Formed 31 May 1971 Headquarters Canberra | Dissolved 19 December 1972 | |
Superseding agency Department of Aboriginal Affairs - for Aboriginal affairs
Department of Environment and Conservation
Department of the Media - for film industry, government printing, publishing, advertising
Department of Science (I)
Department of Services and Property
Department of the Special Minister of State (I) Jurisdiction Commonwealth of Australia Ministers responsible Peter Howson, Minister (1971‑72)
Gough Whitlam, Minister (1972) | ||
The Department of the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts was an Australian government department that existed between May 1971 and December 1972.
Contents
The Department, created by Prime Minister William McMahon, was a grab-bag of three areas in which the McMahon Government had very little interest. The Department was abolished by the incoming Whitlam Government, with its functions split across six departments (the Departments of Aboriginal Affairs, Environment and Conservation, Media, Prime Minister and Cabinet, Special Minister of State, Science and Services and Property).
Scope
Information about the department's functions and/or government funding allocation could be found in the Administrative Arrangements Orders, the annual Portfolio Budget Statements and in the Department's annual reports.
At its creation, the Department dealt with:
Structure
The Department was an Australian Public Service department, staffed by officials who were responsible to the Minister for the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts. The Department's first Minister, Peter Howson, was not keen on the job, reportedly calling the portfolio "trees, boongs and poofters."
The Secretary of the Department was Lenox Hewitt.