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 Wayne Swan since 24 June 2010
Style	The Honourable
Appointer	Quentin Bryce as Governor-General of Australia
Term length	At Her Majesty's pleasure
Inaugural holder	John McEwen
Formation	10 January 1968
Website	www.treasurer.gov.au

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 Labor politician Wayne Swan.

History

The office of Deputy Prime Minister was created in January 1968, as an honour for John McEwen, the long-serving leader of the Country Party (later renamed the National Party) and the immediately preceding caretaker Prime Minister. Prior to that time the term was sometimes used unofficially (without capital letters) for the second-highest ranking minister in the government.

In Labor governments, the Deputy Prime Minister is the party's deputy leader. In Liberal-National Coalition governments, the position has been held by the Leader of the National Party or its predecessors.

In November 2007, the Australian Labor Party won government and Julia Gillard became Australia's first female, and first foreign-born, Deputy Prime Minister.

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 the Labor Party caucus mid-term.

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. If the governing or majority party had not yet elected a new leader, that appointment would be on an interim basis. Should a different leader emerge, that person would then be appointed Prime Minister.

Living former Deputy Prime Ministers

Eight former Deputy Prime Ministers of Australia are living:

• Doug Anthony (1971–72, 75-83)
• 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).

List of Deputy Prime Ministers of Australia

Name		Picture	Term of Office		Political party and position	Ministerial Offices	Prime Minister
style="background-color: Template:National Party of Australia/meta/color" |	John McEwen		10 January 1968	5 February 1971	Country Leader 1958-71	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Trade and Industry	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party of Australia/meta/color" rowspan="2" |	John Gorton
style="background-color: Template:National Party of Australia/meta/color" rowspan="2" |	Doug Anthony		5 February 1971	10 March 1971	Country Leader 1971–84	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Trade and Industry
10 March 1971			5 December 1972	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party of Australia/meta/color" |			William McMahon
style="background-color: Template:Australian Labor Party/meta/color" |	Lance Barnard		5 December 1972	12 June 1974	Labor Deputy Leader 1967-74	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Defence	rowspan="3" style="background-color: Template:Australian Labor Party/meta/color" |	Gough Whitlam
style="background-color: Template:Australian Labor Party/meta/color" |	Jim Cairns		12 June 1974	2 July 1975	Labor Deputy Leader 1974-75	Deputy Prime Minister Treasurer
style="background-color: Template:Australian Labor Party/meta/color" |	Frank Crean	File:Frankcrean.jpg	2 July 1975	11 November 1975	Labor Deputy Leader 1975	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Overseas Trade
style="background-color: Template:National Party of Australia/meta/color" |	Doug Anthony		12 November 1975	11 March 1983	Country National Leader 1971–84	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Trade and Industry	style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party of Australia/meta/color" |	Malcolm Fraser
style="background-color: Template:Australian Labor Party/meta/color" |	Lionel Bowen	File:Nbowen.jpg	11 March 1983	4 April 1990	Labor Deputy Leader 1977-90	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Trade Vice-President of the Executive Council Attorney-General	rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Australian Labor Party/meta/color" |	Bob Hawke
style="background-color: Template:Australian Labor Party/meta/color" |	Paul Keating		4 April 1990	3 June 1991	Labor Deputy Leader 1990-91	Deputy Prime Minister Treasurer
style="background-color: Template:Australian Labor Party/meta/color" |	Brian Howe		3 June 1991	20 June 1995	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	rowspan="2" style="background-color: Template:Australian Labor Party/meta/color" |	Paul Keating
style="background-color: Template:Australian Labor Party/meta/color" |	Kim Beazley		20 June 1995	11 March 1996	Labor Deputy Leader 1995-96	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Finance
style="background-color: Template:National Party of Australia/meta/color" |	Tim Fischer		11 March 1996	20 July 1999	National Leader 1990-99	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Trade	rowspan="3" style="background-color: Template:Liberal Party of Australia/meta/color" |	John Howard
style="background-color: Template:National Party of Australia/meta/color" |	John Anderson		20 July 1999	6 July 2005	National Leader 1999-2005	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Transport and Regional Development
style="background-color: Template:National Party of Australia/meta/color" |	Mark Vaile		6 July 2005	3 December 2007	National Leader 2005-2007	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Trade Minister for Transport and Regional Services
style="background-color: Template:Australian Labor Party/meta/color" |	Julia Gillard		3 December 2007	24 June 2010	Labor Deputy Leader 2006-2010	Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Minister for Education Minister for Social Inclusion	style="background-color: Template:Australian Labor Party/meta/color" |	Kevin Rudd
style="background-color: Template:Australian Labor Party/meta/color" |	Wayne Swan		24 June 2010		Labor Deputy Leader 2010-	Deputy Prime Minister Treasurer	style="background-color: Template:Australian Labor Party/meta/color" |	Julia Gillard

References

• "Deputy Prime Ministers of Australia" (PDF). Museum of Australian Democracy. Retrieved 1 April 2012.

External links

• The official site of the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia