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Minister for the Environment and Water

Australian cabinet position

Field	Value
post	Minister for the Environment and Water
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	Murray Watt
image	Murray Watt 2022.png
incumbentsince
style	The Honourable
appointer	Governor-General
appointer_qualified	on the advice of the prime minister
inaugural	Peter Howson (as Minister for the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts)
formation
department	Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
website

The Australian Minister for the Environment and Water is a position which is currently held by Murray Watt in the Albanese ministry since 13 May 2025, following the Australian federal election in 2025.

In the Government of Australia, the minister and assistant minister are responsible for the protection and conservation of the environment; to ensure that Australia benefits from meteorological and related sciences and services; and to see that Australia's interests in Antarctica are advanced. The minister provides direction and oversight of the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (previously the Department of the Environment and Energy, and before that the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities) to develop and implement national policy, programs and legislation to protect and conserve Australia's environment and heritage.

Portfolio responsibilities

The minister administers their portfolio through the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water and its environment component bodies, including:

Antarctic Animal Ethics Committee
Antarctic Ethics Committee (Human Experimentation)
Antarctic Research Assessment Committees (ARACs)
Antarctic Science Advisory Committee
Australia-Netherlands Committee on Old Dutch Shipwrecks
Australian Antarctic Names and Medals Committee
Australian Heritage Council
Bureau of Meteorology
Environment Protection and Heritage Council
Great Barrier Reef Consultative Committee
Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
Great Barrier Reef Ministerial Council
Great Barrier Reef Structural Adjustment Package Technical Advisory Committee
Hazardous Waste Technical Group
Murray-Darling Basin Authority
National Environment Protection Council
National Environmental Education Council
New South Wales World Heritage Properties Ministerial Council
Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator
Science Program Management Committee
State of the Environment Committee 2006
Stockholm Intergovernmental Forum
Sydney Harbour Federation Trust
Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area Ministerial Council
Threatened Species Scientific Committee
Wet Tropics Ministerial Council

List of ministers

Environment

The following individuals have been appointed as Minister for the Environment, or any precedent titles:

Order	Minister	Party affiliation	Prime Minister	Ministerial title	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	Peter Howson			Liberal	McMahon	Minister for the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts
2	Gough Whitlam	Labor}}		Labor	Whitlam			days
3	Moss Cass	Minister for the Environment and Conservation
Minister for the Environment
4	Jim Cairns			days
(2)	Gough Whitlam			days
5	Joe Berinson			days
6	Andrew Peacock	Liberal}}		Liberal	Fraser			days
7	Ivor Greenwood	Minister for Environment, Housing and Community Development			days
8	Kevin Newman
9	Ray Groom			days
10	James Webster	Minister for Science and the Environment
11	David Thomson			days
12	Robert Ellicott	Minister for Home Affairs and the Environment			days
13	Michael MacKellar			days
14	Ian Wilson
15	Tom McVeigh			National Country		16 October 1982	days
		National	16 October 1982	11 March 1983
16	Barry Cohen	Labor}}		Labor	Hawke
Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Environment
17	John Brown	Minister for Arts, Sport, the Environment, Tourism and Territories			days
18	Graham Richardson
19	Ros Kelly
Keating	Minister for Arts, Sport, the Environment and Territories
Minister for the Environment, Sport and Territories
(18)	Graham Richardson			days
20	John Faulkner
21	Robert Hill	Liberal}}		Liberal	Howard	Minister for the Environment
22	Minister for the Environment and Heritage
23	David Kemp
24	Ian Campbell
25	Malcolm Turnbull	Minister for the Environment and Water Resources			days
26	Peter Garrett	Labor}}		Labor	Rudd	Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts
Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts
Gillard
27	Tony Burke	Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities
28	Mark Butler	Rudd	Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Water			days
29	Greg Hunt	Liberal}}		Liberal	Abbott	Minister for the Environment
Turnbull
30	Josh Frydenberg	Minister for the Environment and Energy
31	Melissa Price	Morrison	Minister for the Environment
32	Sussan Ley
33	Tanya Plibersek	Labor}}		Labor	Albanese	Minister for the Environment and Water
34	Murray Watt		Incumbent

Notes : Whitlam was one of a two-man ministry consisting of himself and Lance Barnard for two weeks until the full ministry was announced.

Water

The following individuals have been appointed as Minister for Water, or any precedent titles:

Order	Minister	Party affiliation	Prime Minister	Ministerial title	Term start	Term end
1	Malcolm Turnbull			Liberal	Howard	Minister for the Environment and Water Resources
2	Penny Wong	Labor}}		Labor	Rudd	Minister for Climate Change and Water
Minister for Climate Change, Energy Efficiency and Water
Gillard
3	Tony Burke	Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities			****
4	Mark Butler	Rudd	Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Water			days
5	Barnaby Joyce			National	Turnbull	Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources
(1)	Malcolm Turnbull			Liberal
(5)	Barnaby Joyce	National}}		National
6	David Littleproud
Morrison
Minister for Water Resources, Drought, Rural Finance, Natural Disaster and Emergency Management
7	Keith Pitt	Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia
Minister for Resources and Water
8	Tanya Plibersek	Labor}}		Labor	Albanese	Minister for the Environment and Water
9	Murray Watt		Incumbent

Former ministerial portfolios

List of ministers for population

List of ministers for conservation

Assistant ministers

List of assistant ministers for the environment

The following individual has served as the Assistant Minister for the Environment.

Order	Minister	Title	Term start	Term end
1	Sharman Stone	Liberal	Howard	Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage
2	Greg Hunt
3	John Cobb	National	Assistant Minister for the Environment and Heritage
4	Amanda Rishworth	Labor	Rudd	Parliamentary Secretary for Environment and Urban Water
5	Simon Birmingham	Liberal	Abbott	Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment
6	Bob Baldwin
7	Melissa Price	Liberal	Turnbull	Assistant Minister for the Environment

List of assistant ministers for water

The following individual has served as the Assistant Minister for Water.

Order	Minister	Party	Prime Minister	Title	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	Anne Ruston			Liberal	Turnbull	Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources

References

(23 May 2022). "Press Conference - Parliament House, Canberra {{!}} Prime Minister of Australia".
(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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