Minister for Finance (Australia)

Minister for Finance
Minister for Finance
	Commonwealth Coat of Arms
	Flag of Australia
	Incumbent; Katy Gallagher; since 23 May 2022
	Department of Finance
Style	The Honourable
Appointer	Governor-General on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Australia
Inaugural holder	Phillip Lynch
Formation	7 December 1976
Website	www.financeminister.gov.au

The Minister for Finance in the Government of Australia is responsible for monitoring government expenditure and financial management. The current minister is Senator Katy Gallagher who has held the position since May 2022.

In the Government of Australia, the minister supplements the role of the Treasurer, being responsible for areas such as government expenditure, financial management, and the operations of government. The minister administers the portfolio through the Department of Finance.

The Finance Minister is in effect the deputy Treasurer (not to be confused with the Assistant Treasurer), as the Finance Minister acts as the Treasurer in the Treasurer's absence. Unlike the Treasurer, who by convention has been a member of the House of Representatives, the Finance Minister may come from either House of Parliament.

List of ministers

The portfolio was first created in 1977 by Malcolm Fraser's Liberal Party of Australia government as Minister for Finance. It was subsequently renamed Minister for Finance and Administration by John Howard's government in 1997, and as Minister for Finance and Deregulation by Kevin Rudd's government in 2007, then returning to Minister for Finance under Tony Abbott in 2013. It took on its current name under Scott Morrison in 2018; the Second Morrison Ministry removed Public Service from the portfolio in May 2019. The following individuals have been appointed as Minister for Finance or any precedent titles:^[1]

Notwithstanding Philip Lynch, John Howard and Wayne Swan who were Treasurers whilst serving as Finance Minister, two Finance Ministers who were from the House of Representatives, John Dawkins and Ralph Willis, then served as Treasurer. In addition John Fahey (served 1996-2001) had previously served as Treasurer of New South Wales when he was also Premier of that state and current minister Katy Gallagher had previously served as Treasurer of the Australian Capital Territory including when she was also the territory Chief Minister.

Order	Minister		Prime Minister	Ministerial title	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	Phillip Lynch	Liberal	Fraser	Minister for Finance	7 December 1976 (1976-12-07)	19 November 1977 (1977-11-19)	347 days
2	Eric Robinson				20 November 1977 (1977-11-20)	23 February 1979 (1979-02-23)	1 year, 95 days
3	John Howard				23 February 1979 (1979-02-23)	27 February 1979 (1979-02-27)	4 days
n/a	Eric Robinson				27 February 1979 (1979-02-27)	3 November 1980 (1980-11-03)	1 year, 250 days
4	Dame Margaret Guilfoyle				3 November 1980 (1980-11-03)	11 March 1983 (1983-03-11)	2 years, 128 days
5	John Dawkins	Labor	Hawke		11 March 1983 (1983-03-11)	13 December 1984 (1984-12-13)	1 year, 277 days
6	Peter Walsh				13 December 1984 (1984-12-13)	4 April 1990 (1990-04-04)	5 years, 112 days
7	Ralph Willis				4 April 1990 (1990-04-04)	9 December 1991 (1991-12-09)	1 year, 249 days
8	Kim Beazley				9 December 1991 (1991-12-09)	20 December 1991 (1991-12-20)	18 days
8	Kim Beazley		Keating		20 December 1991 (1991-12-20)	27 December 1991 (1991-12-27)	18 days
n/a	Ralph Willis				27 December 1991 (1991-12-27)	23 December 1993 (1993-12-23)	1 year, 361 days
n/a	Kim Beazley				23 December 1993 (1993-12-23)	11 March 1996 (1996-03-11)	2 years, 79 days
9	John Fahey	Liberal	Howard		11 March 1996 (1996-03-11)	9 October 1997 (1997-10-09)	5 years, 260 days
9	John Fahey			Minister for Finance and Administration	9 October 1997 (1997-10-09)	26 November 2001 (2001-11-26)	5 years, 260 days
10	Nick Minchin			Minister for Finance and Administration	26 November 2001 (2001-11-26)	3 December 2007 (2007-12-03)	6 years, 7 days
11	Lindsay Tanner	Labor	Rudd	Minister for Finance and Deregulation	3 December 2007 (2007-12-03)	24 June 2010 (2010-06-24)	2 years, 274 days
11	Lindsay Tanner		Gillard		24 June 2010 (2010-06-24)	3 September 2010 (2010-09-03)	2 years, 274 days
12	Wayne Swan				3 September 2010 (2010-09-03)	14 September 2010 (2010-09-14)	11 days
13	Penny Wong				14 September 2010 (2010-09-14)	1 July 2013 (2013-07-01)	3 years, 4 days
13	Penny Wong		Rudd		1 July 2013 (2013-07-01)	18 September 2013 (2013-09-18)	3 years, 4 days
14	Mathias Cormann¹	Liberal	Abbott	Minister for Finance	18 September 2013 (2013-09-18)	15 September 2015 (2015-09-15)	7 years, 42 days
			Turnbull	Minister for Finance	15 September 2015 (2015-09-15)	23 August 2018 (2018-08-23)
			Morrison	Minister for Finance and the Public Service	28 August 2018 (2018-08-28)	29 May 2019 (2019-05-29)
				Minister for Finance	29 May 2019 (2019-05-29)	30 October 2020 (2020-10-30)
n/a	Scott Morrison¹				30 March 2020 (2020-03-30)	23 May 2022 (2022-05-23)	2 years, 54 days
15	Simon Birmingham¹				30 October 2020 (2020-10-30)	23 May 2022 (2022-05-23)	1 year, 205 days
16	Katy Gallagher	Labor	Albanese		23 May 2022 (2022-05-23)	Incumbent	2 years, 173 days

