Minister for Finance (Australia)

Australian cabinet position

Not to be confused with Treasurer of Australia.

Minister for Finance

Commonwealth Coat of Arms

Flag of Australia

Incumbent
Katy Gallagher
since 23 May 2022 (2022-05-23)

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 (1976-12-07)
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[edit]

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  | Party affiliation  | 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
| Keating | 20 December 1991 (1991-12-20) | 27 December 1991 (1991-12-27)
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
| Minister for Finance and Administration  | 9 October 1997 (1997-10-09) | 26 November 2001 (2001-11-26)
10  | Nick Minchin |  | 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
| Gillard | 24 June 2010 (2010-06-24) | 3 September 2010 (2010-09-03)
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
| Rudd  | 1 July 2013 (2013-07-01) | 18 September 2013 (2013-09-18)
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 | 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) | 1 year, 205 days
16  | Katy Gallagher |  | Labor  | Albanese | 23 May 2022 (2022-05-23) | Incumbent | 1 year, 331 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.

## List of assistant ministers for finance[edit]

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

## Former ministerial portfolios[edit]

### List of ministers for administrative services[edit]

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  | Party affiliation  | 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
| Minister for Administrative Services  | 7 October 1975 (1975-10-07) | 11 November 1975 (1975-11-11)
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
| Keating | 20 December 1991 (1991-12-20) | 24 March 1993 (1993-03-24)
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
| Minister for Administrative Services  | 30 January 1994 (1994-01-30) | 25 March 1994 (1994-03-25)
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

## See also[edit]

* Ministry of Finance
* Minister for Finance (Victoria)
* Minister for Finance (New South Wales)

## References[edit]

1. ^ 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.
2. ^ 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[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ministers of Finance of Australia.

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Ministerial portfolios of the Commonwealth of Australia

* Prime Minister
* Deputy Prime Minister
* Aged Care
* Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
* Arts
* Assistant Treasurer
* Attorney-General
* Cabinet Secretary
* Climate Change and Energy
* Communications
* Cyber Security
* Defence
* Defence Industry
* Defence Personnel
* Early Childhood Education
* Education
* Emergency Management
* Employment and Workplace Relations
* Environment and Water
* Finance
* Financial Services
* Foreign Affairs
* Government Services
* Health and Aged Care
* Home Affairs
* Homelessness
* Housing
* Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs
* Indigenous Australians
* Industry and Science
* Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government
* International Development and the Pacific
* National Disability Insurance Scheme
* Northern Australia
* Regional Development, Local Government and Territories
* Public Service
* Resources
* Skills and Training
* Small Business
* Social Services
* Special Minister of State
* Sport
* Trade and Tourism
* Treasurer
* Veterans' Affairs
* Vice-President of the Executive Council
* Women
* Youth

Current Ministry
*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template