Style The Honourable First holder Sir Albert Dunstan | Appointer Governor of Victoria | |
 | ||
Term length At the Governor's pleasure Formation Constitution of Victoria | ||
The Deputy Premier of Victoria is the second-most senior officer in the Government of Victoria. The Deputy Premiership has been a ministerial portfolio since, and the Deputy Premier is appointed by the Governor on the advice of the Premier.
Contents
The current Deputy Premier is James Merlino of the Australian Labor Party.
Duties
The duties of the Deputy Premier are to act on behalf of the Premier in his or her absence overseas or on leave. The Deputy Premier has always been a member of the Cabinet, and has always held at least one substantive portfolio (It would be technically possible for a minister to hold only the portfolio of Deputy Premier, but this has never happened).
If the Premier were to die, become incapacitated or resign, the Governor would normally appoint the Deputy Premier as Premier. If the governing or majority party had not yet elected a new leader, that appointment would be on an interim basis. Should a different leader emerge, that person would then be appointed Premier.
List of Deputy Premiers of Victoria
Please note that this list may be incomplete due to lack of information
Living former Deputy Premiers
As of January 2016, there are five living former Deputy Premiers. The most recent Deputy Premier to die was Joan Kirner on 1 June 2015.
Notable careers
Among the most notable former Deputy Premiers of Victoria have been Sir Robert Menzies (1932–1934) who become the longest serving Prime Minister of Australia. Others include Sir Albert Dunstan (1932) who later became Premier for a then record of eleven years, Sir Rupert Hamer (1971–1972) who later became a long serving Premier and Thomas Hollway (1943–1945) who was Premier on three different occasions.