Australian Heads of Government & Opposition Leaders

Each parliament has a lower house from which a government is formed. The Federal Government is led by the Prime Minister, State Governments have Premiers, and Territory Governments have Chief Ministers.

There is an Opposition Leader in each Parliament.

Current Australian Heads of Government & Opposition Leaders as at May 15, 2008
	PM/Premier/ Chief Minister	Party	Since	Opposition Leader	Party	Since
AUSTRALIA	Kevin Rudd	ALP	03-12-07	Brendan Nelson	Liberal	29-11-07
Victoria	John Brumby	ALP	30-07-07	Ted Baillieu	Liberal	08-05-06
New South Wales	Morris Iemma	ALP	03-08-05	Barry O'Farrell	Liberal	04-04-07
Queensland	Anna Bligh	ALP	13-09-07	Lawrence Springborg	National	21-01-08
Tasmania	Paul Lennon	ALP	23-02-04	Will Hodgman	Liberal	30-03-06
South Australia	Mike Rann	ALP	05-03-02	Martin Hamilton-Smith	Liberal	11-04-07
Western Australia	Alan Carpenter	ALP	24-01-06	Troy Buswell	Liberal	17-01-08
Northern Territory	Paul Henderson	ALP	26-11-07	Terry Mills	Country- Liberal	29-01-08
Australian Capital Territory	Jon Stanhope	ALP	12-11-01	Zed Seselja	Liberal	13-12-07

• Terry Mills returned to the leadership of the Northern Territory Country-Liberal Party on January 29, 2008, following a challenge to Jodeen Carney.
  The party-room-ballot was tied 2-all but Carney chose to resign.

• Jeff Seeney called a Queensland National Party meeting to resolve leadership tensions on January 21, 2008.
  He was replaced as leader by his predecessor, Lawrence Springborg.

• Troy Buswell was elected leader of the Western Australian Liberal Party after Paul Omodei called a party-room meeting.
  Omodei did not contest the ballot.

• Bill Stefaniak advised his party room of his intention to resign as ACT Opposition Leader on December 12, 2007.
  Zed Seselja was elected unopposed as Liberal Party leader on December 13, 2007.

• John Howard's coalition government was defeated at the election on November 24, 2007.
  Kevin Rudd and his Labor ministry was sworn into office on December 3, 2007.

• Following its defeat at the federal election of November 24, 2007, the Liberal Party elected Brendan Nelson as its leader and Opposition Leader on November 29, 2007.

• Clare Martin announced her intention to resign as Chief Minister of the Northern Territory on November 26, 2007.
  Paul Henderson was elected unanimously to replace her on the same day.

• Peter Beattie announced his retirement as Queensland Premier on September 10, 2007.
  Anna Bligh was elected unopposed as Labor leader on September 12, 2007 and became Premier on September 13, 2007.

• Steve Bracks announced his retirement as Premier of Victoria on July 27, 2007.
  John Brumby was elected unopposed as Labor leader on July 30.

• Martin Hamilton-Smith was elected South Australian Liberal Party leader by 13 votes to 10 on April 11, 2007, after mounting a challenge to Iain Evans.

• Barry O'Farrell was elected unopposed to replace Peter Debnam as NSW Liberal Party leader on April 4, 2007. Debnam was defeated at the election of March 24 and withdrew from the leadership contest on April 2.

• Kevin Rudd became Federal Leader of the Australian Labor Party in a Caucus ballot on December 4, 2006, defeating Kim Beazley by 49 votes to 39.

• Lawrence Springborg announced his resignation as Queensland National Party leader on September 14, 2006, following the coalition's defeat at the election of September 9, 2006.
  Jeff Seeney was chosen as Leader of the Opposition on September 18, 2006.

• Bill Stefaniak replaced Brendan Smyth as A.C.T. Leader of the Opposition on May 16, 2006, following a party-room challenge.
  Stefaniak defeated Smyth by 4 votes to 3.

• Robert Doyle announced his resignation as Victorian Liberal Party leader on May 4, 2006.
  Ted Baillieu was elected unopposed as Leader of the Opposition on May 8, 2006.

• Rene Hidding stood aside as Tasmanian Liberal Party Leader, following the election of March 18, 2006.
  Will Hodgman was elected unopposed as Leader of the Opposition on March 30, 2006.

