Australian Labor Party National Executive
The Australian Labor Party National Executive, often referred to as the National Executive, is the executive governing body of the Australian Labor Party, charged with directly overseeing the general organisation and strategy of the party. Twenty members of the National Executive are elected by the party's National Conference, which is the highest representative body of the party's state and territory branches. The other eight members are party ex-officio members.
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Members on the Executive may be officials of trade unions affiliated to the party, members of federal or state Parliaments, or rank-and-file ALP members. The ex-officio members are the National President, the National Secretary and two National Vice-Presidents (who are directly elected by Labor members), and the Leader of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party, but of these only the party Leader has a vote.
The National Executive is concerned mainly with organisational matters. It does not decide party policy, which is determined by the National Conference. The National Executive does not elect the party's parliamentary leaders, which is done by a ballot of both the Parliamentary Caucus and by the Labor Party's rank-and-file members. The National President or Vice-President are elected by party members. Its most public role is to act as the final arbiter of disputes about parliamentary candidacies (preselections). On these matters the National Executive usually votes on factional lines. The Labor Right faction holds a majority on the National Executive, though it did not hold a majority at the 2015 National Conference.
The power of the National Executive extends to the reorganisation of a State Branch. For example, in 1970 to improve the party's chances of electoral success, the National Executive intervened in the Socialist Left controlled Victorian Branch, involving the sacking of State officers and dissolution of the Branch. Less drastic forms of intervention are more common, such as the final arbiter of preselection disputes. The executive has authority over policy as it can interpret the party’s constitution, platform and conference decisions.
Members of the National Executive
As of September 2021, the current members of the National Executive are:
| Member type | Member name | Position | Faction | State/territory | Voting member |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ex-officio members | Wayne Swan | National President | Right | Queensland |
No
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| Paul Erickson | National Secretary | Left | Victoria | ||
| Mark Butler MP | Senior Vice-President | Left | South Australia | ||
| Mich-Elle Myers | Junior Vice-President | Left | New South Wales | ||
| Ali Amin | National President of Young Labor | Right | South Australia | ||
| Trish Marinozzi | National Labor Women's Network Co-Convenor | Right | New South Wales | ||
| Kay Densley | National Labor Women's Network Co-Convenor | Left | Northern Territory | ||
| Anthony Albanese MP | Leader of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party | Left | New South Wales |
Yes
|
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| Elected members | Senator Tim Ayres | Senator for NSW | Left | New South Wales | |
| Steve Baker | Queensland Branch Secretary of the Australian Workers Union | Right | Queensland | ||
| Susie Byers | Victorian Labor State President | Left | Victoria | ||
| Josh Peak | Secretary of the Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees’ Association South Australian Branch | Right | South Australia | ||
| Senator Raff Ciccone | Senator for Victoria | Right | Victoria | ||
| Kate Doust MLC | Member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia | Right | Western Australia | ||
| Gerard Dwyer | National Secretary of the Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association | Right | New South Wales | ||
| David Gray | Former Progressive Left Unions and Sub-Branches (PLUS) Convenor | Left | South Australia | ||
| Rose Jackson MLC | Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council | Left | New South Wales | ||
| Jeannette Armstrong | United Workers Union | Left | Tasmania | ||
| Graeme Kelly | NSW State Secretary of the United Services Union | Right | New South Wales | ||
| Senator Sue Lines | Senator for Western Australia | Left | Western Australia | ||
| Tara Moriarty MLC | Member of the New South Wales Legislative Council | Right | New South Wales | ||
| Bob Nanva | NSW Labor State Secretary | Right | New South Wales | ||
| Michael O'Connor | National Secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union | Left | New South Wales | ||
| Michael Ravbar | Queensland State Secretary of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union | Left | Queensland | ||
| Amanda Rishworth | Federal Member for Kingston | Right | South Australia | ||
| Wendy Streets | Queensland State Secretary of the Finance Sector Union | Left | Queensland | ||
| Shannon Threlfall-Clarke | Victorian State Vice President of the Australian Workers Union | Right | Victoria | ||
| Linda White | Former Assistant National Secretary of the Australian Services Union | Left | Victoria |
Executive leaders
National Presidents
| National President | Period |
|---|---|
| John Ferguson | 1950–1953 |
| Denis Lovegrove | 1953 – 1 May 1955 |
| Joe Chamberlain | 1 May 1955 – 1961 |
| James Stout | 1961 – July 1962 |
| Jim Keeffe | July 1962 – August 1970 |
| Tom Burns | August 1970 – 7 June 1973 |
| Bob Hawke | 7 June 1973 – 2 August 1978 |
| Neil Batt | 2 August 1978 – 8 September 1980 |
| Neville Wran | 8 September 1980 – 3 July 1986 |
| Mick Young | 3 July 1986 – 7 April 1988 |
| John Bannon | 7 April 1988 – 25 June 1991 |
| Stephen Loosley | 25 June 1991 – 6 June 1992 |
| Barry Jones | 6 June 1992 – 31 July 2000 |
| Greg Sword | 31 July 2000 – 1 January 2004 |
| Carmen Lawrence | 1 January 2004 – 1 January 2005 |
| Barry Jones | 1 January 2005 – 28 January 2006 |
| Warren Mundine | 28 January 2006 – 10 January 2007 |
| John Faulkner | 10 January 2007 – 27 February 2008 |
| Mike Rann | 27 February 2008 – 27 December 2008 |
| Linda Burney | 27 December 2008 – 30 July 2009 |
| Michael Williamson | 30 July 2009 – August 2010 |
| Anna Bligh | August 2010 – 1 July 2011 |
| Jenny McAllister | 1 July 2011 – 17 June 2015 |
| Mark Butler | 17 June 2015 – 18 June 2018 |
| Wayne Swan | 18 June 2018 – present |
National Secretaries
| National Secretary | Period |
|---|---|
| Cyril Wyndham | 1963–1969 |
| Mick Young | 1969–1973 |
| David Combe | 1973–1981 |
| Bob McMullan | 1981–1988 |
| Bob Hogg | 1988–1993 |
| Gary Gray | 1993–2000 |
| Geoff Walsh | 2000–2003 |
| Tim Gartrell | 2 September 2003 – 20 September 2008 |
| Karl Bitar | 17 October 2008 – 16 March 2011 |
| George Wright | 19 April 2011 – 30 August 2016 |
| Noah Carroll | 26 September 2016 – 26 July 2019 |
| Paul Erickson | 16 August 2019 – present |
- Cyril Wyndam was the first full time Secretary. Prior to 1963 the position was not full time