In Australian federal politics, the Leader of the Opposition is an elected member of parliament (MP) in the Australian House of Representatives who leads the opposition. The Leader of the Opposition, by convention, is the leader of the largest political party in the House of Representatives that is not in government.
Margaret Elizabeth Reid is an Australian former politician who served as a Senator for the Australian Capital Territory from 1981 to 2003, representing the Liberal Party. She held her seat for nearly 22 years, winning eight consecutive elections. Reid is the first woman to have served as President of the Senate.
Jacinta Mary Ann Collins is a former Australian politician who served as a Senator for Victoria from 1995 to 2005 and again from 2008 to 2019. She represented the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and was the party's deputy leader in the Senate from June to October 2013. Collins was a parliamentary secretary in the Gillard government and Minister for Mental Health and Ageing in the second Rudd government. She retired from politics prior to the 2019 federal election and accepted an appointment as national executive director of the National Catholic Education Commission on 18 February 2019.
Kathryn Jean Martin Sullivan AM is an Australian former politician. A member of the Liberal Party, she was a Senator for Queensland from 1974 to 1984 and a member of the House of Representatives from 1984 to 2001, holding the seat of Moncrieff. She broke Dorothy Tangney's record for the longest period of service in federal parliament by a woman, which was later surpassed by Bronwyn Bishop. She was the first woman to have served in both houses of parliament.
Katherine Ruth Gallagher is an Australian politician who has been serving as the Minister for Finance, Minister for Women, Minister for the Public Service and Vice-President of the Executive Council in the Albanese Government since 2022 and since 2025 as Minister for Government Services. She also formerly served as the 6th Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory from 2011 to 2014. She has been a Senator for the Australian Capital Territory since the 2019 federal election, as a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) having previously served in the Senate from 2015 to 2018.
Joseph William Ludwig is an Australian barrister and retired politician. He was a member of the Australian Senate for the state of Queensland from July 1999 to May 2016, representing the Australian Labor Party. Ludwig served in a range of portfolios in the first Rudd and the second Gillard ministries until his resignation from Cabinet as the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and Minister Assisting the Attorney-General on Queensland Floods Recovery, in 2013.
In the Parliament of Australia, the Leader of the House is the government minister responsible for the management of government business in the House of Representatives, including the order in which the Government's agenda is to be dealt with, tactical matters in reaction to impediments to such management, negotiation with the Opposition's counterpart about the order in which bills are to be debated, and the time allotted for debates. The position is currently held by Tony Burke since June 2022.
Mitchell Peter Fifield is an Australian politician and diplomat who last served as the Permanent Representative of Australia to the United Nations. He previously served as a Senator for Victoria from 2004 to 2019, representing the Liberal Party. He was a government minister in the Abbott, Turnbull, and Morrison governments, serving as Assistant Minister for Social Services (2013–2015), Manager of Government Business in the Senate (2013–2015), Minister for Communications (2015–2019), and Minister for the Arts (2015–2019).
Nigel Gregory Scullion is a former Australian politician who was a Senator for the Northern Territory from 2001 to 2019. He was a member of the Country Liberal Party (CLP) and sat with the National Party in federal parliament. He held ministerial office under four prime ministers.
Simon John Birmingham is an Australian politician who has been a Senator for South Australia since 2007. A member of the Liberal Party, he served in the Morrison government as Minister for Finance from 2020 to 2022 and as Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment from 2018 to 2020. He previously served as Minister for Education and Training in the Turnbull government from 2015 to 2018, and as a parliamentary secretary and assistant minister in the Abbott government.
In the Parliament of Australia, the Manager of Government Business in the Senate is a government member, usually a minister, whose responsibilities include negotiating with the Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate regarding proceedings in the Australian Senate. Among other things, negotiations would involve the order in which Government bills and other items of business, the time allotted for debate, and the timing of Opposition business. The position is distinct to that of Leader of the Government in the Senate and party whip, each of which also have deputy positions.
The Leader of the Government in the Senate is the government's most senior cabinet minister in the Australian Senate and the main government spokesperson in the Senate. The position's Opposition counterpart is the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate.
The Leader of the Opposition in the Senate is a party office held by the Opposition's most senior member of the Shadow Cabinet in the Australian Senate, elected to lead the opposition party in the body. Though the leader in the Senate does not have the power of the office of Leader of the Opposition, there are some parallels between the latter's status in the lower house and the former's in the Senate. In addition to his or her own shadow ministerial portfolio, the leader has overarching responsibility for all policy areas and acts as the opposition's principal spokesperson in the upper house. The leader is entitled to sit at the table of the Senate, and has priority in gaining recognition from the President of the Senate to speak in debate. Another similarity is that the leader typically announces changes to opposition officeholders in the Senate, including shadow ministers, party leadership and whips. The leader also has some responsibility for appointing opposition senators to committees, a role filled by the Manager of Opposition Business and whips in the lower house. The current leader is Michaelia Cash, assisted by a Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate, currently Anne Ruston.
The Shadow Ministry of Bill Shorten was the opposition Australian Labor Party shadow ministry from October 2013 to May 2019, opposing the Abbott government, Turnbull government and Morrison government.
David Philip Benedict Smith is an Australian politician. On 23 May 2018, the High Court of Australia declared him elected as a Senator for the Australian Capital Territory after Labor senator Katy Gallagher was found ineligible to have been elected. Before his election, Smith was the ACT director of the Professionals Australia union. He was sworn in to the Australian Senate on 18 June 2018. He was elected to the lower-house seat of Bean at the 2019 federal election.
The Leader of the Liberal Party, also known as Leader of the Parliamentary Liberal Party, is the highest office within the Liberal Party of Australia and the Liberal–National Coalition. The position is currently, and has been since 30 May 2022, held by Peter Dutton, who represents the Division of Dickson in Queensland. Peter Dutton is the fifteenth leader of the Liberal Party. Dutton is also the first leader of the party to represent a Queensland electorate.
This is a list of members of the Australian Senate following the 2022 Australian federal election held on 21 May 2022. Terms for newly elected senators representing the Australian states begin on 1 July 2022. Terms for senators in the Australian Capital Territory and Northern Territory began on the day of the election, 21 May 2022.
