Deputy Prime Minister of Australia

Not to be confused with Deputy Premiers of the Australian states.

Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
Coat of arms of Australia
Incumbent Warren Truss since 18 September 2013
Style	The Honourable
Appointer	Governor-General of Australia on the recommendation of the Prime Minister
Term length	At Her Majesty's pleasure
Inaugural holder	John McEwen
Formation	10 January 1968

The Deputy Prime Minister of Australia is the second-most senior officer in the Government of Australia. The office of Deputy Prime Minister was created as a ministerial portfolio in 1968. The Deputy Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the Prime Minister.

The current Deputy Prime Minister is National Party leader, Warren Truss. The Deputy Prime Minister is entitled to additional pay over and above those of a Minister in Cabinet. Under the Coalition agreement between the Liberal and National parties, when in government, the position is held by the leader of the National Party. In the case of Labor governments, the party's deputy leader is the Deputy Prime Minister. The duties of the Deputy Prime Minister is largely contingent, coming into play only when the Prime Minister is absent from the country or is on leave, when he or she is referred to as Acting Prime Minister.

History

Originally the position of deputy Prime Minister was an unofficial or honorary position. The unofficial position acquired more significance following the 1922 federal election, which saw the governing Nationalist Party lose its he parliamentary majority. The Nationalists eventually reached a coalition agreement with the Country Party, which called for Country Party leader Earle Page to take the second rank in the Nationalist-led ministry of Stanley Bruce. While Page's only official title was Treasurer, he was considered as a deputy to Bruce. Until 1968 the term was used unofficially for the second-highest ranking minister in the government, especially while the Coalition was in government. Under the Coalition agreement between the Liberals (and their predecessors) and Country Party, when in government, the position was held by the leader of the Country Party. That continues to be case when the Coalition is in government. In the case of Labor governments, the party's deputy leader was and continues to be the Deputy Prime Minister.

On 19 December 1967, John McEwen, the long-serving leader of the Country Party (later renamed the National Party) in the Coalition government, was sworn in as interim Prime Minister following the sudden death in office of Prime Minister Harold Holt. (There was discussion that deputy Liberal leader and Treasurer William McMahon should assume the office. McMahon had planned a party room meeting on 20 December to elect a new leader, intending to stand for the position himself. However, this was pre-empted by McEwen who publicly declared on the morning of 18 December that he would not serve in a McMahon government.) McEwen was sworn in as Prime Minister on the understanding that his commission would continue only so long as it took for the Liberals to elect a new leader. The Liberal leadership ballot was rescheduled for 9 January 1968. As it turned out, McMahon did not stand, and Senator John Gorton was elected, replacing McEwen as Prime Minister on 10 January 1968. McEwen reverted to his previous status as the second-ranking member of the government, as per the Coalition agreement. He had unofficially been Deputy Prime Minister since becoming Country Party leader in 1958, and since 1966 had exercised an effective veto over government policy by virtue of being the longest-serving member of the government; he had been a member of the Coalition frontbench without interruption since 1937. To acknowledge McEwen's long service and his status as the second-ranking member of the government, Gorton formally created the post of Deputy Prime Minister, with McEwen as the first holder of the post.

Governor-General Lord Casey also accepted the view put to him by McEwen that to commission a Liberal temporarily as Prime Minister would give that person an unfair advantage in the forthcoming party room ballot for the permanent leader. McEwen's appointment was in keeping with the previous occasion when the main non-Labor party was without a leader; Earle Page of the Country Party was interim Prime Minister between 7 April and 26 April 1939--the period between Joseph Lyons' sudden death and the United Australia Party naming Robert Menzies his successor.

Since 1968 only two Deputy Prime Ministers have gone on to become Prime Minister: Paul Keating and Julia Gillard. In both cases, they succeeded incumbent Prime Ministers who lost the support of their party caucus mid-term and their election as party leader preceded their predecessor's resignations and their subsequent appointments as Prime Minister. Frank Forde, who had been deputy Labor leader when John Curtin died, was interim Prime Minister between 6 July and 13 July 1945, when a leadership ballot took place that elected Ben Chifley as Curtin's successor.

In November 2007, when the Australian Labor Party won government, Julia Gillard became Australia's first female, and first foreign-born, Deputy Prime Minister. In practice, only National party leaders or Labor Party deputy leaders have held the position.

