Deputy Prime Minister of Australia

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

Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
Commonwealth Coat of Arms
Flag of Australia
Incumbent Richard Marles since 23 May 2022
Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet
Style	The Honourable
Abbreviation	DPM
Member of	Parliament Cabinet Federal Executive Council National Security Committee
Reports to	Prime Minister
Seat	Canberra
Nominator	Prime Minister
Appointer	Governor-General of Australia on the advice of the prime minister
Term length	At His Majesty's pleasure
Formation	10 January 1968 (1968-01-10)
First holder	John McEwen
Salary	AU$416,212

The deputy prime minister of Australia is the deputy chief executive and the second highest ranking officer of the Australian Government. The office of deputy prime minister was officially created as a ministerial portfolio in 1968, although the title had been used informally for many years previously. The deputy prime minister is appointed by the governor-general on the advice of the prime minister. When Australia has a Labor government, the deputy leader of the parliamentary party holds the position of deputy prime minister. When Australia has a Coalition government, the Coalition Agreement mandates that all Coalition members support the leader of the Liberal Party becoming prime minister and mandates that the leader of the National Party be selected as deputy prime minister.

The 2017–18 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis resulted in the position being made vacant for the first time since its official creation. Barnaby Joyce, the then-incumbent, was ruled ineligible to be a member of parliament by the High Court of Australia sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns on 27 October 2017, as he held New Zealand citizenship at the time of his election in contravention of Section 44 of the Constitution of Australia. Julie Bishop would act in the place of the prime minister during the vacancy in the deputy premiership. Joyce regained the position on 6 December 2017 after he won the by-election for the seat of New England several days earlier.

History

Prime Minister John McEwen with John Gorton on 9 January 1968. The following day, Gorton was sworn in as Prime Minister, and McEwen became the inaugural Deputy Prime Minister.

Originally the position of deputy Prime Minister was an unofficial or honorary position accorded to the second-highest ranking minister in the government. The unofficial position acquired more significance following the 1922 federal election, which saw the governing Nationalist Party lose its 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.

From then until 1968, the Coalition agreement between the Liberals (and their predecessors) and Country Party called for the leader of the Country Party (subsequently the National Party) to rank second in Cabinet. That continues to be case when the Coalition is in government. In the case of Labor governments, the party's deputy leader ranks second in Cabinet.

On 19 December 1967, John McEwen, the long-serving leader of the Country 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. 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 and 26 April 1939—the period between Joseph Lyons' sudden death and the United Australia Party naming Robert Menzies his successor.

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.

According to parliamentary records, in the time before the position of deputy prime minister was officially created, the position was known as "deputy leader of the Government."

Since 1968 only three deputy prime ministers have gone on to become prime minister: Paul Keating, Julia Gillard, and Anthony Albanese. Both Keating and Gillard succeeded incumbent prime ministers who lost the support of their party caucus mid-term. Meanwhile, Albanese who briefly served as deputy prime minister in 2013, later led the Labor party to victory at the 2022 Australian federal election, and was sworn-in as prime minister on 23 May 2022. Frank Forde, who had been deputy Labor leader when John Curtin died, was interim prime minister between 6 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 2017, the position became vacant for a period of 40 days, the only time in its history when it has been unoccupied. As part of the 2017–18 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis, it emerged that the then-incumbent Barnaby Joyce was a citizen of New Zealand by descent (jus sanguinis – by right of blood) at the time of the 2016 federal election. Joyce told the House of Representatives that he was advised of his citizenship status on 10 August 2017 by the New Zealand High Commission and his renunciation of his dual citizenship became effective on 15 August 2017. Nevertheless, he asked for his case to be referred to the High Court of Australia (sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns) for adjudication, and they ruled that his election was invalid under section 44 of the Constitution of Australia. The government immediately issued writs for a by-election for the seat of New England to be held on 2 December 2017, which Joyce won easily. Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove re-appointed Joyce as deputy prime minister on 6 December 2017.

In practice, only National party leaders or Labor Party deputy leaders have held the position.

Duties

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.

