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Vice-President of the Executive Council

Australian cabinet position

Summary

Australian cabinet position

Field	Value
post	Vice-President of the Executive Council
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	Katy Gallagher
image	Katy Gallagher 2022.jpg
incumbentsince
style	The Honourable
department	Australian Government
Federal Executive Council
appointer	Governor-General on the advice of the prime minister
inaugural	Richard O'Connor
formation

Federal Executive Council The Vice-President of the Executive Council is the minister in the Government of Australia who acts as the presiding officer of meetings of the Federal Executive Council when the Governor-General is absent. The Vice-President of the Executive Council is appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the Prime Minister of Australia, and serves at the Governor-General's pleasure. The Vice-President is usually a senior minister in Cabinet, who may summon executive councillors and preside at council meetings when the Governor-General is not present. However, the Vice-President cannot sign Executive Council documents on behalf of the Governor-General.

The current Vice President of the Executive Council is Senator Katy Gallagher, who was appointed on 23 May 2022.

Duties and history

The duties of the Vice-President of the Executive Council are not rigorous, and the position is usually held by a Member of the Cabinet, who is not paid additional salary or allowance.

The position is usually not held by a 'Minister without portfolio', but the position has at times been held by persons who did not hold a Ministerial portfolio—such as Enid Lyons (1949–1951) in the Fourth Menzies Ministry and James Killen (1982–1983) in the Third Fraser Ministry. A small Department of the Vice-President of the Executive Council existed from 22 March to 31 May 1971, during the prime ministership of William McMahon. It was administered by Alan Hulme, who was also Postmaster-General. The department was recreated in 1982 and James Killen was controversially appointed to administer the office. Killen held no other Ministerial portfolio, but was nevertheless considered a member of the Fraser Ministry by virtue only of this office. The appointment was controversial because it was seen as a sinecure given that Killen held no Ministerial portfolio, as the cabinet appointment entitled him to receive a ministerial salary. The Department was again abolished in 1983 by incoming Prime Minister Bob Hawke.

During the Turnbull government in 2015, the Leader of the Government in the Senate has been the Vice-President. This practice was continued by the Morrison government. Under the Albanese Government, the roles are separated though the Vice-President remains a senator.

Colonial and state governments

Prior to the creation of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901, colonial and state governments also appointed a Vice-President of the Executive Council, and some have kept the title. The Colony of New South Wales was the first to appoint a Vice-President of the Executive Council (New South Wales), on 3 October 1856, in the Parker ministry of the first elected colonial government. The New South Wales government currently retains the title for a senior government minister, who since 30 October 2020 has been Damien Tudehope, Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council.

The Executive Council of Victoria is made up of the Premier and his or her Ministers who have been sworn into that office by the Governor, usually immediately after they have been sworn in as Ministers. While not a member, the Governor usually attends and presides at meetings of the Executive Council.

List of vice-presidents

The following individuals have been appointed as Vice-President of the Executive Council:

