Manager of Opposition Business in the House (Australia)

The Manager of Opposition Business in the House, sometimes called Opposition Leader of the House,^[1] is the member of the Australian Official Opposition Shadow Ministry responsible for negotiating with the Leader of the House regarding proceedings in the Australian House of Representatives. Among other things, the topics of negotiation are the order in which Government bills and other items of business are taken, the time allotted for debate, and the timing of Opposition business.^[2]

Manager of Opposition Business in the House
Incumbent Alex Hawke since 28 May 2025
Appointer	Opposition leader

The Manager of Opposition Business in the House and the Deputy Manager are appointed by the Opposition leader. The duties of the Deputy Manager of Opposition Business are largely contingent, coming into play only when the Manager of Opposition Business is absent from the House or is on leave. When this happens, the deputy is referred to as Acting Manager of Opposition Business.

Three managers of Opposition Business in the House, John Howard, Julia Gillard, and Anthony Albanese, went on to become Prime Ministers.

Another future Prime Minister, Tony Abbott stepped in as Acting Manager in 2009 in the absence of Christopher Pyne.^[3]

List

The Managers of Opposition Business since 1974 are as follows:

Order	Manager	Party		Leader of the Opposition	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	Ian Sinclair		National Country	Billy Snedden	14 June 1974	21 March 1975	1 year, 150 days
				Malcolm Fraser	21 March 1975	11 November 1975
2	Gordon Scholes		Labor	Gough Whitlam	27 January 1976	22 December 1977	1 year, 336 days
				Bill Hayden	22 December 1977	29 December 1977
3	Mick Young				29 December 1977	11 February 1980	2 years, 44 days
4	Chris Hurford				11 February 1980	7 November 1980	270 days
5	Lionel Bowen				10 November 1980	3 February 1983	2 years, 121 days
				Bob Hawke	3 February 1983	11 March 1983
(1)	Ian Sinclair		National	Andrew Peacock	16 March 1983	5 September 1985	4 years, 43 days
				John Howard	5 September 1985	28 April 1987
6	John Spender		Liberal		29 April 1987	14 August 1987	107 days
7	Wal Fife				14 August 1987	9 May 1989	4 years, 283 days
				Andrew Peacock	9 May 1989	3 April 1990
				John Hewson	3 April 1990	23 May 1992
8	Warwick Smith				23 May 1992	8 February 1993	261 days
9	John Howard				7 April 1993	23 May 1994	1 year, 298 days
				Alexander Downer	23 May 1994	30 January 1995
10	Peter Reith			John Howard	31 January 1995	11 March 1996	1 year, 40 days
11	Simon Crean		Labor	Kim Beazley	20 March 1996	20 October 1998	2 years, 214 days
12	Bob McMullan				20 October 1998	25 November 2001	3 years, 36 days
13	Wayne Swan			Simon Crean	25 November 2001	16 June 2003	1 year, 203 days
14	Mark Latham				16 June 2003	8 December 2003	165 days
15	Julia Gillard			Mark Latham	8 December 2003	18 January 2005	3 years, 2 days
				Kim Beazley	18 January 2005	10 December 2006
16	Anthony Albanese			Kevin Rudd	10 December 2006	3 December 2007	358 days
17	Joe Hockey		Liberal	Brendan Nelson	2 December 2007	16 September 2008	1 year, 76 days
				Malcolm Turnbull	16 September 2008	16 February 2009
18	Christopher Pyne				16 February 2009	1 December 2009	4 years, 214 days
				Tony Abbott	1 December 2009	18 September 2013
19	Tony Burke		Labor	Bill Shorten	18 October 2013	30 May 2019	8 years, 217 days
				Anthony Albanese	30 May 2019	23 May 2022
20	Paul Fletcher		Liberal	Peter Dutton	5 June 2022[4]	25 January 2025	2 years, 234 days
21	Michael Sukkar				25 January 2025	3 May 2025	200 days

See also

• Leader of the House (Australia)
• Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate
• Manager of Government Business in the Senate