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(Redirected from Australian Cabinet)

The 'Cabinet of Australia' is the council of senior ministers, responsible to parliament. The Cabinet is appointed by the Prime Minister and serve at his pleasure, although officially the Governor General controls their appointments. The Cabinet meets once a week to discuss vital issues. Outside of the cabinet there are a number of junior ministers, responsible for a specific policy area and reporting directly to a senior minister.
The Constitution of Australia does not recognise the Cabinet as a legal entity, and its decisions have no legal force. All members of the ministry are also members of the Executive Council, a body which is (in theory, though rarely in practice) chaired by the Governor-General and which meets solely to endorse and give legal force to decisions already made by the Cabinet. That is why there is always a member of the ministry holding the title Vice-President of the Executive Council.

Contents

History

Composition

Powers

Current Cabinet

Shadow Cabinet

See also

History

Until 1956 all members of the ministry were members of the Cabinet. The growth of the ministry in the 1940s and 1950s made this increasingly impractical, and in 1956 Robert Menzies created a two-tier ministry, with only senior ministers holding Cabinet rank. This practice has been continued by all governments except the Whitlam Government.
When the non-Labor parties have been in power, the Prime Minister has made all Cabinet and ministerial appointments at his own discretion, although in practice he consults with senior colleagues in making appointments. When the Liberal Party and its predecessors (the Nationalist Party and the United Australia Party) have been in coalition with the National Party or its predecessor the Country Party, the leader of the junior Coalition party has had the right to nominate his party's members of the Coalition ministry, and to be consulted by the Prime Minister on the allocation of their portfolios.
When the Labor Party first held office under Chris Watson, Watson assumed the right to choose members of his Cabinet. In 1907, however, the party decided that future Labor Cabinets would be elected by the members of the Parliamentary Labor Party, the Caucus, and this practice has been followed ever since. The Prime Minister retains the right to allocate portfolios. In practice, Labor Prime Ministers have exercised a predominant influence over who has been elected to Labor Cabinets, although the leaders of the party factions also exercise considerable influence.

Composition

Powers

Current Cabinet

The Australian Cabinet, following a reshuffle on 9 March 2007, is as follows:

Shadow Cabinet

The Parliamentary Opposition appoints from its ranks a Shadow Cabinet to criticise Government ministers and present itself as an alternate Government. The portfolios of Shadow Ministers usually correspond with those of the Government, although the current Labor Opposition's portfolio of Homeland Security is not present in the Cabinet. Smaller opposition parties often appoint spokespersons for Cabinet portfolios, but do not comprise the Shadow Cabinet.

See also

★ Current Australian Commonwealth ministry