List of political controversies in Australia

This is a list of major political controversies in Australia:

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

Pre-federation

Controversy "name"	Date	State	People involved	Summary	Source
Rum Rebellion	1808	NSW	Deposition and arrest of NSW Governor William Bligh by Major George Johnston, John Macarthur

Federal controversies

Barton government

Controversy "name"	Date	Parties involved	People involved	Summary	Source
Hopetoun Blunder	1900	n/a	Lord Hopetoun William Lyne Edmund Barton	Lyne was chosen by Hopetoun to form Australia's first government, but leading politicians refused to serve under him and Barton was chosen instead.	[1]

Deakin government

Controversy "name"	Date	Parties involved	People involved	Summary	Source
Petriana affair	1903	Government: Protectionist	Alfred Deakin James Drake	Citing the White Australia policy, the government refused permission for shipwrecked sailors of Asian origin to land in Australia.	[2]

Hughes government

Controversy "name"	Date	Parties involved	People involved	Summary	Source
ALP split of 1916	1916	Government: ALP	Billy Hughes	The ALP split over the issue of overseas conscription and the conscription referendum. Hughes and his supporters were expelled from the ALP and formed a separate National Labor Party.
–	1916–1918	Government: ALP/Nationalist	Jens Jensen James Long Archibald Shaw	A 1918 royal commission found that Long had accepted a bribe from Shaw in 1916 and that Jensen had not secured proper approvals for the purchase of assets from Shaw's company. Long resigned from the Senate and Jensen was dismissed from the ministry.	[3]
McDougall incident	1919	Opposition: ALP	John Keith McDougall	During the 1919 federal election campaign, McDougall was kidnapped and publicly tarred and feathered by return soldiers.	[4]

Bruce–Page government

Controversy "name"	Date	Parties involved	People involved	Summary	Source
Walsh–Johnson case	1925	Government: Nationalist	Tom Walsh Jacob Johnson Littleton Groom	The government unsuccessfully sought to deport Walsh and Johnson, foreign-born leaders of the militant Seamen's Union. Groom resigned as Attorney-General.	[5]
	1927	Opposition: ALP	William Mahony Ted Theodore	A 1928 royal commission concluded Mahony had taken a bribe to resign his seat in parliament, allowing Theodore to enter the House of Representatives at the subsequent by-election.	[6]

Scullin government

Controversy "name"	Date	Parties involved	People involved	Summary	Source
ALP split of 1931	1931	Government: ALP	James Scullin Joseph Lyons Jack Lang	The ALP split three ways over the Scullin government's response to the Great Depression, with Lyons and his followers joining the opposition and Lang's supporters joining the crossbench. Both eventually voted down the government forcing the 1931 federal election.

Lyons government

Controversy "name"	Date	Parties involved	People involved	Summary	Source
Kisch case	1934	Government: UAP Opposition: ALP	Egon Kisch Joseph Lyons Robert Menzies Herbert Evatt	The government failed to stop a member of the German Communist Party from entering Australia.
Freer case	1936	Government: UAP/Country	Mabel Freer Thomas Paterson	The government refused entry to Freer on the grounds of immoral conduct. Paterson's perceived bungling of the case effectively ended his ministerial career.	[7]
	1938	Government: UAP	Alexander McLachlan	McLachlan resigned as Postmaster-General following revelations of a conflict of interest with his business affairs.	[8]
Dalfram dispute	1938–1939	Government: UAP	Robert Menzies	Attorney-General Menzies intervened to force striking waterside workers to load pig iron on a ship bound to Japan.

