List of Australian Leaders of the Opposition

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In the Australian House of Representatives, the Leader of the Opposition sits at the front table to the left of the Speaker's Chair (on the right-hand side in this photo).
In the Australian House of Representatives, the Leader of the Opposition sits at the front table to the left of the Speaker's Chair (on the right-hand side in this photo).

This is a List of Australian Leaders of the Opposition, who in Australian Federal Politics is a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives. The position is usually held by the leader of the party which has the most seats but is not part of the Government. When in Parliament the Leader of the Opposition sits on the left-hand side of the table in the centre, in front of the Opposition and opposite the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister is usually the leader of the party, or coalition of parties, with the most seats in Parliament, and thus is the leader of the Government.[1] The leader is elected by the Opposition Caucus. A new Opposition Leader may be elected when the incumbent dies, resigns or is challenged for the leadership.

The Commonwealth of Australia is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system and is based on the Westminster model. The term Opposition has a specific meaning in the parliamentary sense, in its formal title of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. This is an important component of the Westminster system: the Opposition directs its criticism at the Government and attempts to defeat and replace the Government. The Opposition is therefore the 'Government in waiting' and it is a formal part of the parliamentary system, just as is the Government. It is opposed to the Government, but not to the Crown, hence the term 'Loyal Opposition'.[2]

The Current Leader of the Opposition is Brendan Nelson of the Liberal Party. Previously Kevin Rudd of the Labor Party was Opposition Leader until the federal election. The Labor Party had been in Opposition since losing the 1996 federal election to the coalition led by John Howard of the Liberal Party and Tim Fischer of the National Party.[3] To date there have been 30 Opposition Leaders, 16 of which have served terms as Prime Minister.[4]

# Name Photo Term Start Term End Party
1. George Reid[5] George Reid 19 May 1901 17 August 1904[b] Free Trade Party
2. Chris Watson[6] Chris Watson 18 August 1904 5 July 1905[b] Australian Labor Party
- George Reid[5] 7 July 1905[a] 16 November 1908 Free Trade Party
Anti-Socialist Party
3. Joseph Cook[7] Joseph Cook 17 November 1908 26 May 1909[b] Anti-Socialist Party
4. Alfred Deakin[8] Alfred Deakin 26 May 1909 2 June 1909[b] Commonwealth Liberal Party
5. Andrew Fisher[9] Andrew Fisher 2 June 1909[a] 29 April 1910[b] Australian Labor Party
- Alfred Deakin[8] 1 July 1910[a] 20 January 1913 Commonwealth Liberal Party
- Joseph Cook[7] 20 January 1913 24 June 1913[b] Commonwealth Liberal Party
- Andrew Fisher[9] 8 July 1913[a] 17 September 1914[b] Australian Labor Party
- Joseph Cook[7] 8 October 1914[a] 17 February 1916 Commonwealth Liberal Party
Nationalist Party of Australia
6. Frank Tudor[10] Frank Tudor 1 November 1916 10 January 1922 Australian Labor Party
7. Matthew Charlton[11] Mathew Charlton 10 January 1922 29 March 1928 Australian Labor Party
8. James Scullin[12] James Scullin 29 March 1928 22 October 1929[b] Australian Labor Party
9. John Latham[13] John Latham 20 November 1929 7 May 1931 Nationalist Party of Australia
10. Joseph Lyons[9] Joseph Lyons 7 May 1931 6 January 1932[b] United Australia Party
- James Scullin[12] James Scullin 7 January 1932[a] 1 October 1935 Australian Labor Party
11. John Curtin[14] John Curtin 1 October 1935 7 October 1941[b] Australian Labor Party
12. Arthur Fadden[15] Arthur Fadden 7 October 1941[a] 23 September 1943 Country Party
13. Robert Menzies[15] Robert Menzies 23 September 1943[a] 19 December 1949[b] United Australia Party
Liberal Party of Australia
14. Ben Chifley[15] Ben Chifley 19 December 1949[a] 20 June 1951 Australian Labor Party
15. Herbert Evatt[9] Herbert Evatt 20 June 1951 9 February 1960 Australian Labor Party
16. Arthur Calwell[15] Arthur Calwell 7 March 1960 8 February 1967 Australian Labor Party
17. Gough Whitlam[16] 8 February 1967 2 December 1972[b] Australian Labor Party
18. Billy Snedden[15] 2 December 1972 21 March 1975 Liberal Party of Australia
19. Malcolm Fraser[17] Malcolm Fraser 21 March 1975 11 November 1975[b] Liberal Party of Australia
- Gough Whitlam[18][c] 11 November 1975[a] 22 December 1977 Australian Labor Party
20. Bill Hayden[9] 22 December 1977 3 February 1983 Australian Labor Party
21. Bob Hawke[13] 3 February 1983 11 March 1983[b] Australian Labor Party
22. Andrew Peacock[13] 11 March 1983 5 September 1985 Liberal Party of Australia
23. John Howard[19] John Howard 5 September 1985 9 May 1989[b] Liberal Party of Australia
- Andrew Peacock[13] 9 May 1989 3 April 1990 Liberal Party of Australia
24. John Hewson[13] 3 April 1990 23 May 1994 Liberal Party of Australia
25. Alexander Downer[9] Alexander Downer 23 May 1994 30 January 1995 Liberal Party of Australia
- John Howard[19] 30 January 1995 11 March 1996[b] Liberal Party of Australia
26. Kim Beazley[20] Kim Beazley 19 March 1996 11 November 2001 Australian Labor Party
27. Simon Crean[13] Simon Crean 11 November 2001 2 December 2003 Australian Labor Party
28. Mark Latham[21] Mark Latham 2 December 2003 18 January 2005 Australian Labor Party
- Kim Beazley[20] 28 January 2005 4 December 2006 Australian Labor Party
29. Kevin Rudd[22] Kevin Rudd 4 December 2006 3 December 2007[b] Australian Labor Party
30. Brendan Nelson[23] Brendan Nelson 3 December 2007 Liberal Party of Australia

