Minister for Defence (Australia)

Template:Short description Template:Use dmy dates Template:Use Australian English Template:Infobox official post The Minister for Defence is the minister of state of the Commonwealth of Australia charged with overseeing the organisation, implementation, and formulation of strategic policy in defence and military matters as the head of the Department of Defence. The Minister for Defence is responsible for the Australian Defence Organisation and the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The current Defence minister is Richard Marles, who is also concurrently serving as deputy prime minister of Australia, having been selected by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in May 2022 following the 2022 Australian federal election.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

As the Minister for Defence is responsible for the management of Australia's defence and military forces and the portfolio's accountability to the Parliament, the secretary of Defence is required under section 63(1) of the Public Service Act 1999 and the Requirements for Annual Reports from the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Public Accounts and Audit to submit a report to the responsible ministers on the activities of the Department of Defence after the end of each financial year for presentation to the Parliament.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

It is one of only four ministerial positions (along with prime minister, attorney-general and treasurer) that have existed since Federation.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Defence policy

The Defence minister is primarily responsible for implementing government defence policy. The three main entities responsible for formulating defence policy within Defence are the Air Power Development Centre, Australian Strategic Policy Institute, and Sea Power Centre - Australia.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Additionally, the minister releases white papers, that assess Australia's current defence capabilities and set out areas of reform.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The most recent white paper publication is the 2016 Defence White Paper that includes three elements: the 2016 Defence White Paper itself, 2016 Integrated Investment Program, and 2016 Defence Industry Policy Statement. It is the eighth defence white paper since 1976.

Composition of the defence portfolio

Over the years there have been a number of ministers with a variety of functions involved in the defence portfolio; in the period November 1939 to April 1942, there was no position named Minister of Defence. Instead, several ministers were responsible for the various tasks and duties that are presently under the purview of the minister for Defence.

Previous governments have included ministers with titles using one or more of the following terms: Template:Div col

• Air
• Aircraft production
• Army
• Defence
• Defence Coordination
• Defence Industry
• Defence Materiel
• Defence Personnel
• Defence Production
• Defence Science
• Defence Support
• Development
• Munitions<ref>The Department of Munitions was created during World War II, and existed between 11 June 1940 and April 1948.</ref>
• Navy
• Repatriation
• Shipping
• Supply
• Veterans' Affairs

List of ministers for defence

There was a Minister for Defence from 1 January 1901 until 13 November 1939, with the exception of two small breaks. Robert Menzies, the Prime Minister, abolished the position on the outbreak of World War II and created separate Ministers for the Navy, the Army and the Air, with himself as Minister for Defence Coordination in his first ministry. He retained this position until the fall of his government, and then held the post in the brief government of Arthur Fadden. John Curtin initially followed the same arrangement as Menzies in his ministry until 14 April 1942, when he took the title of Minister for Defence. The separate titles of Ministers for the Navy, the Army and the Air were abolished in the second Whitlam Ministry on 30 November 1973, when the separate departments of Navy, Army and Air were also abolished. There had also been a separate Navy portfolio between 1915 and 1921.

The following have served as Minister for Defence:<ref name=Handbook>Template:Cite book</ref>