¹ Morrison was appointed as Minister for Finance by the Governor-General on Morrison's advice in March 2020, with both Morrison and Cormann holding the position of Minister for Finance until October 2020, and then Morrison and Birmingham until May 2022. However, the appointment of Morrison was not made public until August 2022.

Former ministerial portfolios

List of ministers for administrative services

The first minister responsible for Administrative Services was Fred Daly, although the portfolio was titled Minister for Services and Property from December 1972 until October 1975. The portfolio was abolished with the resignation of David Jull on 25 September 1997 and its responsibilities were absorbed into the portfolio of Finance and Administration on 6 October 1997. The following individuals have been appointed as Minister for Administrative Services, or any precedent titles:^[1]^[2]

Order	Minister		Prime Minister	Ministerial title	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	Fred Daly	Labor	Whitlam	Minister for Services and Property	19 December 1972 (1972-12-19)	7 October 1975 (1975-10-07)	2 years, 327 days
1	Fred Daly	Labor	Whitlam	Minister for Administrative Services	7 October 1975 (1975-10-07)	11 November 1975 (1975-11-11)	2 years, 327 days
2	Tom Drake-Brockman	National	Fraser		12 November 1975 (1975-11-12)	22 December 1975 (1975-12-22)	41 days
3	Reg Withers	Liberal			22 December 1975 (1975-12-22)	7 August 1978 (1978-08-07)	2 years, 228 days
4	Peter Durack				7 August 1978 (1978-08-07)	25 August 1978 (1978-08-25)	18 days
5	Fred Chaney				25 August 1978 (1978-08-25)	5 December 1978 (1978-12-05)	102 days
6	John McLeay				5 December 1978 (1978-12-05)	3 November 1980 (1980-11-03)	1 year, 334 days
7	Kevin Newman				3 November 1980 (1980-11-03)	11 March 1983 (1983-03-11)	2 years, 128 days
8	John Brown	Labor	Hawke		11 March 1983 (1983-03-11)	13 December 1984 (1984-12-13)	1 year, 277 days
9	Tom Uren			Minister for Local Government and Administrative Services	13 December 1984 (1984-12-13)	24 July 1987 (1987-07-24)	2 years, 223 days
10	Stewart West			Minister for Administrative Services	24 July 1987 (1987-07-24)	4 April 1990 (1990-04-04)	2 years, 254 days
11	Nick Bolkus				4 April 1990 (1990-04-04)	20 December 1991 (1991-12-20)	2 years, 354 days
11	Nick Bolkus		Keating		20 December 1991 (1991-12-20)	24 March 1993 (1993-03-24)	2 years, 354 days
12	Bob McMullan			Minister for the Arts and Administrative Services	24 March 1993 (1993-03-24)	30 January 1994 (1994-01-30)	1 year, 1 day
12	Bob McMullan			Minister for Administrative Services	30 January 1994 (1994-01-30)	25 March 1994 (1994-03-25)	1 year, 1 day
13	Frank Walker				25 March 1994 (1994-03-25)	11 March 1996 (1996-03-11)	1 year, 352 days
14	David Jull	Liberal	Howard		11 March 1996 (1996-03-11)	25 September 1997 (1997-09-25)	1 year, 198 days
15	John Fahey			Minister for Finance and Administration	9 October 1997 (1997-10-09)	26 November 2001 (2001-11-26)	4 years, 48 days
16	Nick Minchin			Minister for Finance and Administration	26 November 2001 (2001-11-26)	3 December 2007 (2007-12-03)	6 years, 7 days

List of assistant ministers for finance

The following individuals have been appointed as Assistant Minister for, or any precedent titles:^[1]^[2]

Order	Minister	Party affiliation		Prime Minister	Ministerial title	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	David Coleman		Liberal	Turnbull	Assistant Minister for Finance	20 December 2017 (2017-12-20)	28 August 2018 (2018-08-28)	251 days

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Ministries and Cabinets". 43rd Parliamentary Handbook: Historical information on the Australian Parliament. Parliament of Australia. 2010. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
^ ^a ^b Turnbull, Malcolm (19 December 2017). "Ministerial Arrangements" (Press release). Government of Australia. Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018. David Coleman, who came to Parliament after a long career in business, is also elevated to the ministry as Assistant Minister for Finance.

External links

Official website

[parl-1] "Ministries and Cabinets". 43rd Parliamentary Handbook: Historical information on the Australian Parliament. Parliament of Australia. 2010. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2013.

[Turnbull2nd-4thAR-2] Turnbull, Malcolm (19 December 2017). "Ministerial Arrangements" (Press release). Government of Australia. Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018. David Coleman, who came to Parliament after a long career in business, is also elevated to the ministry as Assistant Minister for Finance.

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