56 Defence ministers of Australia

The Minister for Defence is the principal minister responsible for the organisation, implementation, and formulation of government policy in defence and military matters for the Australian Government. The individual who holds this office directs the governments approach to such matters through the Australian Defence Organisation and, by extension, the Department of Defence and the Australian Defence Force. The office of the Minister for Defence, like all Cabinet positions, is not referenced in the Constitution of Australia but rather exists through convention and the right of the Governor-General to appoint ministers of state.

Kevin James Andrews is an Australian politician and member of the Liberal Party of Australia. He is currently a backbench Member of the House of Representatives for the seat of Menzies, to which he was first elected at the 1991 by-election. Andrews is a conservative and a Catholic.

Lance Herbert Barnard AO was an Australian politician and diplomat. He was the deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1974 and held senior ministerial office in the Whitlam Government, most notably as Deputy Prime Minister of Australia from 1972 to 1974.

John Albert Beasley was an Australian politician who was a member of the House of Representatives from 1928 to 1946. He served in the Australian War Cabinet from 1941 to 1946, and was a government minister in the Curtin and Chifley Governments. Beasley was a member of the Australian Labor Party, although on two occasions he left the party to join the breakaway Lang Labor groups, leading the faction in federal parliament. He concluded his career as High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 1946 until his death in 1949.

Kim Christian Beazley is an Australian politician who is currently Governor of Western Australia. He was previously Deputy Prime Minister of Australia from 1995 to 1996, Leader of the Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition from 1996 to 2001 and 2005 to 2006, and Ambassador to the United States from 2010 to 2016. He served in multiple roles in the Hawke and Keating Governments from 1983 to 1996.

Eric Kendall Bowden was an Australian politician. A solicitor by profession, he served as Minister for Defence from 1923 to 1925, under Prime Minister Stanley Bruce. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1906 to 1910 and 1919 to 1929.

Sir Austin Chapman was an Australian politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1901 until his death in 1926. He held ministerial office in the governments of Alfred Deakin and Stanley Bruce, serving as Minister for Defence (1903–1904), Postmaster-General (1905–1907), Minister for Trade and Customs, and Minister for Health (1923–1924).

Joseph Benedict Chifley was an Australian politician who served as the 16th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1945 to 1949. He was leader of the Labor Party from 1945 until his death.

Sir Joseph Cook, was an Australian politician who served as the sixth Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1913 to 1914. He was the leader of the Commonwealth Liberal Party from 1913 to 1917, after earlier serving as the leader of the Anti-Socialist Party from 1908 to 1909.

John Curtin was an Australian politician who served as the 14th Prime Minister of Australia from 1941 until his death in 1945. He led the country for the majority of World War II, including all but the last few weeks of the war in the Pacific. He was the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1935 to 1945, and its longest serving leader until Gough Whitlam. Curtin's leadership skills and personal character were acclaimed by his political contemporaries. He is frequently cited as one of Australia's greatest prime ministers.

John Joseph Daly was an Australian lawyer and politician who served as a Senator for South Australia from 1928 to 1935. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party until 1934, when he was expelled. During the Scullin Government he was the party's Senate leader, and held ministerial office as Vice-President of the Executive Council and briefly as Minister for Defence.

Andrew Dawson, usually known as Anderson Dawson, was an Australian politician, the Premier of Queensland for one week in 1899. This premiership was not only the first Australian Labor Party government; it was the first parliamentary socialist government anywhere in the world, and it attracted international newspaper coverage.

John Johnstone Dedman was a Minister in the Australian Labor Party governments led by John Curtin and Ben Chifley. He was responsible for organising production during World War II, establishing the Australian National University, reorganising the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and developing the Snowy Mountains Scheme. Dedman represented the Federal seat of Corio, centred on Geelong between 1940 and 1949.

Sir James Robert Dickson, was an Australian politician and businessman, the 13th Premier of Queensland and a member of the first federal ministry.

James George Drake was an Australian politician. After a number of years in Queensland colonial politics, he was elected to the Senate at the first federal election in 1901. He subsequently held ministerial office under prime ministers Edmund Barton, Alfred Deakin, and George Reid, serving as Postmaster-General (1901–1903), Minister for Defence (1903), Attorney-General (1903–1904), and Vice-President of the Executive Council (1904–1905).

Sir Thomas Thomson Ewing KCMG was an Australian politician. He began his career in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (1885–1901) before winning election to the Division of Richmond at the inaugural 1901 federal election. He held ministerial office in the second Deakin Government as Vice-President of the Executive Council (1905–1906), Minister for Home Affairs (1906–1907), and Minister for Defence (1907–1908).

Sir David Eric Fairbairn, was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Liberal Party and served in the House of Representatives from 1949 to 1975. He held ministerial office as Minister for Air (1962–1964), National Development (1964–1969), Education and Science (1971), and Defence (1971–1972).

