Leaders of the Australian Labor Party

"ALP", as used on this page, refers to the Australian Labor Party. For other uses of the abbreviation "ALP", see ALP (disambiguation)

There have been leaders of the Australian Labor Party at the federal level as well as in each state and territory.

ALP federal parliamentary leaders

The federal Caucus comprising the elected members of the Labor party in both Houses of the national Parliament is involved in the election of the federal parliamentary leaders from among its members. The leader has historically been a member of the House of Representatives. Since October 2013, a ballot of both the Caucus and by the Labor Party's rank-and-file members has determined the party leader and the deputy leader. Bill Shorten was the first leader elected under the new rule.

When the Labor Party is in government, the party leader is the Prime Minister and the deputy leader is the Deputy Prime Minister. If a Labor prime minister resigns or dies in office, the deputy leader becomes party leader and is sworn in as prime minister on an interim basis until a successor is elected. This was the case upon the death in office of John Curtin on 5 July 1939. Frank Forde the deputy party leader was sworn in as interim prime minister until Ben Chifley was elected by caucus as party leader on 13 July. If the leader is out of the country or is on leave the deputy leader acts as party leader and prime minister, without being sworn into the office.

The federal leaders of the Australian Labor Party have been as follows:

Order	Name	Term began	Term ended	Time in office	Term as Prime Minister
1	Chris Watson	20 May 1901	30 October 1907	6 years, 163 days	1904
2	Andrew Fisher	30 October 1907	27 October 1915	7 years, 362 days	1908–1909, 1910–1913, 1914–1915
3	Billy Hughes	27 October 1915	14 November 1916	1 year, 18 days	1915–1923
4	Frank Tudor	14 November 1916	10 January 1922	5 years, 57 days
5	Matthew Charlton	16 May 1922	29 March 1928	5 years, 318 days
6	James Scullin	26 April 1928	1 October 1935	7 years, 128 days	1929–1932
7	John Curtin	1 October 1935	5 July 1945	9 years, 277 days	1941–1945
8	Ben Chifley	13 July 1945	13 June 1951	5 years, 335 days	1945–1949
9	H. V. Evatt	20 June 1951	9 February 1960	8 years, 241 days
10	Arthur Calwell	7 March 1960	8 February 1967	6 years, 338 days
11	Gough Whitlam	9 February 1967	22 December 1977	10 years, 316 days	1972–1975
12	Bill Hayden	22 December 1977	3 February 1983	5 years, 43 days
13	Bob Hawke	3 February 1983	20 December 1991	8 years, 320 days	1983–1991
14	Paul Keating	20 December 1991	11 March 1996	4 years, 82 days	1991–1996
15	Kim Beazley	19 March 1996	22 November 2001	5 years, 248 days
16	Simon Crean	22 November 2001	2 December 2003	2 years, 10 days
17	Mark Latham	2 December 2003	28 January 2005	1 year, 57 days
(15)	Kim Beazley	28 January 2005	4 December 2006	1 year, 310 days
18	Kevin Rudd	4 December 2006	24 June 2010	3 years, 202 days	2007–2010
19	Julia Gillard	24 June 2010	26 June 2013	3 years, 2 days	2010–2013
(18)	Kevin Rudd	26 June 2013	18 September 2013	79 days	2013
20	Bill Shorten	13 October 2013	Incumbent

ALP federal deputy parliamentary leaders

Shown in chronological order of leadership

Year	Name	Leader	Notes
1901	Gregor McGregor	Chris Watson
		Andrew Fisher
1914	Billy Hughes		Later Prime Minister 1915–23
1915	George Pearce	Billy Hughes
1916	Albert Gardiner	Frank Tudor
		Matthew Charlton
1927	James Scullin		Later Prime Minister 1929–32
1928	Arthur Blakeley	James Scullin
1929	Ted Theodore		Previously Premier of Queensland 1919–25
1932	Frank Forde		Prime Minister 1945
		John Curtin
		Ben Chifley
1946	H. V. Evatt		Later Leader 1951–60
1951	Arthur Calwell	H.V. Evatt	Later Leader 1960–67
1960	Gough Whitlam	Arthur Calwell	Later Prime Minister 1972–75
1967	Lance Barnard	Gough Whitlam
1974	Jim Cairns
1975	Frank Crean
1975	Tom Uren
1977	Lionel Bowen	Bill Hayden
		Bob Hawke
1990	Paul Keating		Later Prime Minister 1991–96
1991	Brian Howe
		Paul Keating
1995	Kim Beazley		Later Leader 1996–2001, 2005–06
1996	Gareth Evans	Kim Beazley
1998	Simon Crean		Later Leader 2001–03
2001	Jenny Macklin	Simon Crean
		Mark Latham
		Kim Beazley
2006	Julia Gillard	Kevin Rudd	Later Prime Minister 2010–13
2010	Wayne Swan	Julia Gillard
2013	Anthony Albanese	Kevin Rudd
		Bill Shorten
2013	Tanya Plibersek