Order	Minister	Party		Prime Minister	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	Sir James Dickson Template:Post-nominals	Template:Australian party style |	Protectionist	Barton	1 January 1901	10 January 1901	Template:Age in days days
2	John Forrest Template:Post-nominals	rowspan=3 Template:Australian party style |	Protectionist	Barton	17 January 1901	10 August 1903	Template:Age in years and days
3	Senator James Drake	10 August 1903			24 September 1903	Template:Age in days days
4	Austin Chapman Template:Post-nominals	Deakin		24 September 1903	27 April 1904	Template:Age in days days
5	Senator Anderson Dawson	Template:Australian party style |	Labor	Watson	27 April 1904	18 August 1904	Template:Age in days days
6	James McCay Template:Post-nominals	rowspan=3 Template:Australian party style |	Protectionist	Reid	18 August 1904	5 July 1905	Template:Age in days days
7	Senator Thomas Playford	Deakin		5 July 1905	24 January 1907	Template:Age in years and days
8	Sir Thomas Ewing Template:Post-nominals			24 January 1907	13 November 1908	Template:Age in years and days
9	Senator George Pearce<ref group=n name=Pearce>Although McBride served the longest continuously, Pearce had the longest combined service at more than 13 years, and as a member of four parties (Labor, National Labor, Nationalist, and UAP).</ref>	Template:Australian party style |	Labor	Fisher	13 November 1908	2 June 1909	Template:Age in days days
10	Joseph Cook Template:Post-nominals	Template:Australian party style|	Liberal	Deakin	2 June 1909	29 April 1910	Template:Age in days days
(9)	Senator George Pearce<ref group=n name=Pearce />	Template:Australian party style |	Labor	Fisher	29 April 1910	24 June 1913	Template:Age in years and days
11	Senator Edward Millen	Template:Australian party style|	Liberal	Cook	24 June 1913	17 September 1914	Template:Age in years and days
(9)	Senator George Pearce<ref group=n name=Pearce />	rowspan=2 Template:Australian party style |	Labor	Fisher	17 September 1914	27 October 1915	Template:Age in years and days
		Hughes		27 October 1915	14 November 1916
			Template:Australian party style |	National Labor	14 November 1916	13 June 1917<ref group="n" name="Nationalists">The Liberal and National Labor parties approved a coalition agreement on 13 February 1917,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation		CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the new ministry was sworn on 17 February 1917.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> The parties co-ordinated their campaign against Labor at the 1917 election,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and while there was some discussion of the two parties remaining separate,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref> they formally merged on 13 June 1917.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref></ref>
			rowspan=5 Template:Australian party style |	Nationalist	13 June 1917	21 December 1921
12	Walter Massy-Greene Template:Post-nominals<ref group="n">The Parliamentary Handbook erroneously records Massy-Greene as Assistant Minister for Defence from 1921 to 1923. He was in fact the Minister for Defence.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation		CitationClass=web }}</ref> He retained responsibility for Health, which he had held as Minister for Trade and Customs,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation		CitationClass=web }}</ref> and was consequently titled Minister for Defence and Health.<ref name=MassyRyrie>Template:Cite Hansard</ref></ref>	21 December 1921	9 February 1923	Template:Age in years and days
13	Eric Bowden Template:Post-nominals	Bruce	9 February 1923		16 January 1925	Template:Age in years and days
14	Sir Neville Howse Template:Post-nominals		16 January 1925		2 April 1927	Template:Age in years and days
15	Senator Sir William Glasgow Template:Post-nominals		2 April 1927		22 October 1929	Template:Age in years and days
16	Albert Green Template:Post-nominals	rowspan=3 Template:Australian party style |	Labor	Scullin	22 October 1929	4 February 1931	Template:Age in years and days
17	Senator John Daly	4 February 1931			3 March 1931	Template:Age in days days
18	Ben Chifley Template:Post-nominals	3 March 1931			6 January 1932	Template:Age in days days
(9)	Senator Sir George Pearce Template:Post-nominals<ref group=n name=Pearce />	rowspan=3 Template:Australian party style |	United Australia	Lyons	6 January 1932	12 October 1934	Template:Age in years and days
19	Sir Archdale Parkhill Template:Post-nominals	12 October 1934			20 November 1937	Template:Age in years and days
20	Joseph Lyons Template:Post-nominals	20 November 1937			29 November 1937	Template:Age in days days
21	Harold Thorby Template:Post-nominals	Template:Australian party style |	Country		29 November 1937	7 November 1938	Template:Age in days days
22	Geoffrey Street Template:Post-nominals	rowspan=5 Template:Australian party style |	United Australia		7 November 1938	7 April 1939	Template:Age in years and days
		Page		7 April 1939	26 April 1939
		Menzies		26 April 1939	13 November 1939
