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The Senate's Guiding Hand

An authoritative exploration of the pivotal role of the Leader of the Government in the Australian Senate, detailing its history, responsibilities, and occupants.

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Overview

Defining the Role

The Leader of the Government in the Senate is the Australian government's most senior cabinet minister within the Australian Senate. This position serves as the primary government spokesperson in the upper house, mirroring the responsibilities of the Prime Minister in the House of Representatives. The role, though not constitutionally mandated, has been a consistent feature of Australian parliamentary practice since 1901, evolving from practices in colonial parliaments.

Governmental Representation

The Leader of the Government in the Senate is responsible for managing government business and policy announcements within the Senate. They hold significant influence over the legislative agenda and the functioning of the government in the upper chamber. The position is typically held by a senator who is also a senior minister in the Cabinet, often with a portfolio such as Attorney-General, Minister for Finance, or Minister for Foreign Affairs.

Historical Context

The position's origins trace back to the early days of the Commonwealth Parliament. While its duties are analogous to the Senate Majority Leader in the United States, its development was independently influenced by Australian colonial parliamentary traditions. The Leader of the Government in the Senate is crucial for maintaining the government's authority and effectiveness in legislative proceedings.

Role and History

Duties and Privileges

The Leader of the Government in the Senate acts as the principal government spokesperson in the upper house. This role entails announcing changes to government officeholders, appointing government senators to committees, and generally guiding the government's legislative strategy within the Senate. They are entitled to sit at the table of the Senate and have priority in gaining recognition from the President of the Senate during debates, underscoring their senior position.

Evolution of the Position

Established by parliamentary convention rather than constitutional decree, the role has evolved alongside the Australian parliamentary system. Its lineage can be traced to the leadership positions within Australia's colonial parliaments. Unlike the Prime Minister, the Leader of the Government in the Senate is not required to command the confidence of the chamber, as the government is formed in the House of Representatives.

Notable Tenure

Sir George Pearce holds the record for the longest cumulative service as Leader of the Government in the Senate, serving for approximately 15 years across three distinct periods between 1914 and 1937. A unique instance occurred in 1968 when John Gorton, a senator, simultaneously held the positions of Prime Minister and Leader of the Government in the Senate, subsequently resigning his Senate seat to contest a by-election for the House of Representatives.

List of Leaders

Historical Record

The following table details the individuals who have held the position of Leader of the Government in the Senate, along with their terms, portfolios, party affiliations, and the Prime Ministers they served under.

