President of the Liberal Party of Australia

Last updated
President of the Liberal Party
John Olsen (1).jpg
Incumbent
John Olsen
since August 2020
Member of
  • Federal Executive
  • Federal Council
Term length No fixed term
Constituting instrumentClause 11.1, Constitution of the Federal Liberal Party [1]
Inaugural holder Malcolm Ritchie
Formation1945;78 years ago (1945)

The President of the Liberal Party of Australia is a senior position within the federal party. A member of both the party's two governing bodies (Federal Council, Federal Executive), the position was established at the same time as the party's foundation. The position was established by the party's constitution and has had nineteen different office-holders. The current president is John Olsen, elected president in August 2020.

Contents

Presidents of the Liberal Party

Note: the right-hand column does not allocate height proportional to time in office.

A list of leaders (including acting leaders) since 1945. [2]

No.Leader
(birth–death)
PortraitTook officeLeft officeStateOther/former positions
1 Malcolm Ritchie
(1894–1971)
July–September 19452 September 1947Flag of Victoria (Australia).svg Victoria Federal provisional chairman. [3]
2 Richard Casey
(1890–1976)
Richard Casey 1951.jpg 2 September 1947 [4] 10 December 1949 [lower-alpha 1] Flag of Victoria (Australia).svg Victoria
No federal president between 11 December 1949 – 26 January 1950.
(1)Malcolm Ritchie
(1894–1971)
27 January 1950 [6] 19 November 1951 [7] Flag of Victoria (Australia).svg VictoriaPresident of the Liberal Party.
3W. H. Anderson
(1897–1968)
19 November 1951 [7] 13 November 1956 [8] Flag of Victoria (Australia).svg Victoria
4Lyle Moore
(1899–1982)
13 November 1956 [8] 14–17 November 1960 [9] [10] Flag of New South Wales.svg New South Wales President of the New South Wales Liberal Party (1949–1956).
5 Philip McBride
(1892–1982)
Philip McBride.jpg 14–17 November 19609 November 1965 [11] Flag of South Australia.svg South Australia
6 Jock Pagan
(1892–1982)
9 November 1965 [12] 9 June 1970 [13] Flag of New South Wales.svg New South WalesPresident of the New South Wales Liberal Party (1962–1965).
7 Robert Southey
(1922–1998)
9 June 1970 [13] 11 October 1975 [14] Flag of Victoria (Australia).svg Victoria
8 John Atwill
(1926–2001)
11 October 1975 [14] 15 May 1982 [15] Flag of New South Wales.svg New South WalesPresident of the New South Wales Liberal Party (1970–1975).
9 A. J. Forbes
(1923–2019)
JimForbes1967.jpg 15 May 1982 [16] 18 July 1985 [17] Flag of South Australia.svg South Australia
10 John Valder
(1931–2017)
18 July 1985 [18] 30 October 1987 [19]
11 John Elliott
(1941–2021)
30 October 1987 [19] 23 October 1990 [20] Flag of Victoria (Australia).svg Victoria
12 Ashley Goldsworthy
(b. 1935)
23 October 1990 [20] 28 August 1993 [21] Flag of Queensland.svg Queensland Vice-president of the Liberal Party.
13 Tony Staley
(1939–2023)
Tony Staley 1970.png 28 August 1993 [21] 2 July 1999 [22] Flag of Victoria (Australia).svg Victoria
14 Shane Stone
(b. 1950)
Shane Stone (cropped).jpg 2 July 1999 [22] 25 June 2005
15 Chris McDiven
(b. 1949)
25 June 200519 February 2008
16 Alan Stockdale
(b. 1945)
Stockdale 1990.jpg 19 February 200825 June 2014Flag of Victoria (Australia).svg Victoria
17 Richard Alston
(b. 1941)
Richard Alston.jpg 27 June 2014 [23] June 2017Flag of Victoria (Australia).svg Victoria
18 Nick Greiner
(b. 1941)
Nick Greiner, official portrait as Australian Consul-General in New York (2021).jpg June 2017August 2020Flag of New South Wales.svg New South Wales
19 John Olsen
(b. 1945)
John Olsen (1).jpg August 2020 Incumbent Flag of South Australia.svg South Australia

Notes

  1. Casey resigned the post of President following his election to the House of Representatives for La Trobe. [5]

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References

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