• Rob Kerin confirmed his resignation as South Australian Leader of the Opposition, following the election of March 18, 2006.
  Iain Evans was elected Leader of the Opposition on March 30, 2006.

• Paul Omodei replaced Matt Birney as Western Australian Leader of the Opposition on March 24, 2006, following a party-room-challenge.

• Geoff Gallop announced his resignation as Western Australian Premier on January 16, 2006.
  Alan Carpenter was chosen as ALP leader and Premier on January 24, 2006.

• John Brogden announced his resignation as NSW Leader of the Opposition on August 29, 2005.
  Peter Debnam was elected Leader of the Opposition on September 1, 2005.

• Bob Carr announced his resignation as NSW Premier on July 27, 2005.
  Morris Iemma became Premier on August 3, 2005.

• Denis Burke lost re-election for his seat of Brennan at the Northern Territory elections on June 18, 2005.
  Ms Jodeen Carney was elected Leader of the Opposition.

• Colin Barnett announced his resignation as Western Australian Opposition Leader on February 27, 2005, following his defeat in the State election.
  Matt Birney was elected unopposed to the leadership of the Liberal Party on March 9, 2005.

• Terry Mills announced his resignation as Northern Territory Opposition Leader on February 4, 2005.
  Denis Burke was re-elected to the position on February 7, 2005.

• Mark Latham announced his resignation as Federal Opposition Leader on January 18, 2005.
  Kim Beazley was re-elected ALP leader on January 28, 2005.

• Jim Bacon announced his retirement as Premier of Tasmania on February 23, 2004.
  Paul Lennon acted as Premier until he was sworn in as Premier on March 21, 2004.

• Simon Crean announced his resignation as Federal Opposition Leader on November 28, 2003.
  Mark Latham was elected to the position on December 2, 2003.

• Terry Mills replaced Denis Burke as Northern Territory Opposition Leader on November 14, 2003.

• Lawrence Springborg replaced Mike Horan as Queensland Opposition Leader on February 04, 2003.

• Brendan Smyth replaced Gary Humphries as ACT Opposition Leader on November 25, 2002.

• Robert Doyle replaced Denis Napthine as Victorian Opposition Leader on August 20, 2002.

• Rene Hidding replaced Bob Cheek as Tasmanian Opposition Leader on August 06, 2002.

• John Brogden replaced Kerry Chikarovski as NSW Opposition Leader on March 28, 2002.

Previous Leaders

January 17, 2008 - January 21, 2008
	PM/Premier/Chief Minister	Party	Since	Opposition Leader	Party	Since
AUSTRALIA	Kevin Rudd	ALP	03-12-07	Brendan Nelson	Liberal	29-11-07
Victoria	John Brumby	ALP	30-07-07	Ted Baillieu	Liberal	08-05-06
New South Wales	Morris Iemma	ALP	03-08-05	Barry O'Farrell	Liberal	04-04-07
Queensland	Anna Bligh	ALP	13-09-07	Jeff Seeney	National	18-09-06
Tasmania	Paul Lennon	ALP	23-02-04	Will Hodgman	Liberal	30-03-06
South Australia	Mike Rann	ALP	05-03-02	Martin Hamilton-Smith	Liberal	11-04-07
Western Australia	Alan Carpenter	ALP	24-01-06	Troy Buswell	Liberal	17-01-08
Northern Territory	Paul Henderson	ALP	26-11-07	Jodeen Carney	Country- Liberal	xx-06-05
Australian Capital Territory	Jon Stanhope	ALP	12-11-01	Zed Seselja	Liberal	13-12-07

December 13, 2007 - January 17, 2008
	PM/Premier/Chief Minister	Party	Since	Opposition Leader	Party	Since
AUSTRALIA	Kevin Rudd	ALP	03-12-07	Brendan Nelson	Liberal	29-11-07
Victoria	John Brumby	ALP	30-07-07	Ted Baillieu	Liberal	08-05-06
New South Wales	Morris Iemma	ALP	03-08-05	Barry O'Farrell	Liberal	04-04-07
Queensland	Anna Bligh	ALP	13-09-07	Jeff Seeney	National	18-09-06
Tasmania	Paul Lennon	ALP	23-02-04	Will Hodgman	Liberal	30-03-06
South Australia	Mike Rann	ALP	05-03-02	Martin Hamilton-Smith	Liberal	11-04-07
Western Australia	Alan Carpenter	ALP	24-01-06	Paul Omodei	Liberal	24-03-06
Northern Territory	Paul Henderson	ALP	26-11-07	Jodeen Carney	Country- Liberal	xx-06-05
Australian Capital Territory	Jon Stanhope	ALP	12-11-01	Zed Seselja	Liberal	13-12-07

