Leader of the House (Australia)

Leader of the House
Incumbent Christopher Pyne since 18 September 2013
Style	The Honourable
Appointer	Governor-General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Australia
Inaugural holder	Sir Eric Harrison
Formation	11 May 1951
Deputy	Luke Hartsuyker

In the Australian Parliament, the Leader of the House is the government minister responsible for the management of government business in the House of Representatives, including such matters as:^[1]

• the order in which Government issues are to be dealt with
• tactical matters in reaction to impediments to such management
• negotiation with the Opposition's counterpart (the Manager of Opposition Business) about the order in which bills are to be debated, and
• time allotted for debate.

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. Since 18 September 2013, Leader of the House has been Christopher Pyne, and the current Deputy Leader of the House is Luke Hartsuyker. The duties of the Deputy Leader of the House is largely contingent, coming into play only when the Leader of the House is absent from the House or is on leave, when he or she is referred to as Acting Leader of the House.

List of Leaders of the House

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

Order	Minister	Party		Prime Minister	Portfolio	Term start	Term end
1	Sir Eric Harrison[2]		Liberal	Menzies	Vice-President of the Executive Council Minister for Defence Production Minister for Army Minister for the Navy	11 May 1951	September 1956
2	Harold Holt[3]				Treasurer Minister for Labour and National Service	September 1956	26 January 1966
3	Sir David Fairbairn[3]			Holt	Minister for National Development	26 January 1966	October 1966
4	Billy Snedden[3]				Minister for Immigration	February 1967	November 1968
		McEwen
		Gorton
5	Dudley Erwin[3]				Minister for the Air	February 1969	September 1969
n/a	Billy Snedden[3]				Minister for Labour and National Service	November 1969	10 March 1971
6	Reginald Swartz[3]			McMahon	Minister for National Development	10 March 1971	August 1972
7	Don Chipp[3]				Minister for Customs and Excise	August 1972	5 December 1972
8	Fred Daly[3]		Labor	Whitlam	Minister for Services and Property Minister for Administrative Services	5 December 1972	22 December 1975
9	Ian Sinclair[4]		National Country	Fraser	Minister for Primary Industry	22 December 1975	27 September 1979
10	Ian Viner[3]		Liberal		Minister for Employment and Youth Affairs	27 September 1979	19 August 1980
n/a	Ian Sinclair[4]		National Country		Minister for Special Trade Representations Minister for Communications	19 August 1980	7 May 1982
11	James Killen[3]		Liberal		Vice-President of the Executive Council	7 May 1982	11 March 1983
12	Mick Young[5]		Labor	Hawke	Special Minister of State Vice-President of the Executive Council	11 March 1983	14 July 1983
13	Lionel Bowen[6]				Deputy Prime Minister Vice-President of the Executive Council	14 July 1983	21 January 1984
n/a	Mick Young[5]				Special Minister of State Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs Minister for Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs Vice-President of the Executive Council Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Multicultural Affairs	21 January 1984	12 February 1988
14	Kim Beazley[7]				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	15 February 1988	11 March 1996
		Keating
15	Peter Reith[8]		Liberal	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	11 March 1996	8 October 2001
16	Tony Abbott[9]				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	26 November 2001	3 December 2007
17	Anthony Albanese[10]		Labor	Rudd	Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Minister for Regional Development and Local Government Deputy Prime Minister	3 December 2007	18 September 2013
		Gillard
		Rudd
18	Christopher Pyne[11]		Liberal	Abbott	Minister for Education / Minister for Education and Training Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science Minister for Defence Industry	18 September 2013	incumbent
		Turnbull

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.

References

1. "Chapter 2: House, Government and Opposition". House of Representatives Practice (PDF). pp. 63–64.
2. Macintyre, Stuart (1996). "Harrison, Sir Eric John". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: Australian National University. Retrieved 20 September 2007.
3. "Appendix 8: Leaders of the House". House of Representatives Practice (PDF).
4. Australian Parliamentary Library. "Ian McCahon Sinclair". Trove. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
5. Australian Parliamentary Library. "Mick Young". Trove. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
6. Australian Parliamentary Library. "Lionel Bowen". Trove. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
7. Australian Parliamentary Library. "Kim Beazley". Trove. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
8. Australian Parliamentary Library. "Peter Reith". Trove. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
9. Australian Parliamentary Library. "Tony Abbott". Trove. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
10. Australian Parliamentary Library. "Anthony Albanese". Trove. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
11. Australian Parliamentary Library. "Christopher Maurice Pyne". Trove. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 28 March 2012.