Succession

Further information: Prime Minister of Australia § Acting Prime Ministers and succession

The Deputy Prime Minister becomes Acting Prime Minister if the Prime Minister is unable to undertake their role for a short time, for example if they are ill, overseas or on leave (and if both are unavailable, then another senior minister takes on this role). If the Prime Minister were to die, then the Deputy Prime Minister would be appointed Prime Minister by the Governor-General, until the government votes for another member to be its leader.

Salary

Members of parliament receive a base salary of $203,030, which is set by the Remuneration Tribunal (an independent statutory authority). Ministers receive an additional amount, which is determined by the government itself based on the recommendations of the Remuneration Tribunal. The deputy prime minister receives an additional 105 percent of the base salary, making for a total salary of $416,212. The holder of the office also receives various other allowances and entitlements.

List of deputy prime ministers of Australia

The following individuals have been officially appointed as deputy prime minister of Australia since the office of deputy prime minister was created as a ministerial portfolio in 1968:

No.	Portrait	Deputy Prime Minister	Political Party and position	Portfolio(s)	Term of office			Prime Minister
					Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		John McEwen	Country Leader 1958–71	Trade and Industry	10 January 1968 (1968-01-10)	5 February 1971 (1971-02-05)	3 years, 26 days		John Gorton
2		Doug Anthony	Country Leader 1971–84	Trade and Industry	5 February 1971 (1971-02-05)	5 December 1972 (1972-12-05)	1 year, 304 days
									William McMahon
3		Lance Barnard	Labor Deputy Leader 1967–74	Defence	5 December 1972 (1972-12-05)	12 June 1974 (1974-06-12)	1 year, 189 days		Gough Whitlam
4		Jim Cairns	Labor Deputy Leader 1974–75	Treasurer	12 June 1974 (1974-06-12)	2 July 1975 (1975-07-02)	1 year, 20 days
5		Frank Crean	Labor Deputy Leader 1975	Overseas Trade	2 July 1975 (1975-07-02)	11 November 1975 (1975-11-11)	132 days
(2)		Doug Anthony	Country National Leader 1971–84	Trade and Industry	12 November 1975 (1975-11-12)	11 March 1983 (1983-03-11)	7 years, 119 days		Malcolm Fraser
6		Lionel Bowen	Labor Deputy Leader 1977–90	Trade Attorney-General	11 March 1983 (1983-03-11)	4 April 1990 (1990-04-04)	7 years, 24 days		Bob Hawke
7		Paul Keating	Labor Deputy Leader 1990–91	Treasurer	4 April 1990 (1990-04-04)	3 June 1991 (1991-06-03)	1 year, 60 days
8		Brian Howe	Labor Deputy Leader 1991–95	Health Housing Community Services Local Government Regional Affairs	3 June 1991 (1991-06-03)	20 June 1995 (1995-06-20)	4 years, 17 days
									Paul Keating
9		Kim Beazley	Labor Deputy Leader 1995–96	Finance	20 June 1995 (1995-06-20)	11 March 1996 (1996-03-11)	265 days
10		Tim Fischer	National Leader 1990–99	Trade	11 March 1996 (1996-03-11)	20 July 1999 (1999-07-20)	3 years, 131 days		John Howard
11		John Anderson	National Leader 1999–2005	Transport and Regional Development	20 July 1999 (1999-07-20)	6 July 2005 (2005-07-06)	5 years, 351 days
12		Mark Vaile	National Leader 2005–7	Trade Transport and Regional Services	6 July 2005 (2005-07-06)	3 December 2007 (2007-12-03)	2 years, 150 days
13		Julia Gillard	Labor Deputy Leader 2006–10	Employment and Workplace Relations Education Social Inclusion	3 December 2007 (2007-12-03)	24 June 2010 (2010-06-24)	2 years, 203 days		Kevin Rudd
14		Wayne Swan	Labor Deputy Leader 2010–13	Treasurer	24 June 2010 (2010-06-24)	27 June 2013 (2013-06-27)	3 years, 3 days		Julia Gillard
15		Anthony Albanese	Labor Deputy Leader 2013	Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Infrastructure and Transport	27 June 2013 (2013-06-27)	18 September 2013 (2013-09-18)	83 days		Kevin Rudd
16		Warren Truss	National Leader 2007–16	Infrastructure and Regional Development	18 September 2013 (2013-09-18)	18 February 2016 (2016-02-18)	2 years, 153 days		Tony Abbott
									Malcolm Turnbull
17		Barnaby Joyce	National Leader 2016–18	Agriculture and Water Resources Resources and Northern Australia	18 February 2016 (2016-02-18)	27 October 2017 (2017-10-27)	2 years, 8 days
				Infrastructure and Transport	6 December 2017 (2017-12-06)	26 February 2018 (2018-02-26)
18		Michael McCormack	National Leader 2018–2021	Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development	26 February 2018 (2018-02-26)	22 June 2021 (2021-06-22)	3 years, 116 days
									Scott Morrison
(17)		Barnaby Joyce	National Leader 2021–2022	Infrastructure, Transport and Regional Development	22 June 2021 (2021-06-22)	23 May 2022 (2022-05-23)	335 days
19		Richard Marles	Labor Deputy Leader 2019–present	Defence	23 May 2022 (2022-05-23)	Incumbent	1 year, 364 days		Anthony Albanese

