Minister for Foreign Affairs (Australia)
Encyclopedia
Government of Australia
The Commonwealth of Australia is a federal constitutional monarchy under a parliamentary democracy. The Commonwealth of Australia was formed in 1901 as a result of an agreement among six self-governing British colonies, which became the six states...
, the Minister for Foreign Affairs is responsible for overseeing the international diplomacy section of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Australia)
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is a department of the government of Australia charged with advancing the interests of Australia and its citizens internationally...
. In common with international practice, the office is often informally referred to as Foreign Minister. The portfolio has existed continuously since 1901, except for the period 14 November 1916 to 21 December 1921. Prior to 6 November 1970, the office was known as the Minister for External Affairs. Between 24 July 1987 and 24 March 1993 it was known as the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade.
The minister is usually one of the most senior members of Cabinet
Cabinet of Australia
The Cabinet of Australia is the council of senior ministers of the Crown, responsible to parliament. The Cabinet is appointed by the Governor-General, on the advice of the Prime Minister the Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, and serves at the former's pleasure. The strictly private...
– the position is equivalent to that of Secretary of State
United States Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence...
in the United States or Foreign Secretary
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs
The Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, commonly referred to as the Foreign Secretary, is a senior member of Her Majesty's Government heading the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and regarded as one of the Great Offices of State...
in the United Kingdom – as shown by the fact that eleven Prime Ministers of Australia
Prime Minister of Australia
The Prime Minister of the Commonwealth of Australia is the highest minister of the Crown, leader of the Cabinet and Head of Her Majesty's Australian Government, holding office on commission from the Governor-General of Australia. The office of Prime Minister is, in practice, the most powerful...
have also worked as the Minister for Foreign Affairs.
The minister is seen as one of the people most responsible for formulating Australia's foreign policy
Foreign policy
A country's foreign policy, also called the foreign relations policy, consists of self-interest strategies chosen by the state to safeguard its national interests and to achieve its goals within international relations milieu. The approaches are strategically employed to interact with other countries...
, as they along with other relevant ministers advise the Prime Minister in developing and implementing foreign policy, and also acts as the government's main spokesperson on international affairs issues. In recent times, the minister also undertakes numerous international trips to meet with foreign representatives and Heads of State
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
or Government
Head of government
Head of government is the chief officer of the executive branch of a government, often presiding over a cabinet. In a parliamentary system, the head of government is often styled prime minister, chief minister, premier, etc...
.
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Rudd
Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010...
is the current Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Second Gillard Ministry
Second Gillard Ministry
The Second Gillard Ministry is the 67th Australian ministry. It is led by Julia Gillard of the Australian Labor Party. On 11 September 2010 she announced the makeup of her ministry, following the 2010 Federal election...
, replacing Stephen Smith
Stephen Smith (Australian politician)
Stephen Francis Smith , is the Australian Minister for Defence. He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1993, representing the Division of Perth, Western Australia....
on 14 September 2010.
List of Australian Foreign Ministers
| Politician | Party | Time frame | Prime Minister |
Ministerial title |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edmund Barton Edmund Barton Sir Edmund Barton, GCMG, KC , Australian politician and judge, was the first Prime Minister of Australia and a founding justice of the High Court of Australia.... (Sir Edmund from 1902) |
Protectionist Party Protectionist Party The Protectionist Party was an Australian political party, formally organised from 1889 until 1909, with policies centred on protectionism. It argued that Australia needed protective tariffs to allow Australian industry to grow and provide employment. It had its greatest strength in Victoria and in... |
1901–1903 | Barton | Minister for External Affairs |
| Alfred Deakin Alfred Deakin Alfred Deakin , Australian politician, was a leader of the movement for Australian federation and later the second Prime Minister of Australia. In the last quarter of the 19th century, Deakin was a major contributor to the establishment of liberal reforms in the colony of Victoria, including the... |
1903–04 | Deakin | ||
| Billy Hughes Billy Hughes William Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923.... |
Australian Labor Party Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia... |
1904 | Watson Chris Watson John Christian Watson , commonly known as Chris Watson, Australian politician, was the third Prime Minister of Australia... |
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| George Reid George Reid (Australian politician) Sir George Houstoun Reid, GCB, GCMG, KC was an Australian politician, Premier of New South Wales and the fourth Prime Minister of Australia.... |
Free Trade Party Free Trade Party The Free Trade Party which was officially known as the Australian Free Trade and Liberal Association, also referred to as the Revenue Tariff Party in some states and renamed the Anti-Socialist Party in 1906, was an Australian political party, formally organised between 1889 and 1909... |
1904–1905 | Reid | |
| Alfred Deakin | Commonwealth Liberal Party Commonwealth Liberal Party The Commonwealth Liberal Party was a political movement active in Australia from 1909 to 1916, shortly after federation.... |
1905–1908 | Deakin | |
| Lee Batchelor Lee Batchelor Egerton Lee Batchelor, known as Lee Batchelor, , Australian politician, was the 2nd leader of the South Australian branch of the Australian Labor Party, a member of the First Australian Parliament, and the first member for the Federal Division of Boothby in South Australia, from 1903 to 1911... |
Australian Labor Party | 1908–09 | Fisher Andrew Fisher Andrew Fisher was an Australian politician who served as the fifth Prime Minister on three separate occasions. Fisher's 1910-13 Labor ministry completed a vast legislative programme which made him, along with Protectionist Alfred Deakin, the founder of the statutory structure of the new nation... |
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| Littleton Groom Littleton Groom Sir Littleton Ernest Groom, KCMG was an Australian Commonwealth Minister, Speaker of the House of Representatives and Australia's 17th longest serving federal Parliamentarian . He was a member of every non-Australian Labor Party ministry from 1905 to 1926... |
Protectionist Party | 1909–10 | Deakin | |
| Lee Batchelor | Australian Labor Party | 1910–11 | Fisher | |
| Josiah Thomas Josiah Thomas Josiah Thomas was an Cornish Australian miner and politician.Thomas was born in Camborne, Cornwall, UK and went to Mexico as a child with his father and later worked in mines in Cornwall. He travelled to Australia in the mid-1880s and worked at the Barrier Range, near Broken Hill... |
1911–13 | |||
| Patrick Glynn Patrick Glynn Patrick McMahon Glynn KC was an Attorney General of Australia and Minister for External Affairs.-Early life:... |
Commonwealth Liberal Party | 1913–14 | Cook Joseph Cook Sir Joseph Cook, GCMG was an Australian politician and the sixth Prime Minister of Australia. Born as Joseph Cooke and working in the coal mines of Silverdale, Staffordshire during his early life, he emigrated to Lithgow, New South Wales during the late 1880s, and became General-Secretary of the... |
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| John Arthur John Arthur (Australian politician) John Andrew Arthur was an Australian politician and briefly Minister for External Affairs.Arthur was born in Castlemaine, Victoria, son of a goldminer and spent his childhood in several Victorian goldmining towns. He won a state scholarship allowing him to attend Grenville College, Ballarat for... |
Australian Labor Party | 1914 | Fisher | |
| Hugh Mahon Hugh Mahon Hugh Mahon was an Irish-born Australian politician and a member of the first Commonwealth Parliament for the Australian Labor Party... |
1914–15 | |||
| 1915–1916 | Hughes | |||
| Billy Hughes | Nationalist Party of Australia Nationalist Party of Australia The Nationalist Party of Australia was an Australian political party. It was formed on 17 February 1917 from a merger between the conservative Commonwealth Liberal Party and the National Labor Party, the name given to the pro-conscription defectors from the Australian Labor Party led by Prime... |
1921–23 | ||
| Stanley Bruce Stanley Bruce Stanley Melbourne Bruce, 1st Viscount Bruce of Melbourne, CH, MC, FRS, PC , was an Australian politician and diplomat, and the eighth Prime Minister of Australia. He was the second Australian granted an hereditary peerage of the United Kingdom, but the first whose peerage was formally created... |
1923–29 | Bruce | ||
| James Scullin James Scullin James Henry Scullin , Australian Labor politician and the ninth Prime Minister of Australia. Two days after he was sworn in as Prime Minister, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 occurred, marking the beginning of the Great Depression and subsequent Great Depression in Australia.-Early life:Scullin was... |
Australian Labor Party | 1929–32 | Scullin | |
| John Latham | United Australia Party United Australia Party The United Australia Party was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. It was the political successor to the Nationalist Party of Australia and predecessor to the Liberal Party of Australia... |
1932–1934 | Lyons Joseph Lyons Joseph Aloysius Lyons, CH was an Australian politician. He was Labor Premier of Tasmania from 1923 to 1928 and a Minister in the James Scullin government from 1929 until his resignation from the Labor Party in March 1931... |