Leaders of the Government in the Senate (Australia)
Leader Term began Term ended Portfolio[5] Party Prime Minister Term in office Deputy
  Richard O'Connor 9 May 1901[6][7] 24 September 1903 V-P Exec. Council Protectionist Barton 2 years, 96 days James Drake
Tom Playford 24 September 1903[8] 27 April 1904 V-P Exec. Council Protectionist Deakin 216 days
  Gregor McGregor 27 April 1904[9] 18 August 1904 V-P Exec. Council Labor Watson 113 days Anderson Dawson
  Josiah Symon 18 August 1904[10] 5 July 1905 Attorney-General Free Trade Reid 321 days James Drake
  Tom Playford 5 July 1905[11][12] 31 December 1906[n 1] Defence Protectionist Deakin 1 year, 179 days John Keating
Robert Best 20 February 1907[5][14] 13 November 1908 V-P Exec. Council Protectionist 1 year, 267 days
  Gregor McGregor 13 November 1908[15][16] 2 June 1909 V-P Exec. Council Labor Fisher 201 days George Pearce
  Edward Millen 2 June 1909[17] 29 April 1910 V-P Exec. Council Commonwealth
Liberal		 Deakin 331 days Robert Best
  Gregor McGregor 29 April 1910[18][19] 24 June 1913 V-P Exec. Council Labor Fisher 3 years, 56 days George Pearce
  Edward Millen 24 June 1913[20] 17 September 1914 Defence Commonwealth
Liberal		 Cook 1 year, 85 days James McColl
  George Pearce 17 September 1914[21][22] 17 February 1917 Defence Labor Fisher 2 years, 153 days Albert Gardiner
Hughes
  National Labor Patrick Lynch
  Edward Millen 17 February 1917[23] 9 February 1923
  • V-P Exec. Council
  • Repatriation (from Sep 1917)
 Nationalist Hughes 5 years, 357 days George Pearce
  George Pearce 9 February 1923[24][25] 29 November 1937
  • Home and Territories (to 1926)
  • V-P Exec. Council (from 1926)
 Nationalist Bruce 6 years, 252 days Victor Wilson
  John Daly 22 October 1929[26] 3 March 1931
  • V-P Exec. Council
  • Defence (Febโ€“Mar 1931)
 Labor Scullin 1 year, 132 days
John Barnes 3 March 1931[27] 6 January 1932 V-P Exec. Council Labor 309 days
  George Pearce 6 January 1932[28] 29 November 1937
  • Defence (to 1934)
  • Home Affairs (from 1934)
  • Territories (from 1934)
 United
Australia		 Lyons 5 years, 327 days
Alexander McLachlan 29 November 1937[29] 7 November 1938 Postmaster-General United
Australia 		343 days
George McLeay 8 November 1938[30] 7 October 1941
  • V-P Exec. Council (to 1939)
  • Commerce (1939 โ€“ Mar 1940)
  • Trade and Customs (Marโ€“Oct 1940)
  • Postmaster-General (Oct 1940โ€“41)
  • Repatriation (Oct 1940โ€“41)
  • V-P Exec. Council (from 1941)
  • Supply and Development (from Jun 1941)
 United
Australia 		2 years, 333 days
Page
Menzies
Fadden
  Joe Collings 7 October 1941[31][32] 20 September 1943 Interior Labor Curtin 1 year, 348 days
Richard Keane 20 September 1943[33] 26 April 1946 Trade and Customs Labor 2 years, 218 days
Forde
Chifley
Bill Ashley 17 June 1946[34] 19 December 1949
  • Supply and Shipping
  • Shipping and Fuel
 Labor Chifley 3 years, 185 days
  Neil O'Sullivan 21 February 1950[35] 8 December 1958
  • Trade and Customs (to Jan 1956)
  • the Navy (Janโ€“Oct 1956)
  • Attorney-General (from Aug 1956)
  • V-P Exec. Council (from Oct 1956)
 Liberal Menzies 8 years, 290 days
Bill Spooner 8 December 1958[36] 2 June 1964
  • V-P Exec. Council
  • National Development
 Shane Paltridge
Shane Paltridge 10 June 1964[38] 19 January 1966 Defence Denham Henty
Denham Henty 26 January 1966[40] 16 October 1967 Supply Holt 1 year, 263 days John Gorton
John Gorton 16 October 1967 1 February 1968
  • Education and Science
  • Prime Minister (from 10 Jan. 1968)
 McEwen 108 days Denham Henty
Himself
McMahon
Ken Anderson 28 February 1968[n 2] 5 December 1972
  • Supply (to 1971)
  • Health
 Gorton 4 years, 281 days
Annabelle Rankin
McMahon
Reg Wright
  Lionel Murphy 19 December 1972[42] 9 February 1975
  • Attorney-General
  • Custom and Excise
 Labor Whitlam 2 years, 52 days
Ken Wriedt 10 February 1975[43] 11 November 1975
  • Agriculture (to Oct 1975)
  • Minerals and Energy (from Oct 1975)
 Labor 274 days
  Reg Withers 12 November 1975[44] 7 August 1978[45]
  • V-P Exec. Council[n 3]
  • Administrative Services
 Liberal Fraser 2 years, 268 days
John Carrick 7 August 1978[46] 11 March 1983
  • V-P Exec. Council (to 1982)
  • Education (to 1979)
  • National Development (from 1979)
 Liberal 4 years, 216 days
  John Button 11 March 1983[47] 24 March 1993 Industry, Technology and Commerce[n 4] Labor Hawke 10 years, 13 days
Keating
Gareth Evans 24 March 1993[48] 6 February 1996[n 5] Foreign Affairs Labor Keating 2 years, 319 days
  Robert Hill 11 March 1996[49] 20 January 2006
  • Environment and Heritage (to 2001)[n 6]
  • Defence
 Liberal Howard 9 years, 315 days Nick Minchin
Nick Minchin 27 January 2006[50] 3 December 2007
  • V-P Exec. Council
  • Finance and Administration
 Liberal Helen Coonan
  Chris Evans 12 December 2007[51][52] 4 February 2013
  • Immigration and Citizenship (to 2010)
  • Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations (from 2010)[n 7]
 Labor Rudd 5 years, 54 days Stephen Conroy
Gillard
Stephen Conroy 4 February 2013[53][54] 26 June 2013 Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Gillard 142 days
Penny Wong 26 June 2013[55][56] 18 September 2013 Finance and Deregulation Rudd 84 days
  Eric Abetz 18 September 2013[57][58] 21 September 2015 Employment Liberal Abbott 2 years, 2 days George Brandis
George Brandis 21 September 2015 20 December 2017 Attorney-General
V-P Exec. Council 		Liberal Turnbull Mathias Cormann
Mathias Cormann 20 December 2017 30 October 2020 Finance and the Public Service
V-P Exec. Council 		Liberal 2 years, 315 days Mitch Fifield
Simon Birmingham
Liberal Morrison
Simon Birmingham 30 October 2020 23 May 2022 Finance
Trade, Tourism and Investment (to Dec 2020)
V-P Exec. Council 		Liberal Morrison 1 year, 205 days Michaelia Cash
  Penny Wong 1 June 2022 Incumbent Foreign Affairs Labor Albanese 3 years, 121 days Don Farrell

