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Ch2 House, Government and Opposition / THE MINISTRY / Ministerial assistance



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House of Representatives                                Ch 2                                                 p 67

 

House, Government and Opposition / THE MINISTRY

 

Ministerial assistance

For 50 years following Federation it was not uncommon for Executive Councillors, formally or informally, to assist the Ministry without administering a Department of State. These positions have been referred to generically as that of ‘Assistant Minister’. 1 At various times they were known as ‘Member of the Executive Council’, 2 ‘Honorary Minister’, 3 ‘Assistant Minister’, 4 ‘Assistant Minister’ to assist a specified Minister or with specific duties, 5 ‘Minister without portfolio’ 6 and ‘Minister in charge of’ certain responsibilities. 7

Assistance to Ministers has also been provided by Members not appointed as Executive Councillors. They have been known as Parliamentary Under-Secretaries or Parliamentary Secretaries ( but see p.  69 ). Members have been ‘appointed’ to assist Ministers while not being given any title or recognition in the House. 8 A more recent method of sharing the ministerial work-load has been the formal appointment of a Minister to assist a more senior Minister, such an appointment being in addition to the Minister’s appointment to a particular portfolio. 9



S. Encel, Cabinet government in Australia , 2nd edn, Melbourne University Press, Carlton, 1974, p. 176.



VP 1905/11; VP 1907-08/271.



VP 1909/13; VP 1911/82; VP 1914-17/568; VP 1917-19/157; VP 1920-21/5, 221; VP 1922/2; VP 1923/5; VP 1925/2; VP 1926-28/491; VP 1929/5; VP 1929-31/5. In 1918 one Honorary Minister acted as Minister for the Navy and had charge of shipping and ship building and another was given complete control of recruiting, H.R. Deb. (10.4.18) 3724. In 1934 the Hon. C. W. Marr was appointed an Honorary Minister in charge of the Royal Visit then in progress, VP 1934-37/19.



VP 1914-17/381, 513; VP 1932-34/436.



VP 1929-31/484; VP 1934-37/6; VP 1970-72/708.



VP 1934-37/6. In the coalition Ministry of 1909-10 Prime Minister Deakin did not administer a Department of State, VP 1909/13. There have also been appointments of Ministers without portfolios with specific duties, VP 1934-37/6, 262, 641; VP 1937-40/5, 241.



VP 1937-40/349; VP 1940/2.



VP 1940-43/279; H.R. Deb. (20.5.42) 1455.



For example ‘Minister for Employment and Youth Affairs and Minister Assisting the Prime Minister’. There have also been ‘Ministers appointed only to assist’ a specified Minister, VP 1937-40/349; VP 1940/2. In Zoeller v. Attorney-General (Commonwealth) and others (76 ALR 279) it was held that s. 64 did not require that only one Minister could administer each department and that it was lawful to appoint two Ministers.