Leader of the House (Australia)

In the Parliament of Australia, the Leader of the House is the government minister responsible for the management of government business in the House of Representatives, including the order in which the Government's agenda is to be dealt with, tactical matters in reaction to impediments to such management, negotiation with the Opposition's counterpart (the Manager of Opposition Business in the House) about the order in which bills are to be debated, and the time allotted for debates. The position is currently held by Tony Burke since June 2022.

As the Australian Parliament is bicameral, the Leader of the House must also be aware of developments in the Senate, for example, in order to anticipate whether a bill may be returned to the House with amendments.

The office was created in 1951 by the Prime Minister at the time, Robert Menzies. The Leader of the House and the Deputy Leader are appointed by the Prime Minister. The Deputy Leader's duties are largely contingent, coming into play only when the Leader of the House is absent from the House or is on leave, when they are referred to as Acting Leader of the House.

In the incumbent Albanese ministry, which took office in 2022, Tony Burke is the Leader of the House and Mark Butler his deputy. During the preceding Morrison ministry, Burke and Butler were the Manager of Opposition Business and Deputy Manager respectively.

List of Leaders of the House

The following individuals have been appointed as Leader of the Australian House of Representatives:

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Order

! Minister

! colspan="2" | Party

! Prime Minister

! Portfolio

! Term start

! Term end

! Time in office

| align=center | 1

| rowspan="3" |  

| rowspan=10 |

| rowspan=2 | Menzies

| Vice-President of the Executive Council Minister for Defence Production Minister for Army Minister for the Navy

| align=center |

| align=right |

| align=center | 2

| Treasurer Minister for Labour and National Service

| align=center |

| align=right |

| align=center | 3

| Minister for Customs and Excise

| align=center |

| align=right |

| align=center | 8

| |

| rowspan=4 | Fraser

| Minister for Primary Industry

| align=center |

| align=right |

| align=center | 10

| |

| Minister for Employment and Youth Affairs

| align=center |

| align=right |

| align=center |

| rowspan="5" |

| rowspan=5 |

| rowspan=4 | Hawke

| Special Minister of State Vice-President of the Executive Council

| align=center |

| align=right |

| align=center | 13

| Deputy Prime Minister Vice-President of the Executive Council

| align=center |

| align=right |

| align=center |

| rowspan=2 | Vice-President of the Executive Council Minister for Defence Minister for Transport and Communications Minister for Employment, Education and Training Minister for Finance Deputy Prime Minister

| rowspan=2 align=center |

| rowspan=2 align=right |

| Keating

| align=center | 15

| rowspan="2" |

| rowspan=2 |

| rowspan=2 | Howard

| Minister for Industrial Relations Minister for Workplace Relations and Small Business Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service Minister for Defence

| align=center |

| align=right |

| align=center | 16

| Minister for Employment, Workplace Relations and Small Business Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Public Service Minister for Health and Ageing

| align=center |

| align=right |

| rowspan=5 align=center | 17

| rowspan=5 |

| Rudd

| rowspan=2 | Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government

| rowspan=2 align=center |

| rowspan=5 align=right |

| rowspan=3 | Gillard

| Minister for Infrastructure and Transport

| align=center |

| Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Minister for Regional Development and Local Government

| align=center |

| Rudd

| Deputy Prime Minister Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

| align=center |

| rowspan="5" align="center" | 18

| rowspan="5" |

| rowspan="7" |

| rowspan="2" | Abbott

| Minister for Education

| align="center" |

| rowspan="5" align="right" |

| Minister for Education and Training

| align="center" |

| rowspan=2 | Turnbull

| Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science

| align="center" |

| Minister for Defence Industry

| align="center" |

| rowspan="3" |Morrison

| Minister for Defence

| align="center" |

| align="center" | 19

| Attorney-General Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Minister for Industrial Relations

| align="center" |

| align="right" |

| align=center | 20

| Minister for Defence

| align=center |

| align=right |

| align=center rowspan=3 | 21

| rowspan=3 |

| rowspan=3 | Albanese

| Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations Minister for the Arts

| align=center |

| align=right rowspan=3 |

| Minister for the Arts Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs Minister for Home Affairs Minister for Cyber Security

| align=center |

| Minister for the Arts Minister for Immigration and Citizenship Minister for Home Affairs Minister for Cyber Security

| align=center |

| align=center | Incumbent

Note: For terms during the period 1951 to 1972, exact dates are taken from changes in Prime Minister. Other dates coincide with sitting periods of the House as an approximation of when terms began and ended.

Deputy Leaders of the House

The following individuals have been appointed as Deputy Leader of the Australian House of Representatives:

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Order

! Minister

! colspan="2" | Party

! Prime Minister

! Portfolio

! Term start

! Term end

! Time in office

| align="center" | 1

| rowspan=6 |

| rowspan=6 | Howard

| Minister for Science and Technology

| align="center" |

| align="right" |

| align="center" | 2

| Minister for Customs and Consumer Affairs

| align="center" |

| align="right" |

| align="center" rowspan=4 | (1)

| rowspan=4 |

| Minister for the Arts and the Centenary of Federation

| align="center" |

| align="right" rowspan=4 |

| Minister for Science

| align="center" |

| Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs

| align="center" |

| Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry

| align="center" |

| align="center" rowspan=5 | 3

| rowspan=5 |

| rowspan="5" |

| Rudd

| rowspan=2 | Minister for Foreign Affairs

| align="center" |

| align="right" rowspan=5 |

| rowspan=3 | Gillard

| align="center" |

| Minister for Foreign Affairs Minister for Trade

| align="center" |

| rowspan=2| Minister for Defence

| align="center" |

| Rudd

| align="center" |

| align="center" rowspan=2 | 4

| rowspan=2 |

| rowspan="7" |

| Abbott

| Assistant Minister for Employment

| align="center" |

| align="right" rowspan=2 |

| rowspan="4" | Turnbull

| Minister for Vocational Education and Skills

| align="center" |

| align="center" | 5

| Minister for Infrastructure and Transport

| align="center" |

| align="right" |

| align="center" | 6

| rowspan=3 | Minister for Veterans' Affairs Minister for Defence Personnel

| align="center" |

| align="right" |

| align="center" rowspan=2 | (5)

| rowspan=2 |

| align="center" |

| align="right" rowspan=2 |

| rowspan=2 | Morrison

| align="center" |

| align="center" | 7

| Minister Assisting the Minister for Trade and Investment

| align="center" |

| align="right" |

| rowspan=2 align=center | 8

| rowspan=2 |

| rowspan=2 | Albanese

| Minister for Health and Aged Care

| align=center |

| rowspan=2 align=right |

|Minister for Health and Ageing Minister for Disability and the National Disability Insurance Scheme

| align=center |

| align=center | Incumbent

Leader of the House (Australia)

List of Leaders of the House

Deputy Leaders of the House

See also

References