Minister for Multicultural Affairs (Australia)
| Minister for Multicultural Affairs | |
|---|---|
 | |
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| Department of Home Affairs | |
| Style | The Honourable |
| Appointer | Governor-General on the advice of the prime minister |
| Inaugural holder | Michael MacKellar (as Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs) |
| Formation | 22 December 1975 |
| Website | minister |
The Minister for Multicultural Affairs is an Australian Government cabinet position which is currently held by Anne Aly following her swearing-in on 13 May 2025 as a result of Anthony Albanese's Labor government being re-elected at the 2025 Australian federal election.
The post was created in 1975 by being added to the Immigration portfolio with Michael MacKellar being the inaugural officeholder as the Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs. It was a cabinet position throughout the Fraser, Hawke and Keating governments. In Howard's first ministry, the portfolio took its current name of multicultural affairs and was dropped to the outer ministry. It returned to cabinet in the second Howard ministry and remained there until the end of the Howard government. Philip Ruddock, became the longest serving minister during this time, serving in the role between 1996 and 2003. Multicultural affairs was managed at the parliamentary secretary level during the first Rudd and first Gillard ministries. Midway through the second Gillard ministry, Kate Lundy was promoted from parliamentary secretary to the outer ministry and during the short lived second Rudd ministry, the portfilio was both in cabinet managed by Tony Burke and the outer ministry with Lundy. The return of the Coalition to government in 2013, saw the portfolio dropped altogether until Turnbull's first ministry where an assistant minister was appointed. The role returned to the outer ministry halfway into to Turnbull's second and remained there until July 2024, when after a 11-year absence it was converted back into a cabinet post with Tony Burke returning to his former role as Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. In the second Albanese ministry, immigration and multicultural affairs were split into two cabinets roles with Anne Aly currently serving as the minister.
List of cabinet ministers for multicultural affairs
[edit]The following individuals served as the Minister for Multicultural Affairs, or any precedent titles and sat in the Cabinet:[1]
| Order | Minister | Party | Ministry | Title | Term start | Term end | Term in office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Michael MacKellar | Liberal | 2nd Fraser 3rd Fraser |
Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs | 22 December 1975 | 8 December 1979 | 3 years, 351 days | |
| 2 | Ian Macphee | 3rd Fraser 4th Fraser |
8 December 1979 | 7 May 1982 | 2 years, 150 days | |||
| 3 | John Hodges | 4th Fraser | 7 May 1982 | 11 March 1983 | 308 days | |||
| 4 | Stewart West | Labor | 1st Hawke | 11 March 1983 | 13 December 1984 | 1 year, 277 days | ||
| 5 | Chris Hurford | 2nd Hawke | 13 December 1984 | 16 February 1987 | 2 years, 65 days | |||
| 6 | Mick Young | 2nd Hawke 3rd Hawke |
Minister for Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs | 16 February 1987 | 12 February 1988 | 361 days | ||
| 7 | Clyde Holding | 3rd Hawke | Minister for Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Multicultural Affairs |
15 February 1988 | 2 September 1988 | 203 days | ||
| 8 | Robert Ray | 3rd Hawke | Minister for Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs | 2 September 1988 | 4 April 1990 | 1 year, 214 days | ||
| 9 | Gerry Hand | 4th Hawke 1st Keating |
4 April 1990 | 24 March 1993 | 2 years, 354 days | |||
| 10 | Nick Bolkus | 2nd Keating | Minister for Immigration and Ethnic Affairs | 24 March 1993 | 11 March 1996 | 2 years, 353 days | ||
| 11 | Philip Ruddock | Liberal | 2nd Howard | Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs | 21 October 1998 | 26 November 2001 | 4 years, 351 days | |
| 3rd Howard | Minister for Immigration, Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs | 26 November 2001 | 7 October 2003 | |||||
| 12 | Amanda Vanstone | 3rd Howard 4th Howard |
7 October 2003 | 3 January 2007 | 3 years, 115 days | |||
| 13 | Tony Burke | Labor | 2nd Rudd | Minister for Immigration, Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship | 1 July 2013 | 18 September 2013 | 79 days | |
| (13) | Tony Burke | Labor | 1st Albanese | Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs | 29 July 2024 | 13 May 2025 | 288 days | |
| 14 | Anne Aly | 2nd Albanese | Minister for Multicultural Affairs | 13 May 2025 | Incumbent | 14 days | ||
List of ministers for multicultural affairs outside of cabinet
[edit]On 24 July 1987 the third Hawke ministry implemented a two-level ministerial structure, with distinctions drawn between senior and junior ministers. This arrangement has been continued by subsequent governments; although there has not always been a junior minister in the multicultural affairs portfolio. The following individuals served as the Minister for Multicultural Affairs, or any precedent titles but did not sit in the Cabinet:[1]
| Order | Minister | Party affiliation | Ministry | Ministerial title | Term start | Term end | Term in office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Clyde Holding | Labor | 3rd Hawke | Minister Assisting the Minister for Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs | 2 September 1988 | 4 April 1990 | 1 year, 214 days | |
| 2 | Philip Ruddock | Liberal | 1st Howard | Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs | 11 March 1996 | 21 October 1998 | 2 years, 224 days | |
| 3 | Gary Hardgrave | Liberal | 3rd Howard | Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs | 26 November 2001 | 26 October 2004 | 2 years, 335 days | |
| 4 | Peter McGauran | National | 4th Howard | 26 October 2004 | 6 July 2005 | 253 days | ||
| 5 | John Cobb | 6 July 2005 | 27 January 2006 | 205 days | ||||
| 6 | Kate Lundy | Labor | 2nd Gillard | Minister for Multicultural Affairs | 5 March 2012 | 18 September 2013 | 1 year, 197 days | |
| 2nd Rudd | ||||||||
| 7 | Alan Tudge | Liberal | 2nd Turnbull | Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs | 20 December 2017 | 23 August 2018 | 246 days | |
| 8 | David Coleman | 1st Morrison | Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs | 28 August 2018 | 29 May 2019 | 1 year, 107 days | ||
| 2nd Morrison | Minister for Immigration, Citizenship, Migrant Services and Multicultural Affairs | 29 May 2019 | 13 December 2019 | |||||
| (acting) | Alan Tudge | 13 December 2019 | 22 December 2020 | 1 year, 9 days | ||||
| 9 | Alex Hawke | 22 December 2020 | 23 May 2022 | 1 year, 152 days | ||||
| 10 | Andrew Giles | Labor | 1st Albanese | Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs | 1 June 2022 | 29 July 2024 | 2 years, 58 days | |
Assistant ministers
[edit]Assistant ministers for multicultural affairs
[edit]The following individuals served as the Parliamentary Secretary or Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs, or any precedent titles:[1]
| Order | Minister | Party affiliation | Ministry | Ministerial title | Term start | Term end | Term in office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mick Young | Labor | 3rd Hawke | Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Multicultural Affairs | 24 July 1987 | 12 February 1988 | 203 days | |
| 2 | Clyde Holding | 15 February 1988 | 2 September 1988 | 200 days | ||||
| 3 | Robert Ray | 2 September 1988 | 4 April 1990 | 1 year, 214 days | ||||
| Clyde Holding | Minister Assisting the Minister for Immigration, Local Government and Ethnic Affairs | |||||||
| 4 | Gerry Hand | 4th Hawke | Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Multicultural Affairs | 4 April 1990 | 24 March 1993 | 2 years, 354 days | ||
| 1st Keating | ||||||||
| 5 | Nick Bolkus | 2nd Keating | 24 March 1993 | 11 March 1996 | 2 years, 353 days | |||
| 6 | Kay Patterson | Liberal | 2nd Howard | Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs | 21 October 1998 | 26 November 2001 | 3 years, 36 days | |
| 7 | Bruce Billson | Liberal | 4th Howard | Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural and Indigenous Affairs | 6 July 2005 | 27 January 2006 | 205 days | |
| 8 | Andrew Robb | Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs | 27 January 2006 | 30 January 2007 | 1 year, 3 days | |||
| 9 | Laurie Ferguson | Labor | 1st Rudd | Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs and Settlement Services | 3 December 2007 | 14 September 2010 | 2 years, 285 days | |
| 1st Gillard | ||||||||
| 10 | Kate Lundy | Labor | 2nd Gillard | Parliamentary Secretary for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs | 16 February 2011 | 5 March 2012 | 1 year, 18 days | |
| 11 | Matt Thistlethwaite | Labor | 2nd Gillard | Parliamentary Secretary for Multicultural Affairs | 25 March 2013 | 18 September 2013 | 177 days | |
| 2nd Rudd | ||||||||
| 12 | Concetta Fierravanti-Wells | Liberal | 1st Turnbull | Assistant Minister for Multicultural Affairs | 21 September 2015 | 18 February 2016 | 150 days | |
| 13 | Craig Laundy | 18 February 2016 | 19 July 2016 | 152 days | ||||
| 14 | Zed Seselja | 2nd Turnbull | Assistant Minister for Social Services and Multicultural Affairs | 19 July 2016 | 20 December 2017 | 1 year, 155 days | ||
| 15 | Jason Wood | Liberal | 2nd Morrison | Assistant Minister for Customs, Community Safety and Multicultural Affairs | 29 May 2019 | 23 May 2022 | 2 years, 359 days | |
| 16 | Julian Hill | Labor | 1st Albanese | Assistant Minister for Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs | 29 July 2024 | Incumbent | 302 days | |
| 2nd Albanese | Assistant Minister for Citizenship, Customs and Multicultural Affairs | |||||||
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Ministries and Cabinets". 43rd Parliamentary Handbook: Historical information on the Australian Parliament. Parliament of Australia. 2010. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