Notes

Clarifications

The following notes provide additional context or clarify specific details mentioned in the table:

  • Note 1: Playford lost his seat at the 1906 Australian federal election on 12 December. The year 1906 was the last in which terms ended on the last day of December rather than June.
  • Note 2: Anderson was appointed Leader of the Government before the second session of the 26th Parliament, and Gorton made his appointments on 28 February 1968.
  • Note 3: Withers was appointed Vice-President of the Executive Council the day after the Dismissal as part of Fraser's Caretaker Cabinet, continuing in that office for his entire tenure as Leader of the Government. He also served in caretaker capacities for other ministries before the first full Cabinet was sworn in on 22 December 1975.
  • Note 4: Minister for Industry and Commerce from 1983โ€“1984.
  • Note 5: Resigned to contest (successfully) the lower house seat of Holt.
  • Note 6: Minister for Environment from 1996โ€“98.
  • Note 7: Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research from 2011โ€“13.

Related Roles

Further Information

References

Source Citations

  1. ^ Playford lost his seat at the 1906 Australian federal election on 12 December. The year 1906 was the last in which terms ended on the last day of December rather than June.
  2. ^ Anderson was appointed Leader of the Government before the second session of the 26th Parliament, 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.
  4. ^ Minister for Industry and Commerce 1983โ€“1984.
  5. ^ Resigned to contest (successfully) the lower house seat of Holt.
  6. ^ Minister for Environment 1996โ€“98.
  7. ^ Tertiary Education, Skills, Science and Research 2011โ€“13.
  8. ^ "Senate Office Holders". www.aph.gov.au. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  9. ^ "Who's who in the current Parliament - Parliamentary Education Office". peo.gov.au. Archived from the original on 28 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  10. ^ a b "Leadership in Parliament". Fact Sheets. Parliamentary Education Office. Archived from the original on 17 September 2013. Retrieved 24 August 2013.
  11. ^ "6. Senators: Parties and party leaders". Odger's Australian Senate Practice (13th ed.). Archived from the original on 21 July 2013. Retrieved 23 August 2013.
  12. ^ a b c Australian Parliamentary Library. "Ministries and Cabinets". Parliamentary Handbook (32nd ed.). Archived from the original on 29 August 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2013.
  13. ^ "The Commonwealth". The Register. 29 May 1901. p. 6. Archived from the original on 29 August 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  14. ^ Richard O'Connor, Leader of the Senate (13 August 1903). "Standing Orders". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Commonwealth of Australia: Senate. p. 3512. Archived 29 August 2024 at the Wayback Machine
  15. ^ "Political Notes". Western Star and Roma Advertiser. 2 September 1903. p. 3. Archived from the original on 29 August 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  16. ^ "Federal Politics: Mr. Watson Forms a Cabinet". The West Australian. 27 April 1904. p. 7. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  17. ^ "Latest Messagesโ€”Federal Parliament: The New Ministry". Western Star and Roma Advertiser. 20 August 1904. p. 2. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  18. ^ Henry Dobson (7 July 1905). "New Administration: special adjournment". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Commonwealth of Australia: Senate. p. 142. Archived 29 August 2024 at the Wayback Machine
  19. ^ "Senator Keating and Other Ministers". The Examiner. 11 July 1905. p. 5. Archived from the original on 29 August 2024. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  20. ^ Constitution Alteration (Senate Elections Act) 1906. Archived 29 August 2024 at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^ "The Commonwealth Parliament: First Day's Proceedings". The Register. 21 February 1907. p. 6. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  22. ^ "Members of New Cabinet: Representation of States". Kalgoorlie Miner. 13 November 1908. p. 5. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  23. ^ "Federal Labor Ministry Sworn in Today". The Daily News. 13 November 1908. p. 3. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  24. ^ "Formation of the Cabinet: The New Ministers". Kalgoorlie Western Argus. 8 June 1909. p. 36. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  25. ^ "New Labor Ministry: Mr Fisher's Team Sworn In". The North Western Advocate and the Emu Bay Times. 30 April 1910. p. 5. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  26. ^ "Federal Land Tax: The Property Owners". Daily Herald. 17 October 1910. p. 6. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  27. ^ "The Cook Cabinet: Personnel of the New Team". Forbes Advocate. 18 September 1913. p. 3. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  28. ^ "The New Ministry: Result of the Ballot". The Examiner. 18 September 1914. p. 6. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  29. ^ "Fourth Commonwealth Labour Government". The Worker. 24 September 1914. p. 6. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  30. ^ "Win-the-War" Ministry: Portfolios Allotted". The Argus. 19 February 1917. p. 6. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  31. ^ "Federal Ministry Sworn In". The Register. 10 February 1923. p. 9. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  32. ^ "The Federal Government". The West Australian. 12 February 1923. p. 6. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  33. ^ "The Federal Ministry: Members Sworn In". Advertiser. 25 October 1929. p. 2. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  34. ^ "Allocation of Federal Portfolios". The Advocate. 4 May 1931. p. 7. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  35. ^ "The Federal Sphere: New Ministry Sworn In". The Longreach Leader. 8 January 1932. p. 16. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  36. ^ "Federal Cabinet: The New Ministersโ€”Surprise Changes". The West Australian. 30 November 1937. p. 17. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  37. ^ "Health Portfolioโ€”Senator Foll". The Mercury. 8 November 1938. p. 7. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  38. ^ "Election of Cabinet: Labor Party to Assemble in Canberra Today". The Mercury. 6 October 1941. p. 2. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  39. ^ "New Ministers Sworn In, Canberra Ceremony". The Sydney Morning Herald. 8 October 1941. p. 8. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  40. ^ "Ballot for Labor Cabinet: Fourteen Ministers Elected in First Count". The Advertiser. 21 September 1943. p. 3. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  41. ^ "Sen. McKenna Appointed to Fedl. Cabinet". The Courier-Mail. 18 June 1946. p. 1. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  42. ^ "Dr. Evatt Survives a Challenge, Mr. E. J. Ward Beaten For Labour Party Post". The West Australian. 22 February 1950. p. 2. Retrieved 6 September 2014 โ€“ via Trove.
  43. ^ "5 New Men in Federal Ministry, Dr. Allen Fairhall Omitted". The Canberra Times. 9 December 1958. p. 1. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  44. ^ "Spooner Resigns from Cabinet: Government Solves One Problem, Finds Another". The Canberra Times. 3 June 1964. p. 1. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  45. ^ "P.M. Fills Vacancies in Cabinet Reshuffle: Anderson and Howson New Ministers". The Canberra Times. 11 June 1964. p. 1. Retrieved 1 August 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  46. ^ "Paltridge resigns Defence portfolio". The Canberra Times. 20 January 1966. p. 1. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  47. ^ "Bury in Cabinet: Holt chooses woman Minister in reshuffle". The Canberra Times. 26 January 1966. p. 1. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  48. ^ Ken Anderson, Leader of the Government in the Senate (12 March 1968). "Ministerial Arrangement". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). Commonwealth of Australia: Senate. p. 12. Archived 29 August 2024 at the Wayback Machine
  49. ^ "Full Labor Ministry sworn in". The Canberra Times. 20 December 1972. p. 1. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
  50. ^ "Mr Enderby Made Attorney-General". The Canberra Times. 11 February 1975. p. 1. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
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  52. ^ "PM sacks Withers, Durack gets post". The Canberra Times. 8 August 1978. p. 1. Retrieved 6 September 2013 โ€“ via Trove.
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References

References

  1.  Resigned to contest (successfully) the lower house seat of Holt.
A full list of references for this article are available at the Leader of the Government in the Senate (Australia) Wikipedia page

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