Order	Minister	Party	Prime Minister	Substantive portfolios	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	Senator Richard O'Connor			Protectionist	Barton	–
2	Senator Thomas Playford			Deakin	–			days
3	Senator Gregor McGregor			Labor	Watson	–
4	Senator James Drake			Protectionist	Reid	–
5	Thomas Ewing			Protectionist	Deakin	–
6	Senator John Keating			Home Affairs			days
7	Senator Robert Best			–
n/a	Senator Gregor McGregor			Labor	Fisher	–
8	Senator Edward Millen			Commonwealth Liberal	Deakin	–
n/a	Senator Gregor McGregor			Labor	Fisher	–
9	Senator James McColl			Commonwealth Liberal	Cook	–
10	Senator Albert Gardiner			Labor	Fisher	–
		Hughes	–
11	William Spence			National Labor	Hughes	–
n/a	Senator Edward Millen			Nationalist	Repatriation			days
12	Littleton Groom			–			days
13	Senator Edward Russell			–
14	Senator John Earle			–
15	Llewellyn Atkinson			Country	Bruce	–
16	Senator George Pearce			Nationalist	–
17	Senator John Daly			Labor	Scullin	Defence (–)
18	Senator John Barnes			–			days
19	Senator Alexander McLachlan			UAP	Lyons	Development and Scientific and Industrial Research
20	Billy Hughes			Health; Repatriation
21	Joseph Lyons			Prime Minister
n/a	Billy Hughes			External Affairs; Territories			days
22	Senator George McLeay			–			days
		Page	–
23	James Fairbairn			Menzies	Civil Aviation (–); Air (–)			days
24	Percy Spender			–			days
25	Henry Gullett			Scientific and Industrial Research; War Service Homes			days
26	Senator Herbert Collett					days
27	Senator George McLeay			Postmaster-General and Repatriation (–);
Supply and Development (–)			days
		Fadden	Supply and Development
28	Senator Richard Keane			Labor	Curtin	Trade and Customs
29	Senator Bill Ashley			Postmaster-General
30	Jack Beasley			–			days
		Forde	Defence
31	Senator Joe Collings			Chifley	–
32	William Scully			–
33	Enid Lyons			Liberal	Menzies	–
34	Robert Menzies			Prime Minister			days
35	Eric Harrison			Defence Production; Army; Navy
36	Senator Neil O'Sullivan			Attorney-General
37	Senator Bill Spooner			National Development
38	William McMahon			Labour and National Service
39	Alan Hulme			Holt	Postmaster-General
(Hulme was also the "Minister administering the Department of the Vice-President of the Executive Council", a department that was created and existed between 10 March 1971 and 30 May 1971.)			****
		McEwen
		Gorton
		McMahon
40	Senator Don Willesee			Labor	Whitlam	Special Minister of State; Foreign Affairs
41	Frank Stewart			Tourism and Recreation
42	Senator Reg Withers			Liberal	Fraser	Capital Territory; Media; Special Minister of State; Tourism and Recreation (–);
Administrative Services (–)
43	Senator John Carrick			Education (–);
National Development and Energy (–)
44	James Killen			(Killen had no other portfolio, but the Department of the Vice-President of the Executive Council was created for him to administer.)			days
45	Mick Young			Labor	Hawke	Special Minister of State
46	Lionel Bowen			Deputy Prime Minister; Trade (–);
Attorney-General (–)
n/a	Mick Young			Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs			days
47	Kim Beazley			Defence (–);
Transport and Communications (–)
48	Senator Graham Richardson			Social Security
		Keating	Social Security (–);
Transport and Communications (–)
49	Ralph Willis			Finance			days
50	Frank Walker			Special Minister of State
51	Gary Johns			Special Minister of State
52	John Moore			Liberal	Howard	Industry, Science and Tourism
53	David Kemp			Education, Training and Youth Affairs; Assistant Treasurer (–);
Environment and Heritage (–)
54	Senator Nick Minchin			Finance and Administration
55	Senator John Faulkner			Labor	Rudd	Special Minister of State (–);
Defence (–)
		Gillard	Defence
56	Robert McClelland			Attorney-General (–);
Housing, Homelessness and Emergency Management (–)
57	Tony Burke			Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (–)
		Rudd	Minister for Immigration, Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship; Arts
58	Senator George Brandis	Liberal}}		Liberal	Abbott	Attorney-General
Minister for the Arts		15 September 2015
Turnbull	Attorney-General
59	Senator Mathias Cormann	Minister for Finance
Special Minister of State
Morrison	Minister for Finance and the Public Service (–)
Minister for Finance (–30 October 2020)
60	Senator Simon Birmingham	Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment (–)
Minister for Finance (–22 May 2022)
61	Senator Katy Gallagher	Labor}}		Labor	Albanese	Minister for Finance
Minister for the Public Service
Minister for Women		Incumbent

References

(June 2005). "Federal Executive Council Handbook". [[Government of Australia]].
(2010). "Ministries and Cabinets". [[Parliament of Australia]].

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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