Past Labor premiers and chief ministers

Northern Territory

• Clare Martin (2001–07, first Labor Chief Minister of the Northern Territory, first female Chief Minister of the Northern Territory)
• Paul Henderson (2007–12)

Australian Capital Territory

See also: Australian Labor Party (ACT Branch)

• Rosemary Follett (1989, 1991–95, inaugural Chief Minister of the ACT, and first female head of government of an Australian state or territory)
• Jon Stanhope (2001–11)
• Katy Gallagher (2011–14)

New South Wales

See also: Australian Labor Party (New South Wales Branch)

• James McGowen (1910–13)
• William Holman (1913–16)
• John Storey (1920–21)
• James Dooley (1921, 1921–22)
• Jack Lang (1925–27, 1930–32)
• William McKell (1941–47)
• James McGirr (1947–52)
• Joseph Cahill (1952–59)
• Robert Heffron (1959–64)
• Jack Renshaw (1964–65)
• Neville Wran (1976–86)
• Barrie Unsworth (1986–88)
• Bob Carr (1995–2005)
• Morris Iemma (2005–08)
• Nathan Rees (2008–09)
• Kristina Keneally (2009–11, first female premier of New South Wales)

Queensland

• Anderson Dawson (1899, world's first leader of a parliamentary socialist government)
• T. J. Ryan (1915–19)
• Ted Theodore (1919–25)
• William Gillies (1925)
• William McCormack (1925–29)
• William Forgan Smith (1932–42)
• Frank Cooper (1942–46)
• Ned Hanlon (1946–52)
• Vince Gair (1952–57)
• Wayne Goss (1989–96)
• Peter Beattie (1998–2007)
• Anna Bligh (2007–12, first female premier of Queensland, and first woman in Australia to win an election as premier)

South Australia

• Thomas Price (1905–09)
• John Verran (1910–12)
• Crawford Vaughan (1915–17)
• John Gunn (1924–26)
• Lionel Hill (1926–27, 1930–33)
• Robert Richards (1933)
• Frank Walsh (1965–67)
• Don Dunstan (1967–68, 1970–79)
• Des Corcoran (1979)
• John Bannon (1982–92)
• Lynn Arnold (1992–93)
• Mike Rann (2002–11)

Tasmania

• John Earle (1909, 1914–16)
• Joseph Lyons (1923–28)
• Albert Ogilvie (1934–39)
• Edmund Dwyer-Gray (1939)
• Robert Cosgrove (1939–47, 1948–58)
• Edward Brooker (1947–48)
• Eric Reece (1958–69, 1972–75)
• Bill Neilson (1975–77)
• Doug Lowe (1977–81)
• Harry Holgate (1981–82)
• Michael Field (1989–92)
• Jim Bacon (1998–2004)
• Paul Lennon (2004–08)
• David Bartlett (2008–11)
• Lara Giddings (2011–14, first female Premier of Tasmania)

Victoria

• John Brumby (2007–10)
• Steve Bracks (1999–2007)
• Joan Kirner (1990–92, first female premier of Victoria, and first woman in Australia to lose an election as premier)
• John Cain II (1982–90)
• John Cain (senior) (1943, 1945–47, 1952–55)
• Edmond Hogan (1927–28, 1929–32)
• George Prendergast (1924)
• George Elmslie (1913)

Western Australia

• Alan Carpenter (2006–08)
• Geoff Gallop (2001–06)
• Carmen Lawrence (1990–93, first female premier of an Australian state)
• Peter Dowding (1988–90)
• Brian Burke (1983–88)
• John Tonkin (1971–74)
• Albert Hawke (1953–59)
• Frank Wise (1945–47)
• John Willcock (1936–45)
• Philip Collier (1924–30, 1933–36)
• John Scaddan (1911–16)
• Henry Daglish (1904–05)