23	Robert Menzies Template:Post-nominals<ref group="n" name="DefenceCoordination">On 13 November 1939, early in the Second World War, Menzies divided the Defence portfolio into separate Army, Navy and Air portfolios and appointed himself Minister for Defence Coordination to oversee them.<ref name=Handbook /> Curtin retained this arrangement, but he reverted to the title Minister for Defence on 21 September 1943.<ref name=Handbook /></ref>			13 November 1939	29 August 1941	Template:Age in years and days
		Fadden		29 August 1941	7 October 1941
24	John Curtin Template:Post-nominals<ref group=n name=DefenceCoordination />	rowspan=5 Template:Australian party style |	Labor	Curtin	7 October 1941	6 July 1945	Template:Age in years and days
25	Jack Beasley Template:Post-nominals	Forde		6 July 1945	13 July 1945	Template:Age in years and days
		Chifley		13 July 1945	14 August 1946
26	Frank Forde Template:Post-nominals			15 August 1946	1 November 1946	Template:Age in days days
27	John Dedman Template:Post-nominals			1 November 1946	19 December 1949	Template:Age in years and days
28	Eric Harrison Template:Post-nominals	rowspan=11 Template:Australian party style |	Liberal	Menzies	19 December 1949	24 October 1950	Template:Age in days days
29	Sir Philip McBride Template:Post-nominals	24 October 1950			10 December 1958	Template:Age in years and days
30	Athol Townley Template:Post-nominals	10 December 1958			18 December 1963	Template:Age in years and days
31	Paul Hasluck Template:Post-nominals	18 December 1963			24 April 1964	Template:Age in days days
32	Senator Sir Shane Paltridge Template:Post-nominals	24 April 1964			19 January 1966	Template:Age in years and days
33	Allen Fairhall Template:Post-nominals	Holt		26 January 1966	12 December 1967	Template:Age in years and days
		McEwen		12 December 1967	10 January 1968
		Gorton		10 January 1968	12 November 1969
34	Malcolm Fraser Template:Post-nominals			12 November 1969	8 March 1971	Template:Age in years and days
35	John Gorton Template:Post-nominals	McMahon		19 March 1971	13 August 1971	Template:Age in days days
36	David Fairbairn Template:Post-nominals			13 August 1971	5 December 1972	Template:Age in years and days
37	Lance Barnard Template:Post-nominals	rowspan=2 Template:Australian party style |	Labor	Whitlam	5 December 1972	6 June 1975	Template:Age in years and days
38	Bill Morrison Template:Post-nominals	6 June 1975			11 November 1975	Template:Age in days days
39	Sir James Killen Template:Post-nominals	Template:Australian party style |	Liberal	Fraser	12 November 1975	7 May 1982	Template:Age in years and days
40	Ian Sinclair Template:Post-nominals	Template:Australian party style |	National Country		7 May 1982	16 October 1982	Template:Age in days days
		Template:Australian party style|	National		16 October 1982	11 March 1983
41	Gordon Scholes Template:Post-nominals	rowspan=4 Template:Australian party style |	Labor	Hawke	11 March 1983	13 December 1984	Template:Age in years and days
42	Kim Beazley Template:Post-nominals	13 December 1984			4 April 1990	Template:Age in years and days
43	Senator Robert Ray	4 April 1990			20 December 1991	Template:Age in years and days
		Keating		20 December 1991	11 March 1996
44	Ian McLachlan Template:Post-nominals	rowspan=5 Template:Australian party style |	Liberal	Howard	11 March 1996	21 October 1998	Template:Age in years and days
45	John Moore Template:Post-nominals	21 October 1998			30 January 2001	Template:Age in years and days
46	Peter Reith Template:Post-nominals	30 January 2001			26 November 2001	Template:Age in days days
47	Senator Robert Hill	26 November 2001			20 January 2006	Template:Age in years and days
48	Brendan Nelson Template:Post-nominals	20 January 2006			3 December 2007	Template:Age in years and days
49	Joel Fitzgibbon Template:Post-nominals	rowspan=5 Template:Australian party style |	Labor	Rudd	3 December 2007	9 June 2009	Template:Age in years and days
50	Senator John Faulkner	9 June 2009			24 June 2010	Template:Age in years and days
		Gillard		24 June 2010	14 September 2010
51	Stephen Smith Template:Post-nominals			14 September 2010	27 June 2013	Template:Age in years and days
		Rudd		27 June 2013	18 September 2013
52	Senator David Johnston	rowspan="8" Template:Australian party style |	Liberal	Abbott	18 September 2013	23 December 2014	Template:Age in years and days
53	Kevin Andrews Template:Post-nominals	23 December 2014			15 September 2015	Template:Age in years and days
		Turnbull		15 September 2015	21 September 2015
54	Senator Marise Payne			21 September 2015	24 August 2018	Template:Age in years and days
		Morrison		24 August 2018	28 August 2018
55	Christopher Pyne Template:Post-nominals			28 August 2018	26 May 2019	Template:Age in years and days
56	Senator Linda Reynolds Template:Post-nominals			29 May 2019	30 March 2021	Template:Age in years and days
57	Peter Dutton Template:Post-nominals			30 March 2021	23 May 2022	Template:Age in years and days
58	Richard Marles Template:Post-nominals	Template:Australian party style|	Labor	Albanese	1 June 2022	Incumbent	Template:Age in years and days