December 3, 2007 - December 13, 2007
	PM/Premier/Chief Minister	Party	Since	Opposition Leader	Party	Since
AUSTRALIA	Kevin Rudd	ALP	03-12-07	Brendan Nelson	Liberal	29-11-07
Victoria	John Brumby	ALP	30-07-07	Ted Baillieu	Liberal	08-05-06
New South Wales	Morris Iemma	ALP	03-08-05	Barry O'Farrell	Liberal	04-04-07
Queensland	Anna Bligh	ALP	13-09-07	Jeff Seeney	National	18-09-06
Tasmania	Paul Lennon	ALP	23-02-04	Will Hodgman	Liberal	30-03-06
South Australia	Mike Rann	ALP	05-03-02	Martin Hamilton-Smith	Liberal	11-04-07
Western Australia	Alan Carpenter	ALP	24-01-06	Paul Omodei	Liberal	24-03-06
Northern Territory	Paul Henderson	ALP	26-11-07	Jodeen Carney	Country- Liberal	xx-06-05
Australian Capital Territory	Jon Stanhope	ALP	12-11-01	Bill Stefaniak	Liberal	16-05-06

November 26, 2007 - December 3, 2007
	PM/Premier/Chief Minister	Party	Since	Opposition Leader	Party	Since
AUSTRALIA	John Howard	Liberal	11-03-96	Kevin Rudd	ALP	04-12-06
Victoria	John Brumby	ALP	30-07-07	Ted Baillieu	Liberal	08-05-06
New South Wales	Morris Iemma	ALP	03-08-05	Barry O'Farrell	Liberal	04-04-07
Queensland	Anna Bligh	ALP	13-09-07	Jeff Seeney	National	18-09-06
Tasmania	Paul Lennon	ALP	23-02-04	Will Hodgman	Liberal	30-03-06
South Australia	Mike Rann	ALP	05-03-02	Martin Hamilton-Smith	Liberal	11-04-07
Western Australia	Alan Carpenter	ALP	24-01-06	Paul Omodei	Liberal	24-03-06
Northern Territory	Paul Henderson	ALP	26-11-07	Jodeen Carney	Country- Liberal	xx-06-05
Australian Capital Territory	Jon Stanhope	ALP	12-11-01	Bill Stefaniak	Liberal	16-05-06

September 13, 2007 - November 26, 2007
	PM/Premier/Chief Minister	Party	Since	Opposition Leader	Party	Since
AUSTRALIA	John Howard	Liberal	11-03-96	Kevin Rudd	ALP	04-12-06
Victoria	John Brumby	ALP	30-07-07	Ted Baillieu	Liberal	08-05-06
New South Wales	Morris Iemma	ALP	03-08-05	Barry O'Farrell	Liberal	04-04-07
Queensland	Anna Bligh	ALP	13-09-07	Jeff Seeney	National	18-09-06
Tasmania	Paul Lennon	ALP	23-02-04	Will Hodgman	Liberal	30-03-06
South Australia	Mike Rann	ALP	05-03-02	Martin Hamilton-Smith	Liberal	11-04-07
Western Australia	Alan Carpenter	ALP	24-01-06	Paul Omodei	Liberal	24-03-06
Northern Territory	Clare Martin	ALP	2x-08-01	Jodeen Carney	Country- Liberal	xx-06-05
Australian Capital Territory	Jon Stanhope	ALP	12-11-01	Bill Stefaniak	Liberal	16-05-06

