Treasurer of Australia

Treasurer of Australia
Incumbent Wayne Swan since 3 December 2007
Style	The Honourable
Appointer	Prime Minister of Australia
Inaugural holder	Sir George Turner
Formation	1901

The Treasurer of Australia is the minister in the Government of Australia responsible for government expenditure and revenue raising. He is the head of the Department of the Treasury. The Treasurer plays a key role in the economic policy of the government. By strong Constitutional convention, the Treasurer is always a member of the Parliament of Australia with a seat in the House of Representatives. In some other countries the equivalent role is the Minister for Finance, although Australia has a separate office of that name responsible for regulating government spending.

The Department of the Treasury, Canberra

Each year in May, the Treasurer presents the Federal Budget to the Parliament. The Treasurer is a very senior government post; traditionally, the holder of this office is the Deputy Prime Minister or in the case of the Liberal/National coalition, the deputy leader of the dominant political party holding government. Being Treasurer is often seen by the Canberra Press Gallery and the public as a necessary stepping-stone to the Prime Ministership;^{[citation needed]} however, only six Prime Ministers have served as Treasurer before ascending to higher office.

Wayne Swan is the current Treasurer of Australia. The immediately preceding Treasurer, Peter Costello, held the portfolio for a record term.

List of Australian Treasurers

Ordinal	Treasurer	Party	Term
1.	Sir George Turner	Protectionist Party	1901–1904
2.	Chris Watson	Australian Labor Party	1904
–	Sir George Turner	Protectionist Party	1904–1905
3.	Sir John Forrest	Protectionist Party	1905–1907
4.	Sir William Lyne	Protectionist Party	1907–1908
5.	Andrew Fisher	Australian Labor Party	1908–1909
–	Sir John Forrest	Protectionist Party	1909–1910
–	Andrew Fisher	Australian Labor Party	1910–1913
–	Sir John Forrest	Commonwealth Liberal Party	1913–1914
–	Andrew Fisher	Australian Labor Party	1914–1915
6.	William Higgs	Australian Labor Party	1915–1916
7.	Alexander Poynton	National Labor Party	1916–1917
–	Sir John Forrest	Nationalist Party of Australia	1917–1918
8.	William Watt	Nationalist Party of Australia	1918–1920
9.	Sir Joseph Cook	Nationalist Party of Australia	1920–1921
10.	Stanley Bruce	Nationalist Party of Australia	1921–1923
11.	Dr Earle Page	Country Party	1923–1929
12.	Ted Theodore	Australian Labor Party	1929–1930
13.	James Scullin	Australian Labor Party	1930–1931
–	Ted Theodore	Australian Labor Party	1931–1932
14.	Joseph Lyons	United Australia Party	1932–1935
15.	Richard Casey	United Australia Party	1935–1939
16.	Robert Menzies	United Australia Party	1939–1940
17.	Percy Spender	United Australia Party	1940
18.	Arthur Fadden	Country Party	1940–1941
19.	Ben Chifley	Australian Labor Party	1941–1949
–	Sir Arthur Fadden	Country Party	1949–1958
20.	Harold Holt	Liberal Party of Australia	1958–1966
21.	William McMahon	Liberal Party of Australia	1966–1969
22.	Leslie Bury	Liberal Party of Australia	1969–1971
23.	Billy Snedden	Liberal Party of Australia	1971–1972
24.	Gough Whitlam	Australian Labor Party	1972
25.	Frank Crean	Australian Labor Party	1972–1974
26.	Dr Jim Cairns	Australian Labor Party	1974–1975
27.	Bill Hayden	Australian Labor Party	1975
28.	Phillip Lynch	Liberal Party of Australia	1975–1977
29.	John Howard	Liberal Party of Australia	1977–1983
30.	Paul Keating[1]	Australian Labor Party	1983–1991
31.	Bob Hawke[2]	Australian Labor Party	1991
32.	John Kerin	Australian Labor Party	1991
33.	Ralph Willis	Australian Labor Party	1991
34.	John Dawkins	Australian Labor Party	1991–1993
–	Ralph Willis	Australian Labor Party	1993–1996
35.	Peter Costello	Liberal Party of Australia	1996–2007
36.	Wayne Swan	Australian Labor Party	2007–present

• Treasurers Watson, Fisher, Scullin, Lyons, Menzies, Chifley, Whitlam and Hawke were also Prime Minister during some or all of their period as Treasurer.

Notes

1. ^ From 3 June 1991 to 20 December 1991 Paul Keating was in the backbench after failing to defeat Bob Hawke in a caucus ballot for the prime ministership.
2. ^ Hawke held the portfolio for only one day, 3–4 June 1991.

External links