  1. ^ Denotes an Opposition Leader who had previously been Prime Minister.
  2. ^ Denotes an Opposition Leader who later became Prime Minister.
  3. ^ Gough Whitlam refused to use the title Leader of the Opposition between the dismissal of his government in November 1975 and the first meeting of the new parliament in February 1976. During the election campaign in December 1975 he styled himself as the Leader of the Majority in the House of Representatives.[24]

  1. ^ Leader of the Opposition - Fact Sheet. Parliamentary Education Office. Retrieved on 2006-04-11.
  2. ^ Jaensch, Dean (1997). The Politics of Australia. Melbourne: MacMillan Education Australia, 100. ISBN 0732941288. 
  3. ^ Details of Australian election results in the Australian Government and politics database. The University of Western Australia. Retrieved on 2006-04-28.
  4. ^ The Leader of the Opposition, A House for the Nation (Australian Government), 2001. Retrieved on 14 December 2007.
  5. ^ a b Australia's Prime Ministers - Fast Facts - Reid. National Archives of Australia. Retrieved on 2006-04-26.
  6. ^ Australia's Prime Ministers - Fast Facts - Watson. National Archives of Australia. Retrieved on 2006-04-12.
  7. ^ a b c Crowley, F. K. (1981). Cook, Sir Joseph (1860 - 1947). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved on 2007-09-02.
  8. ^ a b Australia's Prime Ministers - Fast Facts - Deakin. National Archives of Australia. Retrieved on 2007-09-03.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Leaders of the Opposition. Parliament of Australia - Parliamentry Library. Retrieved on 2006-04-13.
  10. ^ McCalman, Janet (1990). Tudor, Francis Gwynne (Frank) (1866 - 1922). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved on 2007-09-03.
  11. ^ Perks, Murray (1979). Charlton, Matthew (1866 - 1948). Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved on 2007-09-03.
  12. ^ a b Gavin Scaramouche. James (Jim) Scullin. The Scaramouche Website. Retrieved on 2006-04-11.
  13. ^ a b c d e f Prime Ministers and Opposition Leaders. Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved on 2006-04-26.
  14. ^ Australia's Prime Ministers - Fast Facts - Curtin. National Archives of Australia. Retrieved on 2006-04-26.
  15. ^ a b c d e Federal Opposition Leaders Since 1901. Australian Politics. Retrieved on 2006-04-26.
  16. ^ Australia's Prime Ministers - Fast Facts - Whitlam. National Archives of Australia. Retrieved on 2006-04-28.
  17. ^ Australia's Prime Ministers - Fast Facts - Fraser. National Archives of Australia. Retrieved on 2006-04-28.
  18. ^ Australia's Prime Ministers - Fast Facts - Whitlam. National Archives of Australia. Retrieved on 2006-04-28.
  19. ^ a b Parliament of Australia - House of Representatives: John Howard (Member). Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved on 2006-04-26.
  20. ^ a b Parliament of Australia - House of Representatives: Kim Beazley (Member). Commonwealth of Australia. Retrieved on 2006-04-26.
  21. ^ History of the Australian Labor Party. Australian Labor Party. Retrieved on 2006-04-26.
  22. ^ Tearful Beazley Bows Out. The Age. Retrieved on 2006-04-13.
  23. ^ Nelson elected Liberals leader. ABC. Retrieved on 2006-04-13.
  24. ^ Gough Whitlam. Whitlam Speeches - 1975 Election Policy Speech. Whitlam Dismissal. Retrieved on 2006-04-12.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Australian_Leaders_of_the_Opposition"
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