Menzies government (I)

Controversy "name"	Date	Parties involved	People involved	Summary	Source
	1940	Government: UAP	John Lawson	Lawson resigned as Minister for Trade and Customs following revelations of a conflict of interest.	[9]

Curtin government

Controversy "name"	Date	Parties involved	People involved	Summary	Source
"Brisbane Line" affair	1942–1943	Government: ALP	Eddie Ward	A royal commission found Ward had made unsubstantiated claims about the previous government's war strategy. He remained in the ministry but was demoted to lesser portfolios.
"Australia First" affair	1942–1945	Government: ALP	H. V. Evatt Frank Forde P. R. Stephensen Adela Walsh	Members of the far-right Australia First Movement were interned without trial for national security reasons. A post-war inquiry found they had been illegally detained and recommended compensation be awarded.	[10]

Chifley government

Controversy "name"	Date	Parties involved	People involved	Summary	Source
New Guinea timber affair	1948–1949	Government: ALP	Jock Garden Eddie Ward	Garden was convicted of forging Ward's signature on documents to defraud investors in timber plantations. Ward was cleared of involvement by a subsequent royal commission, during which time he stood down as a minister.	[11]
Gamboa case	1949	Government: ALP	Arthur Calwell Lorenzo Gamboa	Calwell as immigration minister refused entry to Gamboa, a Filipino-American, under the White Australia policy, despite Gamboa having an Australian wife and children.
New South Wales coal strike	1949	Government: ALP	Ben Chifley	The government sent in troops as strike-breakers following an illegal strike by the Australian Coal and Shale Employees' Federation.

Menzies government (II)

Controversy "name"	Date	Parties involved	People involved	Summary	Source
Petrov Affair	1954	Government: Liberal Opposition: ALP	Vladimir Petrov Evdokia Petrova Robert Menzies H. V. Evatt	Petrov and his wife defected from the USSR to Australia in dramatic circumstances, which the Menzies Government exploited for political gain in the lead-up to the 1954 election.
ALP split of 1955	1955	Opposition: ALP Crossbench: ALP (Anti-Communist)	H. V. Evatt B. A. Santamaria	ALP members opposed to Evatt's leadership, predominantly associated with the anti-communist Industrial Groups and Santamaria's Catholic Social Studies Movement, either left the party or were expelled, forming what eventually became the Democratic Labor Party.

Holt government

Controversy "name"	Date	Parties involved	People involved	Summary	Source
Melbourne–Voyager collision	1964–1967	Government: Liberal/Country	Robert Menzies John Spicer Harold Holt Edward St John	The government stalled on holding a second royal commission into the collision, following concerns over the conclusions of the first.
VIP affair	1967	Government: Liberal Opposition: ALP Crossbench: DLP	Harold Holt Peter Howson Vince Gair Arthur Calwell John Gorton	Government cover-up of misuse of RAAF VIP flights; Holt and Howson misled parliament.	[12]

Whitlam government

Controversy "name"	Date	Parties involved	People involved	Summary	Source
Gair Affair	1974	ALP	Vince Gair, Gough Whitlam, Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Lionel Murphy, Ron Maunsell, Magnus Cormack, Billy Snedden
Morosi Affair	1974–1977	ALP	Jim Cairns, Junie Morosi
Loans affair	1975	ALP	Jim Cairns, Rex Connor
1975 Australian constitutional crisis	1975	ALP Liberal Party	Gough Whitlam, Malcolm Fraser, Sir John Kerr	Kerr dismissed the sitting government of the day	[13]

Fraser government

Controversy "name"	Date	Parties involved	People involved	Summary	Source
	1976	Government: Liberal	Vic Garland	Garland resigned as Minister for Post and Telecommunications after being charged with electoral offences. They were dismissed and he returned to the ministry in 1977.	[14]
	1977	Government: Liberal	Phillip Lynch	Lynch resigned as Treasurer following allegations of a conflict of interest relating to his land dealings. Two reports found he had not acted illegally and he returned to the ministry one month later in a different portfolio.	[14]
	1978	Government: Liberal	Reg Withers	Withers was sacked as Minister for Administrative Services after a Queensland royal commission found he had attempted to interfere with an electoral redistribution.	[15]
	1979	Government: NCP	Ian Sinclair	Sinclair resigned as Minister for Primary Industry after a report to the New South Wales parliament accused him of inappropriate business dealings. He was charged with fraud but acquitted, and returned to the ministry in 1980.	[15]
Colour TV affair	1982	Government: Liberal	Michael MacKellar John Moore	MacKellar submitted an incorrect customs declaration relating to his importation of a colour television, which Moore attempted to cover up. Both resigned from the ministry.	[16]

