Treasurer of Australia
| Treasurer of Australia | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Department of the Treasury | |
| Style | The Honourable |
| Appointer | Governor-General of Australia on recommendation of Prime Minister of Australia |
| Inaugural holder | Sir George Turner |
| Formation | 1901 |
The Treasurer of Australia is the minister in the Government of Australia responsible for government expenditure and revenue raising. The Treasurer plays a key role in the economic policy of the government. By strong Constitutional convention, the Treasurer is always a member of the Parliament of Australia with a seat in the House of Representatives.
The current Treasurer is The Honourable Scott Morrison MP, whose term began on 21 September 2015. The current Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Small Business is The Hon. Kelly O'Dwyer MP. The current Assistant Minister to the Treasurer is The Hon. Alex Hawke MP.
The Treasurer administers his functions through the Department of the Treasury and a range of other government agencies.
The office is equivalent to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the United Kingdom or the Secretary of the Treasury in the United States or, in some other countries, "Finance Minister".
Duties and importance
The Treasurer is the minister in charge of government revenue and expenditure. The Treasurer oversees economic policy: fiscal policy is within the Treasurer's direct responsibility, while monetary policy is implemented by the politically independent Reserve Bank of Australia, the head of which is appointed by the Treasurer. The Treasurer also oversees financial regulation. Each year in May, the Treasurer presents the Federal Budget to the Parliament.
The Treasurer is a very senior government post; historically, many Treasurers have previously, concurrently or subsequently served as Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister; two subsequently served as Governor-General. Service as Treasurer is seen as an important (though certainly not essential) qualification for serving as Prime Minister: to date, six Treasurers have gone on to be Prime Minister.
Wayne Swan and Paul Keating are currently the only two to have been named "The world's best Treasurer".[1]
Related ministerial positions
Along with the Treasurer, other ministers have responsibility for the Department of the Treasury. The Treasurer together with these other ministers are known as the "Treasury Ministers". At present, the Treasury Minister positions are:[2]
- Treasurer
- Assistant Treasurer
- Minister for Small Business
- Assistant Minister to the Treasurer
The work of the Department of Finance is closely related to the work of the Department of the Treasury. The ministers who have responsibility for the Department of Finance are:[3]
List of Treasurers
The following individuals have been appointed as Treasurer of Australia:[2]
- 1 Treasurers Watson, Fisher, Scullin, Lyons, Fadden, Menzies, Chifley, Whitlam and Hawke were also Prime Minister during some or all of their period as Treasurer.
List of Assistant Treasurers
The following individuals have been appointed as Assistant Treasurers:[2]
| Order | Minister | Party | Prime Minister | Title | Term start | Term end | Term in office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rod Kemp | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Liberal| | Liberal | Howard | Assistant Treasurer | 14 October 1996 | 25 November 2001 | 5 years, 42 days |
| 2 | Helen Coonan | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Liberal| | Minister for Revenue and Assistant Treasurer | 26 November 2001 | 17 July 2004 | 2 years, 234 days | ||
| 3 | Mal Brough | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Liberal| | 18 July 2004 | 26 January 2006 | 1 year, 192 days | |||
| 4 | Peter Dutton | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Liberal| | 27 January 2006 | 3 December 2007 | 1 year, 310 days | |||
| 5 | Chris Bowen | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor| | Labor | Rudd | Assistant Treasurer Minister for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs |
3 December 2007 | 8 June 2009 | 1 year, 187 days |
| 6 | Nick Sherry | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor| | Assistant Treasurer | 9 June 2009 | 24 June 2010 | 1 year, 97 days | ||
| Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor| | Gillard | 24 June 2010 | 14 September 2010 | |||||
| 7 | Bill Shorten | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor| | Assistant Treasurer Minister for Financial Services & Superannuation |
14 September 2010 | 14 December 2011 | 1 year, 91 days | ||
| 8 | Mark Arbib | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor| | Assistant Treasurer | 14 December 2011 | 5 March 2012 | 82 days | ||
| 9 | David Bradbury | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor| | Assistant Treasurer Minister Assisting for Financial Services & Superannuation |
5 March 2012 | 27 June 2013 | 1 year, 197 days | ||
| Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor| | Rudd | 27 June 2013 | 18 September 2013 | |||||
| 10 | Arthur Sinodinos | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Liberal| | Liberal | Abbott | Assistant Treasurer | 18 September 2013 | 19 December 2014 | 1 year, 92 days |
| 11 | Josh Frydenberg | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Liberal| | 23 December 2014 | 15 September 2015 | 271 days | |||
| Template:Australian politics/party colours/Liberal| | Turnbull | 15 September 2015 | 20 September 2015 | |||||
| 12 | Kelly O'Dwyer | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Liberal| | 21 September 2015 | incumbent | 3356 days | |||
List of Ministers for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs
The Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (formerly the Trade Practices Act 1974) is administered by the Treasurer through the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, but was formerly administered by other ministers. The following individuals were appointed as ministers with responsibility for competition and consumer affairs matters:[4]
| Order | Minister | Party | Prime Minister | Title | Term start | Term end | Term in office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lionel Murphy | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor| | Labor | Whitlam | Attorney-General | 19 December 1972 | 12 June 1974 | 1 year, 175 days |
| 2 | Bill Morrison | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor| | Minister for Science and Consumer Affairs | 12 June 1974 | 6 June 1975 | 359 days | ||
| 3 | Clyde Cameron | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor| | 6 June 1975 | 11 November 1975 | 158 days | |||
| 4 | Sir Bob Cotton | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Liberal| | Liberal | Fraser | 11 November 1975 | 22 December 1975 | 41 days | |
| 5 | John Howard | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Liberal| | Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs | 22 December 1975 | 17 July 1977 | 1 year, 207 days | ||
| 6 | Wal Fife | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Liberal| | 17 July 1977 | 8 December 1979 | 2 years, 144 days | |||
| 7 | Sir Victor Garland | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Liberal| | 8 December 1979 | 3 November 1980 | 331 days | |||
| 8 | John Moore | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Liberal| | 3 November 1980 | 20 April 1982 | 1 year, 168 days | |||
| 9 | Neil Brown | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Liberal| | 20 April 1982 | 11 January 1983 | 325 days | |||
| 10 | Barry Cohen | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor| | Labor | Hawke | Minister for Home Affairs and the Environment | 11 January 1983 | 13 December 1984 | 1 year, 277 days |
| 11 | Peter Staples | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor| | Labor | Hawke | Minister for Consumer Affairs | 24 July 1987 | 15 February 1988 | 206 days |
| 12 | Nick Bolkus | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor| | 15 February 1988 | 4 April 1990 | 2 years, 48 days | |||
| 13 | Michael Tate | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor| | Minister for Justice and Consumer Affairs | 4 April 1990 | 20 December 1991 | 2 years, 53 days | ||
| Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor| | Keating | 20 December 1991 | 27 May 1992 | |||||
| 14 | Jeannette McHugh | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor| | Minister for Consumer Affairs | 27 May 1992 | 11 March 1996 | 3 years, 289 days | ||
| 15 | Geoff Prosser | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Liberal| | Liberal | Howard | Minister for Small Business and Consumer Affairs | 11 March 1996 | 18 July 1997 | 1 year, 129 days |
| 16 | Chris Ellison | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Liberal| | Minister for Customs and Consumer Affairs | 18 July 1997 | 9 October 1997 | 83 days | ||
| 17 | Warren Truss | Template:Australian politics/party colours/National| | Nationals | 9 October 1997 | 21 October 1998 | 1 year, 12 days | ||
| 18 | Joe Hockey | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Liberal| | Liberal | Minister for Financial Services and Regulation | 21 October 1998 | 26 November 2001 | 3 years, 36 days | |
| 19 | Chris Bowen | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor| | Labor | Rudd | Minister for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs | 3 December 2007 | 9 June 2009 | 1 year, 188 days |
| 20 | Craig Emerson | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor| | 9 June 2009 | 20 June 2010 | 1 year, 97 days | |||
| Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor| | Gillard | 20 June 2010 | 14 September 2010 | |||||
| 21 | David Bradbury | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Labor| | Labor | Rudd | Minister for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs | 1 July 2013 | 18 September 2013 | 79 days |
List of Assistant Ministers
The following individuals have been appointed as Assistant Minister to the Treasurer:[2]
| Order | Minister | Party | Prime Minister | Title | Term start | Term end | Term in office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kelly O'Dwyer | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Liberal| | Liberal | Abbott | Assistant Minister to the Treasurer | 23 December 2014 | 15 September 2015 | 266 days |
| 2 | Alex Hawke | Template:Australian politics/party colours/Liberal| | Turnbull | 25 September 2015 | incumbent | 9 years, 64 days | ||
References
- ^ http://www.news.com.au/national-old/wayne-swan-is-euromoneys-finance-minister-of-the-year/story-e6frfkvr-1226142199651
- ^ a b c d "Past Treasury Ministers". The Treasury. Commonwealth of Australia. 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
- ^ "Finance and Deregulation Portfolio Ministers". Department of Finance. Commonwealth of Australia. 19 September 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2013.
- ^ "Ministries and Cabinets". 43rd Parliamentary Handbook: Historical information on the Australian Parliament. Parliament of Australia. 2010. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
External links
