Leader of the Opposition of the Commonwealth of Australia | |
---|---|
Opposition of Australia Shadow Cabinet of Australia | |
Member of | |
Reports to | Parliament |
Term length | While leader of the largest political party in the House of Representatives that is not in government |
Inaugural holder | George Reid |
Formation | 1901 |
Salary | $390,000 |
In Australian Federal Politics the Leader of the Opposition is a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives. The Leader of the Opposition is usually the leader of the party which has the most seats but is not part of the Government. In Parliament the Leader of the Opposition sits on the left-hand side of the table in the centre, in front of the Opposition and opposite the Prime Minister. The Opposition Leader is elected by the Opposition Party. A new Opposition Leader may be elected if the person in the position dies, resigns or is challenged for the leadership.
The Commonwealth of Australia is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system. It is based on the British Westminster model. The term Opposition has a specific meaning in the parliamentary system. Its formal title is Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. This is an important part of the Westminster system. The Opposition directs its criticism at the Government and attempts to defeat and replace the Government. The Opposition is therefore the 'Government in waiting' and it is a formal part of the parliamentary system, just as is the Government. It is in opposition to the Government, but not to the Crown, hence the term 'Loyal Opposition'.[1]
The current Leader of the Opposition is Peter Dutton since 30 May 2022, following the Liberal Party's defeat in the 2022 federal election.
No. | Leader | Party | Constituency | Took office | Left office | Prime Minister | Ref | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | George Reid [a] | Free Trade | East Sydney (NSW) | 19 May 1901 | 17 August 1904 | Barton 1901–03 | [2] | |||
Deakin 1903–04 | ||||||||||
Watson 1904 | ||||||||||
2 | Chris Watson [b] | Labor | Bland (NSW) | 18 August 1904 | 5 July 1905 | Reid 1904–05 | ||||
(1) | George Reid [b] | Free Trade / Anti-Socialist | East Sydney (NSW) | 7 July 1905 | 16 November 1908 | Deakin 1905–08 | ||||
Fisher 1908–09 | ||||||||||
3 | Joseph Cook [a] | Anti-Socialist | Parramatta (NSW) | 17 November 1908 | 26 May 1909 | |||||
4 | Alfred Deakin [a][b] | Liberal | Ballaarat (Vic) | 26 May 1909 | 2 June 1909 | |||||
5 | Andrew Fisher [a][b] | Labor | Wide Bay (Qld) | 2 June 1909 | 29 April 1910 | Deakin 1909 | ||||
(4) | Alfred Deakin [b] | Liberal | Ballaarat (Vic) | 1 July 1910 | 20 January 1913 | Fisher 1910–13 | ||||
(3) | Joseph Cook [a] | Parramatta (NSW) | 20 January 1913 | 24 June 1913 | ||||||
(5) | Andrew Fisher [a] [b] | Labor | Wide Bay (Qld) | 8 July 1913 | 17 September 1914 | Cook 1913–14 | ||||
(3) | Joseph Cook [b] | Liberal | Parramatta (NSW) | 8 October 1914 | 17 February 1917 | Fisher 1914–15 | ||||
Hughes 1915–23 | ||||||||||
6 | Frank Tudor | Labor | Yarra (Vic) | 17 February 1917 | 10 January 1922 | |||||
7 | Matthew Charlton | Hunter (NSW) | 25 January 1922 | 29 March 1928 | ||||||
Bruce 1923–29 | ||||||||||
8 | James Scullin [a] | Yarra (Vic) | 29 March 1928 | 22 October 1929 | ||||||
9 | John Latham | Nationalist | Kooyong (Vic) | 20 November 1929 | 7 May 1931 | Scullin 1929–32 | ||||