List of assistant ministers for defence

The following individuals have been appointed as Assistant Minister for Defence, or any of its precedent titles:<ref name=Handbook/>

Order	Minister	Party		Prime Minister	Title	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	Granville Ryrie Template:Post-nominals<ref group="n">The Parliamentary Handbook erroneously records that Ryrie ceased to be Assistant Minister for Defence, being replaced by Massy-Greene. In fact, Massy-Greene was appointed Minister for Defence, and Ryrie remained in post.<ref name=MassyRyrie /><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref></ref>	Template:Australian party style|	Nationalist	Hughes	Assistant Minister for Defence	Template:Start date	Template:End date	Template:Age in years and days
2	Josiah Francis	Template:Australian party style|	United Australia	Lyons	Assistant Minister for Defence	Template:Start date	Template:End date	Template:Age in years and days
3	Reg Bishop	Template:Australian party style|	Labor	Whitlam	Minister assisting the Minister for Defence	19 December 1972	12 June 1974	Template:Age in years and days
4	John McLeay	rowspan="2" Template:Australian party style |	Liberal	Fraser	Minister assisting the Minister for Defence	22 December 1975	3 November 1980	Template:Age in years and days
5	Kevin Newman	3 November 1980				7 May 1982	Template:Age in years and days
6	Bruce Scott	Template:Australian party style|	National	Howard	Minister assisting the Minister for Defence	21 October 1998	26 November 2001	Template:Age in years and days
7	Danna Vale	rowspan="3" Template:Australian party style |	Liberal			26 November 2001	7 October 2003	Template:Age in years and days
8	Mal Brough	7 October 2003				18 July 2004	Template:Age in days days
9	Fran Bailey	18 July 2004				22 October 2004	Template:Age in days days
10	De-Anne Kelly	Template:Australian party style|	National			22 October 2004	27 January 2006	Template:Age in years and days
11	Bruce Billson	Template:Australian party style|	Liberal			27 January 2006	3 December 2007	Template:Age in years and days
12	Stuart Robert	rowspan="2" Template:Australian party style|	Liberal	Abbott	Assistant Minister for Defence	Template:Start date	Template:End date	Template:Age in years and days
		Turnbull		Template:End date		Template:End date
13	Darren Chester		rowspan="2" Template:Australian party style |	National		Template:Start date	Template:End date	Template:Age in years and days
14	Michael McCormack		Template:Start date			Template:End date	Template:Age in years and days
15	David Fawcett	rowspan="3" Template:Australian party style |	Liberal	Morrison	Assistant Minister for Defence	Template:Start date	Template:End date	Template:Age in years and days
16	Alex Hawke	Template:Start date				Template:End date	Template:Age in years and days
17	Andrew Hastie	Template:Start date				Template:End date	Template:Age in years and days
18	Matt Thistlethwaite	rowspan=2 Template:Australian party style|	Labor	Albanese		Template:Start date	Template:End date	Template:Age in years and days
19	Peter Khalil	Template:Start date				Incumbent	Template:Age in years and days

