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22-499: The Caucus is also involved in the election of the federal parliamentary leaders from among its members, as well as their dismissal. The leader has historically been a member of the House of Representatives, but though by convention a prime minister is the person who has the support of a majority in the House of Representatives, in the ALP all members (including senators) have an equal vote in

44-563: A member of the House of Representatives. Caucus also has the power to dismiss a party leader in a process called a leadership spill . Until 2013, a spill vote could be called at any time and a simple majority of votes in Caucus was sufficient to remove a leader. Following the return of Kevin Rudd to the leadership of the ALP in 2013, he sought changes to the party's rules so that leadership spills would be more difficult to launch in future, including

66-528: A requirement for 75% majority in Caucus for a leadership spill against a sitting Labor prime minister, or 60% against an opposition leader. The changes also provided for equally weighted voting rights between Caucus and party rank and file members. These changes were adopted by Caucus in July 2013, which was not a change to the party's constitution (and theoretically can be reverted by a simple majority in Caucus). At

88-699: The Australian Workers' Union , the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union and the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association , regard as "theirs" Members and Senators who formerly held office in those unions, or who have received union support in gaining their preselections, and expect them to act in the union's interests. Leaders of the Australian Labor Party The leader of

110-837: The National Right and the National Left . Each of these factions contains smaller state-based factions, such as (on the Right) the Victorian Labor Unity group and (on the Left) the Victorian Socialist Left. Members who are not associated with either faction are described as Independents. The two main factions hold factional meetings once a week during Parliamentary sitting weeks. Factional discipline has declined considerably in recent years. During

132-659: The October 2013 leadership spill Bill Shorten was the first leader elected under the new rules. Shorten received 55-43 votes in Caucus, which was sufficient to overcome his 40% support among party members. When the Labor Party is in government, the party leader becomes the Prime Minister and the deputy leader becomes the Deputy Prime Minister . If a Labor prime minister resigns or dies in office,

154-556: The Australian Labor Party is the highest political office within the federal Australian Labor Party (ALP). Leaders of the party are chosen from among the sitting members of the parliamentary caucus either by members alone or with a vote of the party’s rank-and-file membership. The current leader of the Labor Party, since 2019, is Anthony Albanese , who has served as the prime minister of Australia since 2022 . There have been 21 leaders since 1901 when Chris Watson

176-569: The Opposition . Tanya Plibersek was unopposed in succeeding Anthony Albanese as deputy leader. As of 2023, the 2013 Labor Party leadership election was the first and only leadership election where public party members voted in the election. After three years of instability in the Labor leadership in which four leadership spills were held between Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard , this contest featured neither. Gillard retired from parliament at

198-429: The caucus cast their vote for leader and the grassroots ballots were counted. The two voting pools were weighted 50/50 (Caucus and grassroots each consisting 50% of the final count) and the leader declared elected accordingly. Historically, the ALP have determined the members of cabinet (or shadow cabinet) in caucus, with the leader assigning portfolios. This is unchanged, and the parliamentary caucus of Labor elected

220-471: The caucus vote, on 10 October, Crikey reported that Shorten had garnered the support of 49 MPs to Albanese's 36. With the leadership decided, caucus elections (without general party membership involvement) were held to determine the shadow ministry. In a return to ALP tradition, the shadow ministry were elected by caucus, with portfolio responsibilities to be assigned by the leader. Anna Burke , Warren Snowdon and Laurie Ferguson complained publicly about

242-619: The deputy leader acts as party leader and prime minister, without being sworn into the office. According to recent convention, the leader and deputy leader must be from different factions and from different states. The leadership and deputy leadership have also been gender-balanced. The federal Leaders of the Australian Labor Party have been as follows (acting leaders indicated in italics): Australian Labor Party leadership spill, October 2013 Kevin Rudd Chris Bowen (interim) Bill Shorten A leadership election

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264-405: The deputy leader becomes party leader and is sworn in as prime minister on an interim basis until a party successor is elected. This was the case upon the death in office of John Curtin on 5 July 1945. Frank Forde , the deputy party leader, was sworn in as interim prime minister until Ben Chifley was elected by Caucus as party leader on 13 July. If the leader is out of the country or is on leave,

286-589: The election of the leader, who may then become prime minister. Since October 2013, a ballot of both the Caucus and by the Labor Party's rank-and-file members has determined the party leader and the deputy leader. Bill Shorten was the first leader elected under the new system in late 2013. In government, the federal Caucus also chooses the Ministers, with the portfolios then allocated by the Labor Prime Minister. The word "Caucus" has American roots and

308-576: The election, while Rudd announced on election night that he would step down as Labor leader and return to the backbench in his concession speech at the Gabba in Brisbane following Labor's defeat. Earlier in the year the ALP caucus approved changes to the way the federal parliamentary leader is chosen. The new rules make it more difficult to change leaders and require a ballot of the party membership on contested leadership spills. The new rules encourage

330-465: The executive at the same time they cast voters for leader. Only the election for the parliamentary leader involved the votes of grassroots party members. Originally only members of two years' standing were eligible to vote, but this was later widened to all ALP party members who were financial as of 7 September 2013. The following individuals ruled themselves out as candidates or were the subject of media speculation but did not stand: Shortly before

352-535: The leadership contest between Kim Beazley and Mark Latham in December 2003, for example, members of both Left and Right were found in the camps of both candidates. Some of the most hostile relations in the Caucus are between members of the same faction: the relationship between Beazley and Simon Crean is one example. Factional allegiances in the Caucus tend to be closely related to state political loyalties, and also to trade union affiliations. Large unions such as

374-423: The new leader was elected by public members of the Australian Labor Party over a period of twenty days, followed by a ballot of the Labor parliamentary party. Each of these two voting blocs was weighted equally in determining the winner. During the leadership election, Chris Bowen , former Treasurer of Australia and Member of Parliament for McMahon , was Interim Leader of the Labor Party and served as Leader of

396-453: The parliamentary party to only nominate one candidate, to avoid a month-long ballot of the general party membership. The new rules are controversial, however, and have been publicly criticised by ALP Senator Stephen Conroy and former Prime Minister Julia Gillard . Nominations opened at a parliamentary party meeting on Friday 13 September 2013, and remained open for a week. Anthony Albanese and Bill Shorten formally nominated. As there

418-488: Was elected as the inaugural leader following the first federal election . Every Australian state and territory has its own branch of the Australian Labor Party, which has its own leader elected from the party members of that jurisdiction. The federal Labor Caucus comprising the elected members of the Labor party in both Houses of the national Parliament is involved in the election of the federal parliamentary leaders from among its members. The leader has historically been

440-556: Was held in October 2013 to select Kevin Rudd 's replacement as leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition . Bill Shorten was elected party leader, and Tanya Plibersek was later confirmed as deputy leader. The declared candidates were Bill Shorten and Anthony Albanese , who were both ministers in the outgoing Labor government. Nominations closed on 20 September 2013. Under new rules,

462-428: Was introduced to the ALP by King O'Malley , an American-born Labor member of the first federal Parliament in 1901. In the non-Labor parties, such party meetings are more commonly described as a "party room". The Caucus is divided along formal factional lines, with most voting taking place on a bloc factional basis, especially in the case of appointments, and may involve cross-factional deals. The two biggest factions are

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484-509: Was more than one nomination, a ballot of the parliamentary party and another of the organisational party were required. The ballot of the organisational party lasted for two weeks. Under the new Labor rules, nominations were open for one week beginning 13 September 2013. To be a nominated candidate, a nominee must receive the support of 20% of caucus. After the conclusion of nominations, ballots were sent to grassroots party members, who had two weeks to return their ballots. On 10 October 2013,

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