July 30, 2007 - September 13, 2007
	PM/Premier/Chief Minister	Party	Since	Opposition Leader	Party	Since
AUSTRALIA	John Howard	Liberal	11-03-96	Kevin Rudd	ALP	04-12-06
Victoria	John Brumby	ALP	30-07-07	Ted Baillieu	Liberal	08-05-06
New South Wales	Morris Iemma	ALP	03-08-05	Barry O'Farrell	Liberal	04-04-07
Queensland	Peter Beattie	ALP	26-06-98	Jeff Seeney	National	18-09-06
Tasmania	Paul Lennon	ALP	23-02-04	Will Hodgman	Liberal	30-03-06
South Australia	Mike Rann	ALP	05-03-02	Martin Hamilton-Smith	Liberal	11-04-07
Western Australia	Alan Carpenter	ALP	24-01-06	Paul Omodei	Liberal	24-03-06
Northern Territory	Clare Martin	ALP	2x-08-01	Jodeen Carney	Country- Liberal	xx-06-05
Australian Capital Territory	Jon Stanhope	ALP	12-11-01	Bill Stefaniak	Liberal	16-05-06

April 11, 2007 - July 30, 2007
	PM/Premier/Chief Minister	Party	Opposition Leader	Party
AUSTRALIA	John Howard	Liberal	Kevin Rudd	ALP
Victoria	Steve Bracks	ALP	Ted Baillieu	Liberal
New South Wales	Morris Iemma	ALP	Barry O'Farrell	Liberal
Queensland	Peter Beattie	ALP	Jeff Seeney	National
Tasmania	Paul Lennon	ALP	Will Hodgman	Liberal
South Australia	Mike Rann	ALP	Martin Hamilton-Smith	Liberal
Western Australia	Alan Carpenter	ALP	Paul Omodei	Liberal
Northern Territory	Clare Martin	ALP	Jodeen Carney	Country- Liberal
Australian Capital Territory	Jon Stanhope	ALP	Bill Stefaniak	Liberal

April 4, 2007 - April 11, 2007
	PM/Premier/Chief Minister	Party	Opposition Leader	Party
AUSTRALIA	John Howard	Liberal	Kevin Rudd	ALP
Victoria	Steve Bracks	ALP	Ted Baillieu	Liberal
New South Wales	Morris Iemma	ALP	Barry O'Farrell	Liberal
Queensland	Peter Beattie	ALP	Jeff Seeney	National
Tasmania	Paul Lennon	ALP	Will Hodgman	Liberal
South Australia	Mike Rann	ALP	Iain Evans	Liberal
Western Australia	Alan Carpenter	ALP	Paul Omodei	Liberal
Northern Territory	Clare Martin	ALP	Jodeen Carney	Country- Liberal
Australian Capital Territory	Jon Stanhope	ALP	Bill Stefaniak	Liberal

December 4, 2006 - April 4, 2007
	PM/Premier/Chief Minister	Party	Opposition Leader	Party
AUSTRALIA	John Howard	Liberal	Kevin Rudd	ALP
Victoria	Steve Bracks	ALP	Ted Baillieu	Liberal
New South Wales	Morris Iemma	ALP	Peter Debnam	Liberal
Queensland	Peter Beattie	ALP	Jeff Seeney	National
Tasmania	Paul Lennon	ALP	Will Hodgman	Liberal
South Australia	Mike Rann	ALP	Iain Evans	Liberal
Western Australia	Alan Carpenter	ALP	Paul Omodei	Liberal
Northern Territory	Clare Martin	ALP	Jodeen Carney	Country- Liberal
Australian Capital Territory	Jon Stanhope	ALP	Bill Stefaniak	Liberal

September 18, 2006 - December 4, 2006
	PM/Premier/Chief Minister	Party	Opposition Leader	Party
AUSTRALIA	John Howard	Liberal	Kim Beazley	ALP
Victoria	Steve Bracks	ALP	Ted Baillieu	Liberal
New South Wales	Morris Iemma	ALP	Peter Debnam	Liberal
Queensland	Peter Beattie	ALP	Jeff Seeney	National
Tasmania	Paul Lennon	ALP	Will Hodgman	Liberal
South Australia	Mike Rann	ALP	Iain Evans	Liberal
Western Australia	Alan Carpenter	ALP	Paul Omodei	Liberal
Northern Territory	Clare Martin	ALP	Jodeen Carney	Country- Liberal
Australian Capital Territory	Jon Stanhope	ALP	Bill Stefaniak	Liberal

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