Hawke government

Controversy "name"	Date	Parties involved	People involved	Summary	Source
Combe–Ivanov affair	1983	Government: ALP	David Combe Valery Ivanov Mick Young	Young resigned as Special Minister of State following revelations he had leaked the government's decision to expel Soviet diplomat Ivanov.	[17]
	1987	Government: ALP	John Brown	Brown resigned from the ministry after misleading parliament over World Expo 88 tenders.	[18]
	1988	Government: ALP	Mick Young Stephen Loosley	Young resigned from parliament and the ministry after allegations he had mishandled campaign donations. Loosley later accepted responsibility for the errors.	[18]

Keating government

Controversy "name"	Date	Parties involved	People involved	Summary	Source
Marshall Islands affair	1992	Government: ALP	Graham Richardson Greg Symons	Richardson was censured by the Senate and resigned from the ministry due to controversy over his dealings with Symons, a businessman charged with forgery in relation to a migration scheme based in the Marshall Islands.	[19]
Sandwich shop affair	1994	Government: ALP	Alan Griffiths	Griffiths resigned from the ministry after allegations he had misused party and government resources for personal gain. He was later cleared of wrongdoing by an Australian Federal Police investigation.	[20]
Sports rorts affair	1994	Government: ALP	Ros Kelly	Kelly resigned from the ministry, and later from parliament, over allegations of pork barreling.	[20]

Howard government

Controversy "name"	Date	Parties involved	People involved	Summary	Source
	1996	Government: Liberal	Jim Short Brian Gibson	Short and Gibson separately resigned as parliamentary secretaries due to conflicts of interest relating to their shareholdings.	[21]
	1997	Government: Liberal	Geoff Prosser	Prosser resigned from the ministry due to a conflict of interest relating to his ownership of a small business.	[21]
Travel rorts	1997	Government: Liberal/National	David Jull Peter McGauran John Sharp	Sharp and McGauran resigned from the ministry over false travel expense claims, while Jull resigned due after allowing Sharp to make secret payments and tabling an inaccurate report.	[22]
Tampa affair	2001	Government: Liberal	John Howard Philip Ruddock	The government refused to allow asylum-seekers to enter Australia, using Special Air Service Regiment soldiers to board the MV Tampa, a Norwegian freighter that had rescued them from a sinking vessel.
Children Overboard affair	2001	Government: Liberal	John Howard Peter Reith	Howard falsely claimed that asylum seekers were throwing their children into the water so the navy would be forced to rescue them.	[23]
Australia–East Timor spying scandal	2004	Government: Liberal	Bernard Collaery
Unlawful detention of Cornelia Rau	2005	Government: Liberal	Philip Ruddock
Unlawful deportation of Vivian Solon	2005	Government: Liberal	Philip Ruddock
AWB oil-for-wheat scandal	2006	Government: Liberal	Terence Cole	A royal commission found that AWB Limited had paid kickbacks to Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq in exchange for lucrative wheat contracts, contravening UN sanctions.
Muhamed Haneef affair	2007	Government: Liberal	Muhamed Haneef Philip Ruddock Kevin Andrews	Haneef's visa was cancelled following false allegations he had aided terrorists.
Lindsay pamphlet scandal	2007	Government: Liberal	Jackie Kelly David Bradbury	Liberal Party volunteers distributed fake pamphlets purporting to be from an Islamic organisation.

