Formation 1901 | ||
 | ||
Appointer Governor-General of Australia on recommendation of Prime Minister of Australia | ||
The Treasurer of Australia is the minister in the Government of Australia responsible for government expenditure and revenue raising. The Treasurer plays a key role in the economic policy of the government. By strong Constitutional convention, the Treasurer is always a member of the Parliament of Australia with a seat in the House of Representatives.
Contents
- Map of Australia
- Duties and importance
- Related ministerial positions
- List of Treasurers
- List of Assistant Treasurers
- List of Ministers for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs
- List of Assistant Ministers
- References
Map of Australia
The current Treasurer is The Hon Scott Morrison MP, whose term began on 21 September 2015. The current Minister for Revenue and Financial Services is The Hon. Kelly O'Dwyer MP.
The Treasurer administers his functions through the Department of the Treasury and a range of other government agencies.
The office is equivalent to the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the United Kingdom or the Secretary of the Treasury in the United States or, in some other countries, "Finance Minister".
Duties and importance
The Treasurer is the minister in charge of government revenue and expenditure. The Treasurer oversees economic policy: fiscal policy is within the Treasurer's direct responsibility, while monetary policy is implemented by the politically independent Reserve Bank of Australia, the head of which is appointed by the Treasurer. The Treasurer also oversees financial regulation. Each year in May, the Treasurer presents the Federal Budget to the Parliament.
The Prime Minister and Treasurer are traditionally members of the House, but the Constitution does not have such a requirement. The Treasurer is a very senior government post; historically, many Treasurers have previously, concurrently or subsequently served as Prime Minister or Deputy Prime Minister; two subsequently served as Governor-General. Service as Treasurer is seen as an important (though certainly not essential) qualification for serving as Prime Minister: to date, six Treasurers have gone on to be Prime Minister.
Wayne Swan and Paul Keating are currently the only two to have been named "The world's best Treasurer".
Related ministerial positions
Along with the Treasurer, other ministers have responsibility for the Department of the Treasury. The Treasurer together with these other ministers are known as the "Treasury Ministers". At present, the Treasury Minister positions are:
The work of the Department of Finance is closely related to the work of the Department of the Treasury. The ministers who have responsibility for the Department of Finance are:
List of Treasurers
The following individuals have been appointed as Treasurer of Australia:
1 Treasurers Watson, Fisher, Scullin, Lyons, Fadden, Menzies, Chifley, Whitlam and Hawke were also Prime Minister during some or all of their period as Treasurer.List of Assistant Treasurers
The following individuals have been appointed as Assistant Treasurers:
List of Ministers for Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs
The Competition and Consumer Act 2010 (formerly the Trade Practices Act 1974) is administered by the Treasurer through the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, but was formerly administered by other ministers. The following individuals were appointed as ministers with responsibility for competition and consumer affairs matters:
List of Assistant Ministers
The following individuals have been appointed as Assistant Minister to the Treasurer: