Deputy Prime Minister of Australia | |
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since 23 May 2022 | |
Executive branch of the Australian Government[broken anchor] Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet | |
Style | The Honourable |
Abbreviation | DPM |
Member of | |
Reports to | Prime Minister |
Seat | Canberra |
Nominator | Prime Minister |
Appointer | Governor-General of Australia on the advice of the prime minister |
Term length | At the Governor-General's pleasure |
Formation | 10 January 1968 |
First holder | John McEwen |
Salary | AU$416,212 |
This article is part of a series on the |
Politics of Australia |
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Constitution |
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The deputy prime minister of Australia is the deputy chief executive and the second highest ranking officer of the Australian Government. The office of deputy prime minister was officially created as a ministerial portfolio in 1968, although the title had been used informally for many years previously. The deputy prime minister is appointed by the governor-general on the advice of the prime minister. When Australia has a Labor government, the deputy leader of the parliamentary party holds the position of deputy prime minister. When Australia has a Coalition government, the Coalition Agreement mandates that all Coalition members support the leader of the Liberal Party becoming prime minister and the leader of the National Party becoming the deputy prime minister.[1]
The 2017–18 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis resulted in the position being made vacant for the first time since its official creation. Barnaby Joyce, the then-incumbent, was ruled ineligible to be a member of parliament by the High Court of Australia sitting as the Court of Disputed Returns on 27 October 2017, as he held New Zealand citizenship at the time of his election in contravention of Section 44 of the Constitution of Australia. Julie Bishop would act in the place of the prime minister during the vacancy in the deputy premiership.[2][3] Joyce regained the position on 6 December 2017[4] after he won the by-election for the seat of New England several days earlier.[3]