Duties

The duties of the Deputy Prime Minister are to act on behalf of the Prime Minister in his or her absence overseas or on leave. The Deputy Prime Minister has always been a member of the Cabinet, and has always held at least one substantive portfolio. (It would be technically possible for a minister to hold only the portfolio of Deputy Prime Minister, but this has never happened.)

If the Prime Minister were to die, become incapacitated or resign, the Governor-General would normally appoint the Deputy Prime Minister as Prime Minister on an interim basis until the governing party elects a new leader, but is not obligated to do so. This has not occurred since the office was created as a portfolio in 1968.

Living former Deputy Prime Ministers

Ten former Deputy Prime Ministers of Australia are living:

• Doug Anthony (1971–72, 1975–83)
• Paul Keating (1990–91)
• Brian Howe (1991–95)
• Kim Beazley (1995–96)
• Tim Fischer (1996–99)
• John Anderson (1999–2005)
• Mark Vaile (2005–07)
• Julia Gillard (2007–10)
• Wayne Swan (2010–13)
• Anthony Albanese (2013)

List of Deputy Prime Ministers of Australia

The following individuals have been officially appointed as Deputy Prime Minister of Australia:

Order	Deputy Prime Minister		Party affiliation and position		Ministerial title	Term start	Term end	Term in office	Prime Minister
1	John McEwen			Country Leader 1958–71	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Trade and Industry	10 January 1968 (1968-01-10)	5 February 1971 (1971-02-05)			John Gorton
2	Doug Anthony			Country Leader 1971–84	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Trade and Industry	5 February 1971 (1971-02-05)	10 March 1971 (1971-03-10)
						10 March 1971 (1971-03-10)	5 December 1972 (1972-12-05)			William McMahon
3	Lance Barnard			Labor Deputy Leader 1967–74	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Defence	5 December 1972 (1972-12-05)	12 June 1974 (1974-06-12)			Gough Whitlam
4	Jim Cairns			Labor Deputy Leader 1974–75	Deputy Prime Minister Treasurer	12 June 1974 (1974-06-12)	2 July 1975 (1975-07-02)
5	Frank Crean	60px		Labor Deputy Leader 1975	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Overseas Trade	2 July 1975 (1975-07-02)	11 November 1975 (1975-11-11)	days
(2)	Doug Anthony			Country National Leader 1971–84	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Trade and Industry	12 November 1975 (1975-11-12)	11 March 1983 (1983-03-11)			Malcolm Fraser
6	Lionel Bowen			Labor Deputy Leader 1977–90	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Trade Vice-President of the Executive Council Attorney-General	11 March 1983 (1983-03-11)	4 April 1990 (1990-04-04)			Bob Hawke
7	Paul Keating			Labor Deputy Leader 1990–91	Deputy Prime Minister Treasurer	4 April 1990 (1990-04-04)	3 June 1991 (1991-06-03)
8	Brian Howe			Labor Deputy Leader 1991–95	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Health Minister for Housing Minister for Community Services Minister for Local Government Minister for Regional Affairs	3 June 1991 (1991-06-03)	20 December 1991 (1991-12-20)
						20 December 1991 (1991-12-20)	20 June 1995 (1995-06-20)			Paul Keating
9	Kim Beazley			Labor Deputy Leader 1995–96	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Finance	20 June 1995 (1995-06-20)	11 March 1996 (1996-03-11)	days
10	Tim Fischer	60px		National Leader 1990–99	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Trade	11 March 1996 (1996-03-11)	20 July 1999 (1999-07-20)			John Howard
11	John Anderson			National Leader 1999–2005	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Transport and Regional Development	20 July 1999 (1999-07-20)	6 July 2005 (2005-07-06)
12	Mark Vaile	60px		National Leader 2005–2007	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Trade Minister for Transport and Regional Services	6 July 2005 (2005-07-06)	3 December 2007 (2007-12-03)
13	Julia Gillard			Labor Deputy Leader 2006–2010	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Minister for Education Minister for Social Inclusion	3 December 2007 (2007-12-03)	24 June 2010 (2010-06-24)			Kevin Rudd
14	Wayne Swan	60px		Labor Deputy Leader 2010–2013	Deputy Prime Minister Treasurer	24 June 2010 (2010-06-24)	27 June 2013 (2013-06-27)			Julia Gillard
15	Anthony Albanese			Labor Deputy Leader 2013	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Minister for Infrastructure and Transport	27 June 2013 (2013-06-27)	18 September 2013 (2013-09-18)	days		Kevin Rudd
16	Warren Truss			National Leader 2007–present	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development	18 September 2013 (2013-09-18)	15 September 2015 (2015-09-15)			Tony Abbott
						15 September 2015 (2015-09-15)	Incumbent			Malcolm Turnbull

Informal Deputy Prime Ministers

The office of Deputy Prime Minister was created in January 1968 but prior to that time the term was used unofficially for the second-highest ranking minister in the government.

Name		Picture	Term of Office		Political party and position	Ministerial Offices	Prime Minister
	Alfred Deakin		1901	1903	Protectionist Party Deputy Leader 1901–03	Attorney-General Acting Prime Minister 1902		Edmund Barton
	William Lyne		1903	1904	Protectionist Party Deputy Leader 1901–09	Minister for Trade and Customs		Alfred Deakin
	Gregor McGregor		1904	1904	Australian Labor Party Deputy Leader 1901–14	Vice-President of the Executive Council		Chris Watson
	Allan McLean	60px	1904	1905	Protectionist Party	Minister for Trade and Customs		George Reid
	William Lyne		1905	1908	Protectionist Party Deputy Leader 1901–09	Minister for Trade and Customs Treasurer		Alfred Deakin
	Gregor McGregor		1908	1909	Australian Labor Party Deputy Leader 1901–14	Vice-President of the Executive Council		Andrew Fisher
	Joseph Cook		1909	1910	Commonwealth Liberal Party Deputy Leader 1909–13	Minister for Defence		Alfred Deakin
	Gregor McGregor		1910	1913	Australian Labor Party Deputy Leader 1901–14	Vice-President of the Executive Council		Andrew Fisher
	John Forrest		1913	1914	Commonwealth Liberal Party Deputy Leader 1913–16	Treasurer		Joseph Cook
	Billy Hughes		1914	1915	Australian Labor Party Deputy Leader 1914–15	Attorney-General Acting Prime Minister 1915		Andrew Fisher
	George Pearce		1915	1916	Australian Labor Party Deputy Leader 1915–16	Minister for Defence Acting Prime Minister 1916		Billy Hughes
			1916	1917	National Labor Party Deputy Leader 1916–17
	William Watt	60px	1918	1920	Nationalist Deputy Leader 1918–20	Treasurer Acting Prime Minister 1918–19
	Joseph Cook		1917	1921	Nationalist Deputy Leader 1920–21	Minister for the Navy Treasurer acting Prime Minister May–September 1921
	Earle Page		1923	1929	Country Party Leader 1921–39	Treasurer		Stanley Bruce
	Ted Theodore		1929	1932	Australian Labor Party Deputy Leader 1929–32	Treasurer		James Scullin
	James Fenton	60px	1930	1931	Australian Labor Party Temporary Leader 1929–32	Acting Prime Minister 1930–31		James Scullin
	John Latham		1932	1934	United Australia Party Deputy Leader 1932–34	Attorney-General Minister for External Affairs Minister for Industry		Joseph Lyons
	George Pearce		1934	1934	United Australia Party Deputy Leader 1934	Minister for External Affairs Minister in Charge of Territories
	Earle Page		1934	1939	Country Party Leader 1921–39	Minister for Commerce Minister for Health
	Archie Cameron	60px	1939	1940	Country Party Leader 1939–40	Postmaster-General Minister for Commerce Minister for the Navy		Robert Menzies
	Arthur Fadden		1940	1941	Country Party Leader 1940–58	Minister for the Air Minister for Civil Aviation Treasurer Acting Prime Minister 1940
	Billy Hughes		1941	1941	United Australia Party Leader 1941–43	Minister for the Navy Attorney-General		Arthur Fadden
	Frank Forde		1941	1946	Australian Labor Party Deputy Leader 1932–46	Minister for the Army Minister for Defence Acting Prime Minister April–July 1944, November 1944 – January 1945, Prime Minister for one week in 1945		John Curtin
								Ben Chifley
	H. V. Evatt		1946	1949	Australian Labor Party Deputy Leader 1946–51	Minister for External Affairs Attorney-General
	Arthur Fadden		1949	1958	Country Party Leader 1940–58	Treasurer		Robert Menzies
	John McEwen		1958	1967	Country Party Leader 1958–71	Minister for Trade and Industry Acting Prime Minister June–July 1965
								Harold Holt

External links

• The official site of the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia