Skip to content
Surf Wiki
Save to docs
politics

From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Leaders of the Australian Labor Party

Highest political office within the party


Highest political office within the party

FieldValue
postLeader
bodythe Australian Labor Party
imageAnthony Albanese portrait (cropped).jpg
incumbentAnthony Albanese
incumbentsince30 May 2019
member_of
termlengthNo fixed term
formation
inauguralChris Watson
deputyRichard Marles
website{{URLhttps://www.alp.org.au/our-people/our-people/anthony-albanese/

|Anthony Albanese, Leader of the Australian Labor Party}}

The leader of the Australian Labor Party is the highest political office within the federal Australian Labor Party (ALP). Leaders of the party are chosen from among the sitting members of the parliamentary caucus either by members alone or with a vote of the party's rank-and-file membership. The current leader of the Labor Party, since 2019, is Anthony Albanese, who has served as the prime minister of Australia since 2022. There have been 21 leaders since 1901 when Chris Watson was elected as the inaugural leader following the first federal election.

Every Australian state and territory has its own branch of the Australian Labor Party, which has its own leader elected from the party members of that jurisdiction.

Background

The federal Labor Caucus comprising the elected members of the Labor party in both Houses of the national Parliament is involved in the election of the federal parliamentary leaders from among its members. The leader has historically been a member of the House of Representatives. Caucus also has the power to dismiss a party leader in a process called a leadership spill. Until 2013, a spill vote could be called at any time and a simple majority of votes in Caucus was sufficient to remove a leader. Following the return of Kevin Rudd to the leadership of the ALP in 2013, he sought changes to the party's rules so that leadership spills would be more difficult to launch in future, including a requirement for 75% majority in Caucus for a leadership spill against a sitting Labor prime minister, or 60% against an opposition leader. The changes also provided for equally weighted voting rights between Caucus and party rank and file members. These changes were adopted by Caucus in July 2013, which was not a change to the party's constitution (and theoretically can be reverted by a simple majority in Caucus). At the October 2013 leadership spill Bill Shorten was the first leader elected under the new rules. Shorten received 55-43 votes in Caucus, which was sufficient to overcome his 40% support among party members.

When the Labor Party is in government, the party leader becomes the Prime Minister and the deputy leader becomes the Deputy Prime Minister. If a Labor prime minister resigns or dies in office, the deputy leader becomes party leader and is sworn in as prime minister on an interim basis until a party successor is elected. This was the case upon the death in office of John Curtin on 5 July 1945. Frank Forde, the deputy party leader, was sworn in as interim prime minister until Ben Chifley was elected by Caucus as party leader on 13 July. If the leader is out of the country or is on leave, the deputy leader acts as party leader and prime minister, without being sworn into the office.

According to recent convention, the leader and deputy leader must be from different factions and from different states. The leadership and deputy leadership have also been gender-balanced.

Federal leadership

Leader

The federal Leaders of the Australian Labor Party have been as follows (acting leaders indicated in italics):

#Leader
(birth–death)ElectorateTerm startTerm endTime in officeElections contestedPrime Minister (term)Barton 1901–1903Deakin 1903–1904Reid 1904–1905Deakin 1905–1908Deakin 1909–1910Cook 1913–1914Hughes 1916–1917Hughes 1917–1923Bruce 1923–1929Lyons 1932–1939Page 1939Menzies 1939–1941Fadden 1941Menzies 1949–1966Holt 1966–1967McEwen 1967–1968Gorton 1968–1971McMahon 1971–1972Fraser 1975–1983Howard 1996–2007Abbott 2013–2015Turnbull 2015–2018Morrison 2018–2022
1[[Image:ChrisWatsonBW crop.jpg60px]]
(1867–1941)Bland
(1901–1906);
South Sydney
(1906–1910)[1903](1901-australian-federal-election), [1906](1906-australian-federal-election)Protectionist Party}}
Protectionist Party}}
Australian Labor Party}}*Himself* 1904
Free Trade Party}}
Protectionist Party}}; border-top:solid 0 gray; border-bottom:solid 0 gray"
2[[Image:Andrew Fisher 1908.jpg60px]]
(1862–1928)Wide Bay[1910](1910-australian-federal-election), [1913](1913-australian-federal-election), [1914](1914-australian-federal-election)Protectionist Party}}; border-top:solid 0 gray"
Australian Labor Party}}*Himself* 1908–1909
Commonwealth Liberal Party}}
Australian Labor Party}}*Himself* 1910–1913
Commonwealth Liberal Party}}
Australian Labor Party}}*Himself* 1914–1915
3[[Image:Billy Hughes 1916.jpg60px]]
(1862–1952)West SydneyNoneAustralian Labor Party}}
4[[Image:Frank Tudor - Humphrey & Co.jpg60px]]
(1866–1922)Yarra[1917](1917-australian-federal-election), [1919](1919-australian-federal-election)National Labor Party}}
Nationalist Party (Australia)}}; border-top:solid 0 gray; border-bottom:solid 0 gray"
5[[Image:Matthew Charlton 1925.jpg60px]]
(1866–1948)Hunter******[1922](1922-australian-federal-election), [1925](1925-australian-federal-election)Nationalist Party (Australia)}}; border-top:solid 0 gray; border-bottom:solid 0 gray"
Nationalist Party (Australia)}}; border-top:solid 0 gray"
Nationalist Party (Australia)}}; border-top:solid 0 gray; border-bottom:solid 0 gray"
6[[Image:Portrait of the Right Hon. J. H. Scullin.png60px]]
(1876–1953)Yarra[1928](1928-australian-federal-election), [1929](1929-australian-federal-election), [1931](1931-australian-federal-election), [1934](1934-australian-federal-election)Nationalist Party (Australia)}}; border-top:solid 0 gray"
Australian Labor Party}}*Himself* 1929–1932
United Australia Party}}; border-bottom:solid 0 gray"
7[[Image:JohnCurtin.jpg60px]]
(1885–1945)Fremantle[1937](1937-australian-federal-election), [1940](1940-australian-federal-election), [1943](1943-australian-federal-election)United Australia Party}}; border-top:solid 0 gray"
National Party of Australia}}
United Australia Party}}
National Party of Australia}}
Australian Labor Party}}*Himself* 1941–1945
[[Image:Frank_Forde_1945.jpg60px]]*
(1890–1983)**Capricornia*******NoneAustralian Labor Party}}*Himself* 1945
8[[Image:Benchifley.jpg60px]]
(1885–1951)Macquarie[1946](1946-australian-federal-election), [1949](1949-australian-federal-election), [1951](1951-australian-federal-election)Australian Labor Party}}*Himself* 1945–1949
Liberal Party of Australia}}; border-bottom:solid 0 gray"
9[[Image:Herbert V. Evatt.jpg60px]]
(1894–1965)Barton
(1940–1958);
Hunter
(1958–1960)[1954](1954-australian-federal-election), [1955](1955-australian-federal-election), [1958](1958-australian-federal-election)Liberal Party of Australia}}; border-bottom:solid 0 gray; border-top:solid 0 gray"
10[[Image:Arthur Calwell 1966.jpg60px]]
(1896–1973)Melbourne[1961](1961-australian-federal-election), [1963](1963-australian-federal-election), [1966](1966-australian-federal-election)Liberal Party of Australia}}; border-bottom:solid 0 gray; border-top:solid 0 gray"
Liberal Party of Australia}}; border-bottom:solid 0 gray"
11[[File:Gough Whitlam at the Lodge 1974 (cropped).jpg60px]]
(1916–2014)Werriwa[1969](1969-australian-federal-election), [1972](1972-australian-federal-election), [1974](1974-australian-federal-election), [1975](1975-australian-federal-election), [1977](1977-australian-federal-election)Liberal Party of Australia}}; border-bottom:solid 0 gray; border-top:solid 0 gray"
National Party of Australia}}
Liberal Party of Australia}}
Liberal Party of Australia}}
Australian Labor Party}}*Himself* 1972–1975
Liberal Party of Australia}}; border-bottom:solid 0 gray"
12[[File:Bill Hayden 1974 (cropped).jpg60px]]
(1933-2023)Oxley[1980](1980-australian-federal-election)Liberal Party of Australia}}; border-top:solid 0 gray; border-bottom:solid 0 gray"
13[[Image:Hawke Bob BANNER.jpg60px]]
(1929–2019)Wills[1983](1983-australian-federal-election), [1984](1984-australian-federal-election), [1987](1987-australian-federal-election), [1990](1990-australian-federal-election)Liberal Party of Australia}}; border-top:solid 0 gray; border-bottom:solid 0 gray"
Australian Labor Party}}*Himself* 1983–1991
14[[Image:Keating Paul BANNER.jpg60px]]
(b. 1944)Blaxland[1993](1993-australian-federal-election), [1996](1996-australian-federal-election)Australian Labor Party}}*Himself* 1991–1996
15[[Image:Kim Beazley crop.jpg60px]]
(b. 1948)Brand[1998](1998-australian-federal-election), [2001](2001-australian-federal-election)Liberal Party of Australia}}; border-top:solid 0 gray; border-bottom:solid 0 gray"
16[[Image:Simon Crean 1990s.jpg60px]]
(1949–2023)HothamNoneLiberal Party of Australia}}; border-top:solid 0 gray; border-bottom:solid 0 gray"
17[[Image:Ac.marklatham.jpg60px]]
(b. 1961)Werriwa[2004](2004-australian-federal-election),Liberal Party of Australia}}; border-top:solid 0 gray; border-bottom:solid 0 gray"
(15)[[Image:Kim Beazley crop.jpg60px]]
(b. 1948)BrandNoneLiberal Party of Australia}}; border-top:solid 0 gray; border-bottom:solid 0 gray"
18[[Image:Kevin Rudd official portrait.jpg60px]]
(b. 1957)Griffith[2007](2007-australian-federal-election)Liberal Party of Australia}}; border-top:solid 0 gray; border-bottom:solid 0 gray"
Australian Labor Party}}*Himself* 2007–2010
19[[Image:Julia Gillard 2010.jpg60px]]
(b. 1961)Lalor[2010](2010-australian-federal-election)Australian Labor Party}}*Herself* 2010–2013
(18)[[Image:Kevin Rudd portrait.jpg60px]]
(b. 1957)Griffith[2013](2013-australian-federal-election)Australian Labor Party}}*Himself* 2013
[[Image:Chris Bowen 2022.jpg60px]]*
(b. 1973)**McMahon*******NoneLiberal Party of Australia}}; border-top:solid 0 gray; border-bottom:solid 0 gray"
20[[File:Bill Shorten Feb 2021 crop.jpg60px]]
(b. 1967)Maribyrnong[2016](2016-australian-federal-election), [2019](2019-australian-federal-election)Liberal Party of Australia}}; border-top:solid 0 gray"
Liberal Party of Australia}}
Liberal Party of Australia}}; border-bottom:solid 0 gray"
21[[File:Anthony Albanese portrait (cropped).jpg88x88px]]
(b. 1963)GrayndlerIncumbent[2022](2022-australian-federal-election), [2025](2025-australian-federal-election)Liberal Party of Australia}}; border-top:solid 0 gray; border-bottom:solid 0 gray"
Australian Labor Party}}*Himself* 2022–present

Deputy Leader

:Shown in chronological order of leadership

#Deputy LeaderTerm startTerm endTime in officeLeader
1[[Image:Gregor McGregor1.jpg60px]]
Andrew Fisher
2[[Image:Billy Hughes 1915.jpg60px]]
3[[Image:Sir George Pearce.jpg60px]]
4[[Image:Albert Gardiner.jpg60px]]
Matthew Charlton
5[[Image:James_Scullin_October_1928-02.jpg60px]]
6[[Image:Arthur Blakeley.jpg60px]]
7[[Image:Ted Theodore 1931.jpg60px]]
8[[Image:Frank Forde.jpg60px]]
John Curtin
Ben Chifley
9[[Image:Herbert V. Evatt.jpg60px]]
10[[Image:ArthurCalwell.jpg60px]]
11[[File:Gough Whitlam 1962.jpg60px]]
12[[Image:Lance_Barnard_1973_(1).jpg60px]]
13[[Image:Jim Cairns 1974 (cropped).jpg60px]]
14[[Image:Frank Crean 1974 (cropped).jpg60px]]
15[[Image:Tom Uren 1974 (cropped).jpg60px]]
16[[Image:Lionel Bowen.jpg60px]]
Bob Hawke
17[[Image:Keating Paul BANNER.jpg60px]]
18[[Image:Second Keating Cabinet 1994 (cropped Howe).jpg60px]]
Paul Keating
19[[Image:Kim Beazley crop.jpg60px]]
20[[Image:GarethEvans-crop.JPG60px]]
21[[Image:Simon Crean 1990s.jpg60px]]
22[[Image:Jenny Macklin (cropped).jpg60px]]
Mark Latham
Kim Beazley
23[[Image:Juliagillard-CROP.jpg60px]]
24[[Image:Treasurer Wayne Swan, 2009, crop.jpg60px]]
25[[File:Anthony Albanese.jpg89x89px]]
26[[Image:Tanya-plibersek2015.jpg60px]]
27[[Image:Richard_Marles_crop.jpg60px]]*Incumbent*

;Notes

Senate Leader

#Senate LeaderTerm startTerm endTime in officeLeader(s)
1[[Image:Gregor McGregor1.jpg60px]]
2[[Image:George Pearce - Mills (cropped).jpg60px]]
3[[Image:Albert Gardiner.jpg60px]]
4[[Image:Edward Needham.jpg60px]]
5[[Image:John Joseph Daly.jpg60px]]
6[[Image:John Barnes.jpg60px]]
7[[Image:Joseph Collings.jpg60px]]
8[[Image:Senator Richard Keane.jpg60px]]
9[[Image:William Patrick Ashley.jpg60px]]
10[[Image:SJCM Nick McKenna.jpg60px]]
11[[Image:Senator Donald Robert Willesee (cropped).jpg60px]]
12[[Image:Lionel Murphy 1972 (cropped).jpg60px]]
13[[Image:Ken Wriedt 1972 (cropped).jpg60px]]
14[[Image:John Button 1974 (cropped).jpg60px]]
15[[Image:GarethEvans-crop.JPG60px]]
16[[Image:John Faulkner.jpg60px]]
17[[Image:Christopher Vaughan Evans.jpg60px]]
18[[Image:StephenConroy.jpg60px]]
19[[Image:Senator Penny Wong 2015.jpg60px]]*Incumbent*

State and territory heads of government

Australian Capital Territory

  • Rosemary Follett (1989, 1991–1995, inaugural Chief Minister of the ACT, and first female head of government of an Australian state or territory)
  • Jon Stanhope (2001–2011)
  • Katy Gallagher (2011–2014)
  • Andrew Barr (2014–)

New South Wales

  • James McGowen (1910–1913)
  • William Holman (1913–1916)
  • John Storey (1920–21)
  • James Dooley (1921, 1921–22)
  • Jack Lang (1925–1927, 1930–1932)
  • William McKell (1941–1947)
  • James McGirr (1947–1952)
  • Joseph Cahill (1952–1959)
  • Bob Heffron (1959–1964)
  • Jack Renshaw (1964–65)
  • Neville Wran (1976–1986)
  • Barrie Unsworth (1986–1988)
  • Bob Carr (1995–2005)
  • Morris Iemma (2005–2008)
  • Nathan Rees (2008–09)
  • Kristina Keneally (2009–2011, first female premier of New South Wales)
  • Chris Minns (2023–)

Northern Territory

  • Clare Martin (2001–2007, first Labor Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, first female Chief Minister of the Northern Territory)
  • Paul Henderson (2007–2012)
  • Michael Gunner (2016–2022)
  • Natasha Fyles (2022–2023)
  • Eva Lawler (2023–2024)

Queensland

  • Anderson Dawson (1899, world's first leader of a parliamentary socialist government)
  • T. J. Ryan (1915–1919)
  • Ted Theodore (1919–1925)
  • William Gillies (1925)
  • William McCormack (1925–1929)
  • William Forgan Smith (1932–1942)
  • Frank Cooper (1942–1946)
  • Ned Hanlon (1946–1952)
  • Vince Gair (1952–1957)
  • Wayne Goss (1989–1996)
  • Peter Beattie (1998–2007)
  • Anna Bligh (2007–2012, first female premier of Queensland, and first woman in Australia to win an election as premier)
  • Annastacia Palaszczuk (2015–2023)
  • Steven Miles (2023–2024)

South Australia

  • Thomas Price (1905–1909)
  • John Verran (1910–1912)
  • Crawford Vaughan (1915–1917)
  • John Gunn (1924–1926)
  • Lionel Hill (1926–27, 1930–1933)
  • Robert Richards (1933)
  • Frank Walsh (1965–1967)
  • Don Dunstan (1967–68, 1970–1979)
  • Des Corcoran (1979)
  • John Bannon (1982–1992)
  • Lynn Arnold (1992–93)
  • Mike Rann (2002–2011)
  • Jay Weatherill (2011–2018)
  • Peter Malinauskas (2022–)