Rudd government

Controversy "name"	Date	Parties involved	People involved	Summary	Source
Utegate or OzCar affair	2009	Liberal Party	Malcolm Turnbull, Godwin Grech	Grech claimed Prime Minister Rudd intervened in a grants claim for a Car Dealership, Turnbull as Opposition Leader then seized upon the claims. It was later determined Grech fabricated the entire thing.	[24]
Energy Efficient Homes Package	2010	ALP	Kevin Rudd, Peter Garrett

Gillard government

Controversy "name"	Date	Parties involved	People involved	Summary	Source
Health Services Union expenses affair	2010	ALP	Craig Thomson, Health Services Union, Kathy Jackson, Fair Work Australia, Julia Gillard, Michael Williamson
Ditch the Witch	2011	Liberal Party	Tony Abbott, Bronwyn Bishop, Sophie Mirabella	In a protest against the Gillard government's carbon tax a number of MPs from the Liberal party were pictured in front of signs saying "Ditch the Witch" and "JuLiar... Bob Brown's Bitch"	[25]
Peter Slipper affair	2012	Liberal Party ALP	Peter Slipper, James Ashby

Abbott government

Controversy "name"	Date	Parties involved	People involved	Summary	Source
Spying on Indonesian officials	2009–2013	Liberal Party ALP	Tony Abbott	Australian spy agencies attempted to tap the phones of high ranking Indonesian officials including the president. Abbott refused to apologise	[26]
Australian Water Holdings corruption scandal	2013	Liberal Party	Arthur Sinodinos	Corruption in Australian Water Holdings and ICAC investigation into fundraising at the Liberal Party	[27] [28]
Joe Hockey's first budget	2014	Liberal Party	Tony Abbott Joe Hockey	The first budget delivered by the government was seen as being based on severe cuts to welfare and other social programs. It triggered a polling slump that Abbott struggled to recover from
Duke of Edinburgh knighthood	2015	Liberal Party	Tony Abbott	After controversially reinstating knighthoods, Abbott gave one of the first knighthoods to Prince Philip rather than to an Australian	[29]
Choppergate	2015	Liberal Party	Bronwyn Bishop	Bishop was found to have chartered a helicopter to a Liberal Party fundraiser. This was charged at over $5,000 for what would have been a 1 hour drive.

Turnbull government

Controversy "name"	Date	Parties involved	People involved	Summary	Source
2017–18 Australian parliamentary eligibility crisis	2017	Liberal Party Nationals ALP Greens Xenophon One Nation	Scott Ludlam, Larissa Waters, Matt Canavan, Malcolm Roberts, Barnaby Joyce, Fiona Nash, Nick Xenophon and others	Parliamentarians of various parties were found to be in breach of Section 44 of the Constitution which prohibits dual citizens from sitting in parliament	[30]
Bonk Ban	2018	Nationals	Barnaby Joyce	Joyce who was married at the time, was discovered having an affair with a staffer, who was pregnant with his baby. In response a code of conduct was introduced that prevented relationships between MPs and staffers	[31]
Helloworld scandal	2019	Liberal Party	Mathias Cormann, Joe Hockey	It was uncovered that government contracts were being given to a Liberal Party donor, who was also paying for the holidays of a number of MPs	[32]

Morrison government

Controversy "name"	Date	Parties involved	People involved	Summary	Source
Allegations of war crimes by Australian special forces in Afghanistan between 2005 and 2016	2016–21	Morrison government	David McBride, Dan Oakes, Sam Clark, Annika Smethurst, Peter Dutton, Christian Porter, and others	Publication of the allegations, based on leaked documents, by the ABC lead in 2019 to the Australian Federal Police raiding the ABC's Ultimo offices (as well as News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst's home, due to her reporting on another leaked plan to allow the ASD to spy on Australian citizens). Media organisations feared the raids posed a severe threat to investigative journalism, as well as to Australia's reputation as a free and open democracy. See also the Brereton Report.	[33] [34] [35] [36]
Robodebt	2016–19	Liberal Party	Scott Morrison, Stuart Robert, Christian Porter	Centrelink were issuing automated illegal debts that had not been incurred by the individuals concerned. Scott Morrison was the lead figure in this scandal, he was the minister responsible for designing, funding, approving and continuing the project. The settlement cost the Australian taxpayers $112 million. Many people committed suicide after receiving the debt letters.	[37]
It's okay to be white	2018	Liberal Party One Nation	Christian Porter Mathias Cormann Pauline Hanson	The governing coalition supported a motion in the senate declaring "it's ok to be white" and opposing the "deplorable rise of anti-white racism and attacks on Western civilisation"	[38]
Chinese election signs	2019	Liberal Party	Gladys Liu Josh Frydenberg	The Liberal party put up signs in Mandarin in places with large Chinese populations that were deliberately made to look like they were produced by the AEC. The signs directed voters to vote for the Liberal Party.	[39]
2019–20 bushfire response	2019–20	Liberal Party	Scott Morrison	Scott Morrison took a family holiday to Hawaii during one of the worst bushfire seasons on record. He returned only after significant public pressure. When touring bushfire affected communities, many residents refused to engage with Morrison. On a number of occasions Morrison forced a handshake on residents. The government released an ad praising their bushfire response. The ad was attacked as being a party political ad paid for by taxpayers.	[40]
Sports rorts affair (2020)	2019–20	Liberal Party Nationals	Bridget McKenzie	The government were providing grants for sports projects for communities in marginal electorates. Many of these projects were considered low priority or previously rejected, and were seen as a way to defend the marginal electorates.	[41]
Brian Houston invited to the White House	2020	Liberal Party	Scott Morrison	Scott Morrison's pastor, Houston, was invited by Morrison to attend an official White House dinner. Houston is under investigation for covering up his father's sex abuse. Morrison continually denied this as gossip until admitting it was true.	[42]
Destruction of Aboriginal cultural sites	2020	Liberal Party	Ken Wyatt, Ben Wyatt	Miners Rio Tinto destroyed two sites of Aboriginal cultural significance in Juukan Gorge.	[43] [44]
2021 Australian Parliament House sexual misconduct allegations	2021	Liberal Party ALP	Brittany Higgins, Linda Reynolds, Christian Porter, Scott Morrison, Andrew Laming	Two separate ongoing allegations including rape and sexual assault, both raised in February 2021, causing controversy for the Liberal-National Morrison government. These allegations have sparked further discussions over workplace culture, systemic misogyny and victim blaming within the Morrison government and Parliament as a whole, with the government heavily criticised for its response.	[45]
Murugappan family asylum claims	2018–21	Liberal Party	Scott Morrison, Peter Dutton, Karen Andrews	A Tamil family from Sri Lanka had applied for asylum. The government rejected their claims and wanted to send them back to Sri Lanka with their two Australian-born children. The family was sent to offshore detention for years while their case was taken to court.	[46]
Car park rorts affair	2021	Liberal Party	Scott Morrison, Josh Frydenberg, Tim Wilson, Michael Sukkar	The government handed out grants to build carparks near train stations a day before a federal election was called. The carparks had no tender process and were almost exclusively in Liberal party seats. Some were cancelled, or the site was not near train stations.	[47]
Scott Morrison ministerial positions controversy	2020–2022	Liberal Party	Scott Morrison, David Hurley, Christian Porter	Scott Morrison had himself secretly sworn in as Health Minister, Finance Minister, Treasurer, Home Affairs Minister, and Industry, Science, Energy, and Resources Minister at various times between 2020 and 2021, without announcement to the public, to Parliament, to the Ministerial staff, or in most cases to the existing relevant Ministers.	[48]

State controversies

New South Wales

Controversy "name"	Date	Administration	People involved	Summary	Source
1932 New South Wales constitutional crisis	1932	Lang	Dismissal of NSW Premier Jack Lang by governor Philip Game
Metherell affair	1992	Greiner	Nick Greiner, Tim Moore, Terry Metherell
Orange Grove affair	2004	Carr
Eddie Obeid corruption scandals	2012	Carr, Iemma, Rees, Keneally	Eddie Obeid, Ian Macdonald
Grangegate	2014	O'Farrell	Barry O'Farrell	O'Farrell received a $3,000 bottle of Grange Hermitage and did not declare it.
Gladys Berejiklian resignation	2021	Berejiklian	Gladys Berejiklian	Berejiklian resigned when it was revealed that she was under ICAC investigation.
John Barilaro Trade Commissioner appointment	2021	Perrottet	John Barilaro, Stuart Ayres	Barilaro was appointed to a trade commissioner position in New York, questions raised about impropriety, Barilaro violently attacks cameraman, Ayres resigns as Trade Minister

Queensland

Controversy "name"	Date	State	Administration	People involved	Summary	Source
Mungana affair	1929	Queensland	Theodore	Corrupt actions by Qld. Premiers Ted Theodore and William McCormack
Bjelkemander	1972—1987	Queensland	Bjelke-Petersen	Joh Bjelke-Petersen	Use of Malapportionment to keep National Party and Bjelke-Petersen in power.
Fitzgerald Inquiry	1987	Queensland	Bjelke-Petersen	Joh Bjelke-Petersen, Terry Lewis, Leisha Harvey, Don Lane, Brian Austin	Commission of Inquiry into Police Corruption
Scott Driscoll corruption scandals	2013	Queensland	Newman	Scott Driscoll

South Australia

Controversy "name"	Date	State	Administration	People involved	Summary	Source
Playmander	1936–1968	South Australia	Playford	South Australian Electoral "gerrymander" favouring the Liberal and Country League and Sir Thomas Playford
Hindmarsh Island bridge controversy	1989–1997	South Australia	Bannon, Arnold, Brown, Olsen	Ngarrindjeri people, Tom & Wendy Chapman, Michael Armitage, Robert Tickner, Ian McLachlan, John von Doussa	Building of a road bridge at Goolwa, linking Hindmarsh Island to the town. Resulted in the Hindmarsh Island Royal Commission.
State Bank of South Australia collapse	1991	South Australia	Bannon	It caused the resignation of premier John Bannon in 1992, and the crushing electoral defeat of the South Australian Labor government at the 1993 election.
Motorola affair	2001	South Australia	Olsen	John Olsen

Tasmania

Controversy "name"	Date	Administration	People involved	Summary	Source
Edmund Rouse bribery scandal	1989		Jim Cox, Robin Gray, Gunns

Victoria

Controversy "name"	Date	Administration	People involved	Summary	Source
State Bank of Victoria collapse	1990	Kirner		These events were a key factor in the defeat of the Labor government of Joan Kirner and the election of the Liberal Party, led by Jeff Kennett, at the 1992 Victorian state election
Red Shirts rorts scandal	2018	Andrews	Daniel Andrews	In 2018, the Victorian Ombudsman found the Victorian Labor had misused $388,000 of taxpayer funds which were used to win the 2014 Victorian election.	[49]
Branch stacking scandal	2020	Andrews	Daniel Andrews, Adem Somyurek, Jenny Mikakos	High level and wide reaching cases of branch stacking (internal vote rigging) in the Victorian Labor party. Outcome was the federal party taking over the state branch for several years to fix the problem	[50]

Western Australia

Controversy "name"	Date	Administration	People involved	Summary	Source
Nevanas affair	1915	Scaddan	Actions leading to the downfall of John Scaddan's W.A. government
WA Inc royal commission	1992	Burke	Brian Burke, Alan Bond, Laurie Connell
Easton affair	1992	Court	Carmen Lawrence

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Further reading

• Wilson, Janet; Healy, Margaret (2017). "That's it—I'm leaving: ministerial departures 1901–2017" (PDF). Australian Parliamentary Library.