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| Sir George Pearce George Pearce Sir George Foster Pearce KCVO was an Australian politician who was instrumental in founding the Australian Labor Party in Western Australia.... |
1934–37 | |||
| Billy Hughes | 1937–39 | |||
| 1939 | Page Earle Page Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page, GCMG, CH was the 11th Prime Minister of Australia, and is to date the second-longest serving federal parliamentarian in Australian history, with 41 years, 361 days in Parliament.-Early life:... |
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| Sir Henry Somer Gullett Henry Gullett Sir Henry Somer Gullett KCMG was an Australian Cabinet Minister and member of the House of RepresentativesGullett was born at Toolamba West, Victoria and educated at state schools, but left school at twelve on the death of his father. He began writing for newspapers... |
1939–40 | Menzies Robert Menzies Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia.... |
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| John McEwen John McEwen Sir John "Black Jack" McEwen, GCMG, CH , was an Australian politician and the 18th Prime Minister of Australia... |
Country Party National Party of Australia The National Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Traditionally representing graziers, farmers and rural voters generally, it began as the The Country Party, but adopted the name The National Country Party in 1975, changed to The National Party of Australia in 1982. The party is... |
1940 | ||
| Frederick Stewart Frederick Stewart (Australian politician) Sir Frederick Harold Stewart was an Australian businessman, politician and government minister. His continuing political commitment was to the establishment of a national insurance scheme and the shortening of working hours to improve social conditions during the Great Depression, despite the... |
United Australia Party | 1940–41 | ||
| 1941 | Fadden Arthur Fadden Sir Arthur William Fadden, GCMG was an Australian politician and, briefly, the 13th Prime Minister of Australia.-Introduction:... |
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| Dr. Herbert Vere Evatt H. V. Evatt Herbert Vere Evatt, QC KStJ , was an Australian jurist, politician and writer. He was President of the United Nations General Assembly in 1948–49 and helped draft the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights... |
Australian Labor Party | 1941–45 | Curtin John Curtin John Joseph Curtin , Australian politician, served as the 14th Prime Minister of Australia. Labor under Curtin formed a minority government in 1941 after the crossbench consisting of two independent MPs crossed the floor in the House of Representatives, bringing down the Coalition minority... |
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| 1945 | Forde Frank Forde Francis Michael Forde PC was an Australian politician and the 15th Prime Minister of Australia. He was the shortest serving Prime Minister in Australia's history, being in office for only eight days.-Early life:... |
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| 1945–49 | Chifley Ben Chifley Joseph Benedict Chifley , Australian politician, was the 16th Prime Minister of Australia. He took over the Australian Labor Party leadership and Prime Ministership after the death of John Curtin in 1945, and went on to retain government at the 1946 election, before being defeated at the 1949... |
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| Percy Spender Percy Spender Sir Percy Claude Spender, KCVO, KBE, QC, , was an Australian politician. diplomat and jurist.Spender was born in Sydney and educated at the prestigious Fort Street High School and later the University of Sydney. He joined the Commonwealth Public Service in 1915... |
Liberal Party of Australia Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office... |
1949–51 | Menzies | |
| Richard Casey Richard Casey, Baron Casey Richard Gardiner Casey, Baron Casey KG GCMG CH DSO MC KStJ PC was an Australian politician, diplomat and the 16th Governor-General of Australia.-Early life:... |
1951–60 | |||
| Robert Menzies Robert Menzies Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia.... |
1960–61 | |||
| Sir Garfield Barwick Garfield Barwick Sir Garfield Edward John Barwick, was the Attorney-General of Australia , Minister for External Affairs and the seventh and longest serving Chief Justice of Australia... |
1961–64 | |||
| Paul Hasluck Paul Hasluck Sir Paul Meernaa Caedwalla Hasluck KG GCMG GCVO KStJ was an Australian historian, poet, public servant and politician, and the 17th Governor-General of Australia.-Early life:... |
1964–66 | |||
| 1966–67 | Holt Harold Holt Harold Edward Holt, CH was an Australian politician and the 17th Prime Minister of Australia.His term as Prime Minister was brought to an early and dramatic end in December 1967 when he disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach near Portsea, Victoria, and was presumed drowned.Holt spent 32 years... |
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| 1967–68 | McEwen John McEwen Sir John "Black Jack" McEwen, GCMG, CH , was an Australian politician and the 18th Prime Minister of Australia... |
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| 1968–69 | Gorton John Gorton Sir John Grey Gorton, GCMG, AC, CH , Australian politician, was the 19th Prime Minister of Australia.-Early life:... |
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| Gordon Freeth Gordon Freeth Sir Gordon Freeth KBE was an Australian politician.Freeth was born in Angaston, South Australia, the son of Robert Freeth and Gladys Mary Snashall... |
1969 | McMahon William McMahon Sir William "Billy" McMahon, GCMG, CH , was an Australian Liberal politician and the 20th Prime Minister of Australia... |
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| William McMahon William McMahon Sir William "Billy" McMahon, GCMG, CH , was an Australian Liberal politician and the 20th Prime Minister of Australia... |
1969–70 | |||
| 1970–71 | Minister for Foreign Affairs | |||
| Leslie Bury Les Bury Leslie Harry Ernest Bury CMG was an Australian politician.Bury was born in London and was educated at Queens' College, Cambridge. During World War II, he served in the Second Australian Imperial Force from 1943 to 1945, with heavy artillery fixed defences and with the 12th Australian Radar... |
1971 | |||
| Nigel Bowen Nigel Bowen Sir Nigel Hubert Bowen, AC, KBE was an Australian politician and judge.-Biography:Bowen was born in a log cabin in Summerland, British Columbia, Canada, of Welsh and English parents. He came to Australia as a boy and was educated for two years in England and later at The King's School in Parramatta... |
1971–72 | |||
| Gough Whitlam Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the... |
Australian Labor Party | 1972–1973 | Whitlam | |
| Don Willesee Don Willesee Donald Robert "Don" Willesee was an Australian politician, a member of the Australian Senate for 25 years representing Western Australia, and a Cabinet minister in the Whitlam government.... |
1973–75 | |||
| Andrew Peacock Andrew Peacock Andrew Sharp Peacock AC, GCL , is a former Australian Liberal politician. He was a minister in the Gorton, McMahon and Fraser governments, and was federal leader of the Liberal Party of Australia 1983–1985 and 1989–1990... |
Liberal Party of Australia | 1975–80 | Fraser Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser AC, CH, GCL, PC is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. He came to power in the 1975 election following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government, in which he played a key role... |
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| Tony Street Tony Street Anthony Austin Street is a retired Australian politician and member of parliament.He is the son of Geoffrey Street, a former Australian Cabinet Minister and MP... |
1980–83 | |||
| Bill Hayden Bill Hayden William George "Bill" Hayden AC was the 21st Governor-General of Australia. Prior to this, he represented the Australian Labor Party in parliament; he was a minister in the government of Gough Whitlam, and later became Leader of the Opposition, narrowly losing the 1980 federal election to the... |
Australian Labor Party | 1983–87 | Hawke Bob Hawke Robert James Lee "Bob" Hawke AC GCL was the 23rd Prime Minister of Australia from March 1983 to December 1991 and therefore longest serving Australian Labor Party Prime Minister.... |
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| 1987–88 | Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade | |||
| Gareth Evans Gareth Evans (politician) Gareth John Evans, AO, QC , is a former Australian politician from 1978 to 1999 representing the Australian Labor Party, serving in a number of ministries including Attorney-General and Foreign Minister from 1983 to 1996 in the Hawke and Keating governments. He was president and chief executive... |
1988–1991 | |||
| 1991–93 | Keating Paul Keating Paul John Keating was the 24th Prime Minister of Australia, serving from 1991 to 1996. Keating was elected as the federal Labor member for Blaxland in 1969 and came to prominence as the reformist treasurer of the Hawke Labor government, which came to power at the 1983 election... |
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| 1993–96 | Minister for Foreign Affairs | |||
| Alexander Downer Alexander Downer Alexander John Gosse Downer is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was Foreign Minister of Australia from March 1996 to December 2007, the longest-serving in Australian history... |
Liberal Party of Australia | 1996–2007 | Howard John Howard John Winston Howard AC, SSI, was the 25th Prime Minister of Australia, from 11 March 1996 to 3 December 2007. He was the second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies.... |
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| Stephen Smith Stephen Smith (Australian politician) Stephen Francis Smith , is the Australian Minister for Defence. He has been an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1993, representing the Division of Perth, Western Australia.... |
Australian Labor Party | 2007–2010 | Rudd Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010... |
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| 2010 | Gillard Julia Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard is the 27th and current Prime Minister of Australia, in office since June 2010.Gillard was born in Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, Wales and migrated with her family to Adelaide, Australia in 1966, attending Mitcham Demonstration School and Unley High School. In 1982 Gillard moved... |
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| Kevin Rudd Kevin Rudd Kevin Michael Rudd is an Australian politician who was the 26th Prime Minister of Australia from 2007 to 2010. He has been Minister for Foreign Affairs since 2010... |
2010– |