List of Australian Leaders of the Opposition facts for kids

In the Australian House of Representatives, the Leader of the Opposition sits at the front table to the left of the Speaker's Chair (on the right-hand side in this photo).

In Australian Federal Politics the Leader of the Opposition is a Member of Parliament in the House of Representatives. The Leader of the Opposition is usually the leader of the party which has the most seats but is not part of the Government. In Parliament the Leader of the Opposition sits on the left-hand side of the table in the centre, in front of the Opposition and opposite the Prime Minister. The Opposition Leader is elected by the Opposition Party. A new Opposition Leader may be elected if the person in the position dies, resigns or is challenged for the leadership.

The Commonwealth of Australia is a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system. It is based on the British Westminster model. The term Opposition has a specific meaning in the parliamentary system. Its formal title is Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition. This is an important part of the Westminster system. The Opposition directs its criticism at the Government and attempts to defeat and replace the Government. The Opposition is therefore the 'Government in waiting' and it is a formal part of the parliamentary system, just as is the Government. It is in opposition to the Government, but not to the Crown, hence the term 'Loyal Opposition'.

The current Leader of the Opposition is Anthony Albanese, replacing Bill Shorten who resigned after losing in the 2016 and 2019 elections.

Leaders of the Opposition

No.	Leader		Party		Constituency	Took office	Left office	Prime Minister
1	George Reid			Free Trade Party	East Sydney (NSW)	19 May 1901	17 August 1904		Barton 1901–03
									Deakin 1903–04
									Watson 1904
2	Chris Watson			Labour Party	Bland (NSW)	18 August 1904	5 July 1905		Reid 1904–05
(1)	George Reid			Free Trade Party	East Sydney (NSW)	7 July 1905	16 November 1908		Deakin 1905–08
				Anti-Socialist Party
									Fisher 1908–09
3	Joseph Cook			Anti-Socialist Party	Parramatta (NSW)	17 November 1908	26 May 1909
4	Alfred Deakin			Commonwealth Liberal Party	Ballaarat (Vic)	26 May 1909	2 June 1909
5	Andrew Fisher			Labour Party	Wide Bay (Qld)	2 June 1909	29 April 1910		Deakin 1909
(4)	Alfred Deakin			Commonwealth Liberal Party	Ballaarat (Vic)	1 July 1910	20 January 1913		Fisher 1910–13
(3)	Joseph Cook			Commonwealth Liberal Party	Parramatta (NSW)	20 January 1913	24 June 1913
(5)	Andrew Fisher			Labor Party	Wide Bay (Qld)	8 July 1913	17 September 1914		Cook 1913–14
(3)	Joseph Cook			Commonwealth Liberal Party	Parramatta (NSW)	8 October 1914	17 February 1917		Fisher 1914–15
									Hughes 1915–23
6	Frank Tudor			Labor Party	Yarra (Vic)	17 February 1917	10 January 1922
7	Matthew Charlton			Labor Party	Hunter (NSW)	25 January 1922	29 March 1928
									Bruce 1923–29
8	James Scullin			Labor Party	Yarra (Vic)	26 April 1928	22 October 1929
9	John Latham			Nationalist Party	Kooyong (Vic)	20 November 1929	7 May 1931		Scullin 1929–32
10	Joseph Lyons			United Australia Party	Wilmot (Tas)	7 May 1931	6 January 1932
(8)	James Scullin			Labor Party	Yarra (Vic)	7 January 1932	1 October 1935		Lyons 1932–39
11	John Curtin			Labor Party	Fremantle (WA)	1 October 1935	7 October 1941
									Page 1939
									Menzies 1939–41
									Fadden 1941
12	Arthur Fadden			Country Party	Darling Downs (Qld)	7 October 1941	23 September 1943		Curtin 1941–45
13	Robert Menzies			United Australia Party	Kooyong (Vic)	23 September 1943	19 December 1949
				Liberal Party					Forde 1945
									Chifley 1945–49
14	Ben Chifley			Labor Party	Macquarie (NSW)	19 December 1949	13 June 1951		Menzies 1949–66
15	H. V. Evatt			Labor Party	Barton (NSW) 1940–58 Hunter (NSW) 1958–60	20 June 1951	9 February 1960
16	Arthur Calwell			Labor Party	Melbourne (Vic)	7 March 1960	8 February 1967
									Holt 1966–67
17	Gough Whitlam			Labor Party	Werriwa (NSW)	8 February 1967	2 December 1972
									McEwen 1967–68
									Gorton 1968–71
									McMahon 1971–72
18	Billy Snedden			Liberal Party	Bruce (Vic)	20 December 1972	21 March 1975		Whitlam 1972–75
19	Malcolm Fraser			Liberal Party	Wannon (Vic)	21 March 1975	11 November 1975
(17)	Gough Whitlam			Labor Party	Werriwa (NSW)	11 November 1975	22 December 1977		Fraser 1975–83
20	Bill Hayden			Labor Party	Oxley (Qld)	22 December 1977	3 February 1983
21	Bob Hawke			Labor Party	Wills (Vic)	3 February 1983	11 March 1983
22	Andrew Peacock			Liberal Party	Kooyong (Vic)	11 March 1983	5 September 1985		Hawke 1983–91
23	John Howard			Liberal Party	Bennelong (NSW)	5 September 1985	9 May 1989
(22)	Andrew Peacock			Liberal Party	Kooyong (Vic)	9 May 1989	3 April 1990
24	John Hewson			Liberal Party	Wentworth (NSW)	3 April 1990	23 May 1994
									Keating 1991–96
25	Alexander Downer			Liberal Party	Mayo (SA)	23 May 1994	30 January 1995
(23)	John Howard			Liberal Party	Bennelong (NSW)	30 January 1995	11 March 1996
26	Kim Beazley			Labor Party	Brand (WA)	19 March 1996	22 November 2001		Howard 1996–2007
27	Simon Crean			Labor Party	Hotham (Vic)	22 November 2001	2 December 2003
28	Mark Latham			Labor Party	Werriwa (NSW)	2 December 2003	18 January 2005
(26)	Kim Beazley			Labor Party	Brand (WA)	28 January 2005	4 December 2006
29	Kevin Rudd			Labor Party	Griffith (Qld)	4 December 2006	3 December 2007
30	Brendan Nelson			Liberal Party	Bradfield (NSW)	3 December 2007	16 September 2008		Rudd 2007–10
31	Malcolm Turnbull			Liberal Party	Wentworth (NSW)	16 September 2008	1 December 2009
32	Tony Abbott			Liberal Party	Warringah (NSW)	1 December 2009	18 September 2013
									Gillard 2010–13
									Rudd 2013
33	Chris Bowen			Labor Party	McMahon (NSW)	18 September 2013	13 October 2013		Abbott 2013–15
34	Bill Shorten			Labor Party	Maribyrnong (Vic)	13 October 2013	30 May 2019
									Turnbull 2015–18
									Morrison 2018–present
35	Anthony Albanese			Labor Party	Grayndler (NSW)	30 May 2019	Incumbent

Related pages

• Leader of the Opposition
• Prime Minister of Australia

1. Shows an Opposition Leader who had previously been Prime Minister.
2. Shows an Opposition Leader who later became Prime Minister.
3. Gough Whitlam refused to use the title Leader of the Opposition between the dismissal of his government in November 1975 and the first meeting of the new parliament in February 1976. During the election campaign in December 1975 he styled himself as the Leader of the Majority in the House of Representatives.