10 | Joseph Lyons [a] | United Australia | Wilmot (Tas) | 7 May 1931 | 6 January 1932 | |||||
(8) | James Scullin [b] | Labor | Yarra (Vic) | 6 January 1932 | 1 October 1935 | Lyons 1932–39 | ||||
11 | John Curtin [a] | Fremantle (WA) | 1 October 1935 | 7 October 1941 | ||||||
Page 1939 | ||||||||||
Menzies 1939–41 | ||||||||||
Fadden 1941 | ||||||||||
12 | Arthur Fadden [b] | Country | Darling Downs (Qld) | 7 October 1941 | 23 September 1943 | Curtin 1941–45 | ||||
13 | Robert Menzies [a][b] | United Australia | Kooyong (Vic) | 23 September 1943 | 19 December 1949 | |||||
Liberal | Forde 1945 | |||||||||
Chifley 1945–49 | ||||||||||
14 | Ben Chifley [b] | Labor | Macquarie (NSW) | 19 December 1949 | 13 June 1951 | Menzies 1949–66 | ||||
15 | H. V. Evatt | Barton (NSW) 1940–58 Hunter (NSW) 1958–60 |
20 June 1951 | 9 February 1960 | ||||||
16 | Arthur Calwell | Melbourne (Vic) | 7 March 1960 | 8 February 1967 | ||||||
Holt 1966–67 | ||||||||||
17 | Gough Whitlam [a] | Werriwa (NSW) | 8 February 1967 | 2 December 1972 | ||||||
McEwen 1967–68 | ||||||||||
Gorton 1968–71 | ||||||||||
McMahon 1971–72 | ||||||||||
18 | Billy Snedden | Liberal | Bruce (Vic) | 20 December 1972 | 21 March 1975 | Whitlam 1972–75 | ||||
19 | Malcolm Fraser [a] | Wannon (Vic) | 21 March 1975 | 11 November 1975 | ||||||
(17) | Gough Whitlam [c] | Labor | Werriwa (NSW) | 11 November 1975 | 22 December 1977 | Fraser 1975–83 | ||||
20 | Bill Hayden | Oxley (Qld) | 22 December 1977 | 3 February 1983 | ||||||
21 | Bob Hawke [a] | Wills (Vic) | 3 February 1983 | 11 March 1983 | ||||||
22 | Andrew Peacock | Liberal | Kooyong (Vic) | 11 March 1983 | 5 September 1985 | Hawke 1983–91 | ||||
23 | John Howard [a] | Bennelong (NSW) | 5 September 1985 | 9 May 1989 | [4] | |||||
(22) | Andrew Peacock | Kooyong (Vic) | 9 May 1989 | 3 April 1990 | [2] | |||||
24 | John Hewson | Wentworth (NSW) | 3 April 1990 | 23 May 1994 | ||||||
Keating 1991–96 | ||||||||||
25 | Alexander Downer | Mayo (SA) | 23 May 1994 | 30 January 1995 | [5] | |||||
(23) | John Howard [a] | Bennelong (NSW) | 30 January 1995 | 11 March 1996 | [4] | |||||
26 | Kim Beazley | Labor | Brand (WA) | 19 March 1996 | 22 November 2001 | Howard 1996–07 | [6] | |||
27 | Simon Crean | Hotham (Vic) | 22 November 2001 | 2 December 2003 | [7] | |||||
28 | Mark Latham | Werriwa (NSW) | 2 December 2003 | 18 January 2005 | [8] | |||||
(26) | Kim Beazley | Brand (WA) | 28 January 2005 | 4 December 2006 | [6] | |||||
29 | Kevin Rudd [a] | Griffith (Qld) | 4 December 2006 | 3 December 2007 | [9] | |||||
30 | Brendan Nelson | Liberal | Bradfield (NSW) | 3 December 2007 | 16 September 2008 | Rudd 2007–10 | [10] | |||
31 | Malcolm Turnbull [a] | Wentworth (NSW) | 16 September 2008 | 1 December 2009 | [11] | |||||
32 | Tony Abbott [a] | Warringah (NSW) | 1 December 2009 | 18 September 2013 | [12] | |||||
Gillard 2010–13 | ||||||||||
Rudd 2013 | ||||||||||
– | Chris Bowen (acting) | Labor | McMahon (NSW) | 18 September 2013 | 13 October 2013 | Abbott 2013–15 | [13] | |||
33 | Bill Shorten | Maribyrnong (Vic) | 13 October 2013 | 30 May 2019 | [14] | |||||
Turnbull 2015–18 | ||||||||||
Morrison 2018–22 | ||||||||||
34 | Anthony Albanese | Grayndler (NSW) | 30 May 2019 | 23 May 2022 | [15] | |||||
35 | Peter Dutton | Liberal | Dickson (Qld) | 30 May 2022 | Incumbent | Albanese 2022–present | [16] |