Tasmania

  • John Earle (1909, 1914–1916)
  • Joseph Lyons (1923–1928)
  • Albert Ogilvie (1934–1939)
  • Edmund Dwyer-Gray (1939)
  • Robert Cosgrove (1939–1947, 1948–1958)
  • Edward Brooker (1947–48)
  • Eric Reece (1958–1969, 1972–1975)
  • Bill Neilson (1975–1977)
  • Doug Lowe (1977–1981)
  • Harry Holgate (1981–82)
  • Michael Field (1989–1992)
  • Jim Bacon (1998–2004)
  • Paul Lennon (2004–2008)
  • David Bartlett (2008–2011)
  • Lara Giddings (2011–2014, first female Premier of Tasmania)

Victoria

  • George Elmslie (1913)
  • George Prendergast (1924)
  • Edmond Hogan (1927–28, 1929–1932)
  • John Cain (34th Premier of Victoria) (1943, 1945–1947, 1952–1955)
  • John Cain (41st Premier of Victoria) (1982–1990)
  • Joan Kirner (1990–1992, first female premier of Victoria)
  • Steve Bracks (1999–2007)
  • John Brumby (2007–2010)
  • Daniel Andrews (2014–2023)
  • Jacinta Allan (2023–)

Western Australia

  • Henry Daglish (1904–05)
  • John Scaddan (1911–1916)
  • Philip Collier (1924–1930, 1933–1936)
  • John Willcock (1936–1945)
  • Frank Wise (1945–1947)
  • Albert Hawke (1953–1959)
  • John Tonkin (1971–1974)
  • Brian Burke (1983–1988)
  • Peter Dowding (1988–1990)
  • Carmen Lawrence (1990–1993, first female premier of an Australian state)
  • Geoff Gallop (2001–2006)
  • Alan Carpenter (2006–2008)
  • Mark McGowan (2017–2023)
  • Roger Cook (2023–)

Federal Leaders by time in office

This list ranks federal leaders of the Labor Party by their time in office. Leaders that also served as Prime Minister are in bold. Where leaders served non-consecutive terms, their total time as leader is ranked together.

RankNo.LeaderTime in office
111th**Gough Whitlam**10 years, 317 days
27th**John Curtin**9 years, 277 days
313th**Bob Hawke**8 years, 314 days
49thH. V. Evatt8 years, 241 days
52nd**Andrew Fisher**7 years, 362 days
615thKim Beazley7 years, 203 days
76th**James Scullin**7 years, 128 days
810thArthur Calwell6 years, 338 days
921st**Anthony Albanese**
101st**Chris Watson**6 years, 163 days
115thMatthew Charlton6 years, 64 days
128th**Ben Chifley**5 years, 335 days
1320thBill Shorten5 years, 229 days
144thFrank Tudor5 years, 57 days
1512thBill Hayden5 years, 48 days
1614th**Paul Keating**4 years, 91 days
1718th**Kevin Rudd**3 years, 281 days
1819th**Julia Gillard**3 years, 2 days
1916thSimon Crean2 years, 10 days
2017thMark Latham1 year, 47 days
213rd**Billy Hughes**1 year, 18 days

Notes

References

References

  1. Wu, David. (22 May 2022). "Five Labor MPs to be immediately sworn in ahead of key Quad trip".
  2. (8 July 2013). "Rudd reveals plan for Labor leadership voting reform". ABC News.
  3. [http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/kevin-rudd-wins-over-party-leadership-rules-20130722-2qdly.html Kevin Rudd wins over party-p leadership-p rules]
  4. Harrison, Bill. (13 October 2013). "Bill Shorten elected Labor leader". [[The Sydney Morning Herald]].
  5. (2019-05-20). "Plibersek says she can't reconcile family responsibilities with leadership". ABC News.
  6. [http://www.nma.gov.au/primeministers/francis_forde Prime Ministers of Australia: Frank Forde] {{Webarchive. link. (26 March 2016 . ''[[National Museum of Australia]]''. Retrieved 22 August 2018.)
  7. (10 September 1920). "Mr Ryan: Assistant Leader, Federal Labour Party". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  8. (30 September 1921). "Mr. Tudor asked to continue". The Age.
  9. (26 January 1922). "MR. CHARLTON LEADER IN THE HOUSE". [[The Sydney Morning Herald]].
  10. (17 May 1922). "Federal Labor Party: Executive Officers Appointed". Geelong Advertiser.
Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Leaders of the Australian Labor Party — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report