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Minister for Foreign Affairs (Australia)

Australian cabinet position

Field	Value
post	Minister for Foreign Affairs
insignia	Coat_of_Arms_of_Australia.svg
insigniacaption	Commonwealth Coat of Arms
flag	Flag of Australia (converted).svg
flagcaption	Flag of Australia
flagborder	yes
incumbent	Penny Wong
image	Penny Wong DFAT official (cropped).jpg
incumbentsince
style	The Honourable
appointer	Governor-General
appointer_qualified	on the advice of the prime minister
inaugural	Edmund Barton (as Minister for External Affairs)
formation
department	Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
website

The Minister for Foreign Affairs, also known as the Foreign Minister, is the minister of state of the Commonwealth of Australia charged with overseeing the creation and implementation of international diplomacy, relations and foreign affairs policy, as the head of the foreign affairs section of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. The current Foreign Minister is Senator Penny Wong, who was appointed by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in May 2022 following the 2022 federal election.

Wong is the first female Foreign Minister from the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and the third female foreign minister in a row, following Julie Bishop and Marise Payne. The position is one of two cabinet-level portfolio ministers under the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the other being the Minister for Trade and Tourism. The Foreign Minister is vested with a few subordinate positions, including the Minister for International Development, currently held by Anne Aly, Minister for Pacific Island Affairs, currently held by Pat Conroy, and the Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, currently held by Matt Thistlethwaite.

Scope

The minister is usually one of the most senior members of Cabinet – the position is equivalent to that of Foreign Secretary in Britain or Secretary of State in the United States – as shown by the fact that eleven Prime Ministers of Australia have also worked as the Minister for Foreign Affairs. The minister is seen as one of the people most responsible for formulating Australia's foreign policy, as they along with other relevant ministers advise the Prime Minister in developing and implementing foreign policy, and also acts as the government's main spokesperson on international affairs issues. In recent times, the minister also undertakes numerous international trips to meet with foreign representatives and Heads of State or Government.

List of ministers for foreign affairs

The portfolio has existed continuously since 1901, except for the period 14 November 1916 to 21 December 1921. Prior to 6 November 1970, the office was known as the Minister for External Affairs. Between 24 July 1987 and 24 March 1993 it was known as the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. Starting with the Keating government, the Trade portfolio has been administered separately by the Minister for Trade.

The following individuals have been appointed as Minister for Foreign Affairs, or any of its precedent titles:

Order	Minister	Party	Prime Minister	Title	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	Edmund Barton	Protectionist}}		Protectionist	Barton	Minister for External Affairs
2	Alfred Deakin	Deakin			days
3	Billy Hughes			Labor	Watson			days
4	George Reid			Free Trade	Reid			days
n/a	Alfred Deakin			Protectionist	Deakin
5	Lee Batchelor			Labor	Fisher			days
6	Littleton Groom			Liberal	Deakin			days
n/a	Lee Batchelor	Labor}}		Labor	Fisher
7	Josiah Thomas
8	Paddy Glynn			Liberal	Cook
9	John Arthur	Labor}}		Labor	Fisher			days
10	Hugh Mahon			days
Hughes
n/a	Billy Hughes	Nationalist}}		Nationalist	Hughes	Minister for External Affairs
11	Stanley Bruce	Bruce
12	James Scullin			Labor	Scullin
13	John Latham	UAP}}		United Australia	Lyons
14	Sir George Pearce
n/a	Billy Hughes
Page			days
15	Sir Henry Somer Gullett	Menzies			days
16	John McEwen			Country			days
17	Frederick Stewart	UAP}}		United Australia			days
Fadden			days
18	H. V. Evatt	Labor}}		Labor	Curtin
Forde
Chifley
19	Percy Spender	Liberal}}		Liberal	Menzies
20	Richard Casey
21	Robert Menzies
22	Sir Garfield Barwick
23	Paul Hasluck
Holt
McEwen
Gorton
24	Gordon Freeth			days
25	William McMahon
Minister for Foreign Affairs
McMahon
26	Leslie Bury			days
27	Nigel Bowen
28	Gough Whitlam	Labor}}		Labor	Whitlam			days
29	Don Willesee
30	Andrew Peacock	Liberal}}		Liberal	Fraser
31	Tony Street
32	Bill Hayden	Labor}}		Labor	Hawke
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade
33	Gareth Evans
Keating
Minister for Foreign Affairs
34	Alexander Downer			Liberal	Howard			****
35	Stephen Smith	Labor}}		Labor	Rudd
Gillard
36	Kevin Rudd
37	Bob Carr
Rudd
38	Julie Bishop	Liberal}}		Liberal	Abbott
Turnbull
Morrison
39	Marise Payne
40	Penny Wong				Labor	Albanese		Incumbent	{{age in years and days	23 May 2022

Notes : Also served as Prime Minister for some or all of their term. : Barton was knighted in 1902, while serving as Minister.

List of ministers for international development

List of ministers for Pacific Island Affairs

Former ministerial titles

List of ministers assisting the minister for foreign affairs

The following individuals have been appointed as Minister assisting the Minister for Foreign Affairs or any of its precedent titles:

Order	Minister	Party	Prime Minister	Ministerial title	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	John Gorton			Liberal	Menzies	Minister Assisting the Minister for External Affairs
2	Don Willesee	Labor}}		Labor	Whitlam	Minister assisting the Minister for Foreign Affairs	19 December 1972	6 November 1973
3	Bill Morrison	Minister assisting the Minister for Foreign Affairs in matters relating to Papua New Guinea	30 November 1973	6 June 1975
Minister assisting the Minister for Foreign Affairs in matters relating to the Islands of the Pacific	6 June 1975	11 November 1975
4	Gareth Evans			Labor	Hawke	Minister assisting the Minister for Foreign Affairs	13 December 1984	24 July 1987

Parliamentary secretaries and assistant ministers

Foreign affairs

The following individuals have been appointed as parliamentary secretaries and assistant ministers for Foreign Affairs or any of its precedent titles:

Order	Minister	Party	Ministerial title	Term start	Term end
1	Stephen Martin		Labor	Keating	Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade
2	Andrew Thomson	Liberal}}	Liberal	Howard	Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs
3	Kathy Sullivan
4	Kay Patterson
5	Chris Gallus
6	Bruce Billson
Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs and Trade
Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs
7	Teresa Gambaro
8	Greg Hunt		days
9	Richard Marles		Labor	Gillard	Parliamentary Secretary for Foreign Affairs
10	Brett Mason	Liberal}}	Liberal	Abbott	Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs
11	Steven Ciobo		days
12	Tim Watts	Labor}}	Labor	Albanese	Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs
13	Matt Thistlethwaite	Assistant Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade	Incumbent

Pacific island affairs

International development

References

(2010). "Ministries and Cabinets". [[Parliament of Australia]].

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.

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