Living former deputy prime ministers

As of May 2024, there are 11 living former deputy prime ministers of Australia, the oldest being Brian Howe (born 1936). The most recent former deputy prime minister to die was Doug Anthony (1971–72, 1975–83), on 20 December 2020.

• Paul Keating (1990–91)
• Brian Howe (1991–95)
• Kim Beazley (1995–96)
• John Anderson (1999–2005)
• Mark Vaile (2005–07)
• Julia Gillard (2007–10)
• Wayne Swan (2010–13)
• Anthony Albanese (2013)
• Warren Truss (2013–16)
• Michael McCormack (2018–21)
• Barnaby Joyce (2016–18, 2021–22)

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 1903–09	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		1904	1905	Protectionist Party	Minister for Trade and Customs		George Reid
	William Lyne		1905	1908	Protectionist Party Deputy Leader 1903–09	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
	Joseph Cook		1917	1921	Nationalist Deputy Leader 1920–21	Minister for the Navy Treasurer acting Prime Minister May–September 1921
	Stanley Bruce		1921	1923	Nationalist Deputy Leader 1921–23	Treasurer
	Earle Page		1923	1929	Country Party Leader 1921–39	Treasurer		Stanley Bruce
	Ted Theodore		1929	1930	Australian Labor Party Deputy Leader 1929–32	Treasurer		James Scullin
	James Fenton		1930	1931	Australian Labor Party	Minister for Trade and Customs Acting Prime Minister (1930–31)
	Ted Theodore		1931	1932	Australian Labor Party Deputy Leader 1929–32	Treasurer
	John Latham		1932	1934	United Australia Party Deputy Leader 1932–34	Attorney-General Minister for External Affairs Minister for Industry		Joseph Lyons
	Robert Menzies		1934	1934	United Australia Party	Attorney-General Minister for Industry
	Earle Page		1934	1939	Country Party Leader 1921–39	Minister for Commerce Minister for Health
	Billy Hughes		1939	1940	United Australia Party	Attorney-General Minister for Industry		Robert Menzies
	Archie Cameron		1940	1940	Country Party Leader 1939–40	Postmaster-General Minister for Commerce Minister for the Navy
	Arthur Fadden		1940	1941	Country Party Leader 1940–58	Minister for the Air Minister for Civil Aviation Treasurer Acting Prime Minister 1940
	Robert Menzies		1941	1941	United Australia Party Leader 1939–41	Minister for Defence Co-ordination		Arthur Fadden
	Frank Forde		1941	1945	Australian Labor Party Deputy Leader 1932–46	Minister for the Army Acting Prime Minister (April–July 1944, November 1944 – January 1945)		John Curtin
	Ben Chifley		1945	1945	Australian Labor Party Leader 1945–51	Treasurer		Frank Forde
	Frank Forde		1945	1946	Australian Labor Party Deputy Leader 1932–46	Minister for the Army Minister for Defence (1946)		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
	William McMahon		1967	1968	Liberal Party Deputy Leader 1966–71	Treasurer		John McEwen

External links

• The official site of the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia