Liberal | Himself | |
Ken Anderson | 28 February 1968[n 2] | 5 December 1972 | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/> | Liberal | John Gorton | |
William McMahon | ||||||
Lionel Murphy | 19 December 1972[41] | 9 February 1975 | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/> | Labor | Gough Whitlam | |
Ken Wriedt | 10 February 1975[42] | 11 November 1975 | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
|
Labor | ||
Reg Withers | 12 November 1975[43] | 7 August 1978[44] | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/> | Liberal | Malcolm Fraser | |
John Carrick | 7 August 1978[45] | 11 March 1983 | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
|
Liberal | ||
John Button | 11 March 1983[46] | 24 March 1993 | Industry, Technology and Commerce[n 4] | Labor | Bob Hawke | |
Paul Keating | ||||||
Gareth Evans | 24 March 1993[47] | 6 February 1996[n 5] | Foreign Affairs | Labor | ||
Robert Hill | 11 March 1996[48] | 20 January 2006 | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
|
Liberal | John Howard | |
Nick Minchin | 27 January 2006[49] | 3 December 2007 | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/> | Liberal | ||
Chris Evans | 12 December 2007[50][51] | 4 February 2013 | <templatestyles src="Plainlist/styles.css"/>
|
Labor | Kevin Rudd | |
Julia Gillard | ||||||
Stephen Conroy | 4 February 2013[52][53] | 26 June 2013 | Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy | Labor | ||
Penny Wong | 26 June 2013[54][55] | 18 September 2013 | Finance and Deregulation | Labor | Kevin Rudd | |
Eric Abetz | 18 September 2013[56][57] | 21 September 2015 | Employment | Liberal | Tony Abbott | |
Malcolm Turnbull | ||||||
George Brandis | 21 September 2015 | Incumbent | Attorney-General Vice-President of the Executive Council |
Liberal | Malcolm Turnbull |
See also
- Leader of the Opposition in the Senate (Australia)
- Manager of Government Business in the Senate (Australia)
Notes
- ↑ Playford lost his seat at the federal election on 12 December. The year 1906 was the last in which terms ended in on the last day of December rather than June.[11]
- ↑ Anderson was appointed Leader of the Government before the second session of the 26th Parliament,[40] and Gorton made his appointments on 28 February 1968.[3]
- ↑ Withers was appointed Vice-President of the Executive Council the day after the Dismissal as part of Fraser's Caretaker Cabinet, but he continued in that office for his entire tenure as Leader of the Government. On the same date, he was appointed caretaker the Capital Territory, Special Minister of State, Minister for the Media, and Tourism and Recreation. He served in those offices until 22 December, when Fraser's first full Cabinet was sworn in. The Senate did not meet during the period 12 November to 22 December 1975 (indeed it was dissolved for most of that time). Withers gained the Administrative Services portfolio as part of 22 December reshuffle.
- ↑ Minister for Industry and Commerce 1983–1984.
- ↑ Resigned to contest (successfully) the lower house seat of Holt.
- ↑ Minister for Environment 1996–98.
- ↑ Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research 2011–13.
References
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- ↑ Constitution Alteration (Senate Elections Act) 1906.
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