Sir Allen Fairhall KBE FRSA was an Australian politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1949 to 1969, representing the Liberal Party. He was a government minister under four prime ministers, most notably as Minister for Defence from 1966 to 1969.

John Philip Faulkner is an Australian former Labor Party politician who was a Senator for New South Wales from 1989 to 2015. He was a Cabinet Minister in the Keating, Rudd and Gillard Governments.

Joel Andrew Fitzgibbon is an Australian politician and Australian Labor Party (ALP) member of the Australian House of Representatives since March 1996, representing the Division of Hunter in New South Wales. Fitzgibbon is aligned with the ALP's Centre Unity faction in NSW. From December 2007 to June 2009 he was the Minister for Defence in the First Rudd Ministry. He resigned from cabinet in June 2009, following a series of controversies. In July 2013, following Kevin Rudd's election as Labor Leader, he was appointed the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry in the Second Rudd Ministry.

Francis Michael Forde was an Australian politician who served as prime minister of Australia from 6 to 13 July 1945. He was the deputy leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1932 to 1946. He served as prime minister in a caretaker capacity after the death of John Curtin, and is the shortest-serving prime minister in Australia's history.

Sir John Forrest was an Australian explorer, the first Premier of Western Australia and a cabinet minister in Australia's first federal parliament.

John Malcolm Fraser was an Australian politician who served as the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1975 to 1983 as leader of the Liberal Party.

Major General Sir Thomas William Glasgow was a senior Australian Army officer and politician. Glasgow rose to prominence during the First World War as a brigade and later divisional commander on the Western Front. Post-war, he was elected to the Australian Senate, representing Queensland as a Nationalist Party member from 1919 to 1931, before appointment as Australian High Commissioner to Canada. In 1945, Glasgow returned to Australia and resumed his private business interests. He died in Brisbane in 1955, at the age of 79.

Sir John Grey Gorton was the nineteenth Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1968 to 1971. He led the Liberal Party during that time, having previously been a long-serving government minister.

Albert Ernest Green was an Australian politician. He arrived in Western Australia in 1895, and represented the Kalgoorlie area in both state and federal parliaments for the Australian Labor Party, as well as serving as Minister for Defence and later Postmaster-General in the Scullin Ministry.

Sir Eric John Harrison, was an Australian politician and diplomat. He was the inaugural deputy leader of the Liberal Party (1945–1956), and a government minister under four prime ministers. He was later High Commissioner to the United Kingdom from 1956 to 1964.

Sir Paul Meernaa Caedwalla Hasluck, was an Australian statesman who served as the 17th Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1969 to 1974. Prior to that, he was a Liberal Party politician, holding ministerial office continuously from 1951 to 1969.

Robert Murray Hill AC is a retired Australian politician. He is an Adjunct Professor in Sustainability and Co-Director of the Alliance 21 project at the United States Studies Centre at the University of Sydney. He is also a Commissioner of the Global Ocean Commission.

Major General Sir Neville Reginald Howse, was an Australian Army officer, medical doctor, and politician. He was the first Australian recipient of the Victoria Cross (VC), the highest decoration for gallantry "in the face of the enemy" that can be awarded to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces.

David Albert Lloyd Johnston is an Australian politician who was a Liberal Party member of the Australian Senate from 2002 to 2016, representing the state of Western Australia. Johnston was the Minister for Defence from 18 September 2013 to 23 December 2014, when he was replaced by Kevin Andrews.

Sir Denis James "Jim" Killen, was an Australian politician and a Liberal Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from December 1955 to August 1983, representing the Division of Moreton in Queensland. He served as Vice-President of the Executive Council, Minister for Defence and Minister for the Navy during his parliamentary career.

Joseph Aloysius Lyons was an Australian politician who served as the 10th Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1932 until his death in 1939. He began his career in the Australian Labor Party (ALP), but became the founding leader of the United Australia Party (UAP) after the 1931 ALP split. He had earlier served as Premier of Tasmania from 1923 to 1928.

Sir Walter Massy-Greene KCMG was an Australian politician and businessman. As a Liberal and Nationalist member of the House of Representatives, he became a protégé of Prime Minister Billy Hughes and was groomed as his successor. He served as Minister for Trade and Customs (1919–1921), Defence (1921–1923), and Health (1921–1923), but his prime ministerial aspirations were brought to an abrupt halt by his defeat at the 1922 federal election. Massy-Greene subsequently served two terms as a Senator for New South Wales, but never regained his earlier influence in politics. In retirement he held numerous company directorships.

Sir Philip Albert Martin McBride was an Australian politician. He was a United Australia Party member of the Australian House of Representatives for Grey from 1931 to 1937 and the Australian Senate from 1937 to 1944, and a Liberal Party of Australia member of the House of Representatives for Wakefield from 1946 to 1958. He served as a minister in both of Robert Menzies' governments, as Minister for the Army and Minister for Repatriation (1940), Minister for Supply and Development and Minister for Munitions (1940–1941), Minister for the Interior (1949–1950), and Minister for Defence (1950–1958).

Lieutenant General Sir James Whiteside McCay,, who often spelt his surname M’Cay, was an Australian general and politician.

Ian Murray McLachlan AO is a former Australian politician who served as a member of the House of Representatives from 1990 to 1998, representing the Liberal Party. He was Minister for Defence in the Howard Government from 1996 to 1998. Before entering politics, he served as president of the National Farmers Federation from 1984 to 1988. He played first-class cricket as a youth.

Sir Robert Gordon Menzies,, was an Australian politician who twice served as Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1939 to 1941 and again from 1949 to 1966. He played a central role in the creation of the Liberal Party of Australia, defining its policies and its broad outreach. He is Australia's longest-serving prime minister, serving over 18 years in total.

Edward Davis Millen was an Australian journalist and politician who served as the first Minister for Repatriation.

John Colinton Moore is a former Australian politician. He was a Liberal member of the House of Representatives for over 25 years, serving between 1975 and 2001, and was a minister in the Fraser and Howard governments.

Brendan John Nelson is a former Australian politician who served as the federal Leader of the Opposition from 2007 to 2008. He was a member of the House of Representatives from 1996 to 2009, as the Liberal member for the Division of Bradfield in northern Sydney.

Sir Shane Dunne Paltridge KBE was an Australian politician. He was a Senator in the Parliament of Australia representing Western Australia from 1951 until his death in 1966. During that period he held a number of ministerial portfolios.

Sir Robert Archdale "Archie" Parkhill KCMG was an Australian politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1927 to 1937. He began his career in politics as a campaign director for the Commonwealth Liberal Party and Nationalist Party. He later joined the new United Australia Party in 1931, and served as a minister in the Lyons Government between 1932 and 1937.

Marise Ann Payne is an Australian politician who has been Minister for Foreign Affairs in the Morrison Government since 2018, and was also appointed Minister for Women in 2019. She has been a Senator for New South Wales since 1997, representing the Liberal Party.

Sir George Foster Pearce KCVO was an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Western Australia from 1901 to 1938. He began his career in the Labor Party but later joined the National Labor Party, the Nationalist Party, and the United Australia Party; he served as a cabinet minister under prime ministers from all four parties.

Thomas Playford was an Australian politician who served two terms as Premier of South Australia. He subsequently entered federal politics, serving as a Senator for South Australia from 1901 to 1906 and as Minister for Defence from 1905 to 1907.

Christopher Maurice Pyne is a retired Australian Liberal Party politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Sturt from 1993 to 2019.

Robert Francis Ray is a former Australian politician who was a Labor Party senator from 1981 to 2008, representing the state of Victoria.

Peter Keaston Reith is a former Australian politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1982 to 1983 and from 1984 to 2001, representing the Liberal Party. He was the party's deputy leader from 1990 to 1993, and served as a minister in the Howard Government.

Linda Karen Reynolds is an Australian politician and former army officer who has been Minister for Defence in the Morrison Government since May 2019. She has been a Senator for Western Australia since 2014, representing the Liberal Party. She previously served as Assistant Minister for Home Affairs (2018–2019), Minister for Defence Industry (2019) and Minister for Emergency Management and North Queensland Recovery (2019). Prior to entering parliament she was a member of the Australian Army Reserve for nearly 30 years and was the first woman in the reserve to attain the rank of brigadier.

Gordon Glen Denton Scholes AO was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) and served in the House of Representatives from 1967 to 1993, representing the Division of Corio. He served terms as Speaker of the House of Representatives (1975–1976), Minister for Defence (1983–1984), and Minister for Territories (1984–1987).

Ian McCahon Sinclair is a former Australian politician who served as leader of the National Party from 1984 to 1989. He was a government minister under six different prime ministers, and later Speaker of the House of Representatives from March to November 1998.

Stephen Francis Smith is a former Australian politician who was a member of the House of Representatives from 1993 to 2013. He served as a minister in the Rudd and Gillard Governments, including as Minister for Foreign Affairs (2007–2010), Minister for Trade (2010), and Minister for Defence (2010–2013).

Geoffrey Austin Street, was an Australian army officer and politician. He was a member of the United Australia Party (UAP) and served as Minister for Defence (1938–1939), the Army (1939–1940) and Repatriation (1940) in the early years of Australia's involvement in World War II.

Harold Victor Campbell Thorby was an Australian politician. He was a member of the Country Party and served as the party's deputy leader from 1937 to 1940. He represented the Division of Calare (1931–1940) and held ministerial office as Minister for War Service Homes (1934–1936), Defence (1937–1938), Civil Aviation (1938–1939), Health (1940), and Postmaster-General (1940). He lost his seat at the 1940 federal election.

Athol Gordon Townley was an Australian politician who served in the House of Representatives from 1949 until his death in 1963. A member of the Liberal Party, he served as a minister in the Menzies Government from 1951 to 1963, notably as Minister for Defence from 1958.