Individual service branch ministers

Ministers for the Navy

The following served as Minister for the Navy:<ref name=Handbook />

Order	Minister	Party		Prime Minister	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	Jens Jensen Template:Post-nominals	rowspan=2 Template:Australian party style |	Labor	Fisher	12 July 1915	27 October 1915	Template:Age in years and days
		Hughes		27 October 1915	14 November 1916
			Template:Australian party style |	National Labor	14 November 1916	17 February 1917
2	Joseph Cook Template:Post-nominals		Template:Australian party style |	Commonwealth Liberal<ref group=n name=Nationalists />	17 February 1917	13 June 1917	Template:Age in years and days
			rowspan=2 Template:Australian party style |	Nationalist	13 June 1917	28 July 1920
3	William Laird Smith Template:Post-nominals		28 July 1920		21 December 1921	Template:Age in years and days
4	Frederick Stewart Template:Post-nominals	rowspan=1 Template:Australian party style |	United Australia	Menzies	13 November 1939	14 March 1940	Template:Age in days days
5	Archie Cameron Template:Post-nominals	rowspan=1 Template:Australian party style |	Country		14 March 1940	28 October 1940	Template:Age in days days
6	Billy Hughes Template:Post-nominals	rowspan=2 Template:Australian party style |	United Australia		28 October 1940	29 August 1941	Template:Age in days days
		Fadden		29 August 1941	7 October 1941
7	Norman Makin Template:Post-nominals	rowspan=5 Template:Australian party style |	Labor	Curtin	7 October 1941	6 July 1945	Template:Age in years and days
		Forde		6 July 1945	13 July 1945
		Chifley		13 July 1945	15 August 1946
8	Arthur Drakeford Template:Post-nominals			15 August 1946	1 November 1946	Template:Age in days days
9	Bill Riordan Template:Post-nominals			1 November 1946	19 December 1949	Template:Age in years and days
10	Josiah Francis Template:Post-nominals	rowspan=6 Template:Australian party style |	Liberal	Menzies	19 December 1949	11 May 1951	Template:Age in years and days
11	Philip McBride Template:Post-nominals	11 May 1951			17 July 1951	Template:Age in days days
12	William McMahon Template:Post-nominals	17 July 1951			9 July 1954	Template:Age in years and days
(10)	Josiah Francis Template:Post-nominals	9 July 1954			11 July 1955	Template:Age in years and days
13	Eric Harrison Template:Post-nominals	11 July 1955			11 January 1956	Template:Age in days days
14	Senator Neil O'Sullivan	11 January 1956			24 October 1956	Template:Age in days days
15	Charles Davidson Template:Post-nominals	Template:Australian party style |	Country		24 October 1956	10 December 1958	Template:Age in years and days
16	Senator John Gorton	rowspan=11 Template:Australian party style |	Liberal		10 December 1958	18 December 1963	Template:Age in years and days
17	Jim Forbes Template:Post-nominals	18 December 1963			4 March 1964	Template:Age in days days
18	Fred Chaney, Sr. Template:Post-nominals	4 March 1964			26 January 1966	Template:Age in years and days
		Holt		26 January 1966	14 December 1966
19	Don Chipp Template:Post-nominals			14 December 1966	19 December 1967	Template:Age in years and days
		McEwen		19 December 1967	10 January 1968
		Gorton		10 January 1968	28 February 1968
20	Bert Kelly Template:Post-nominals			28 February 1968	12 November 1969	Template:Age in years and days
21	James Killen Template:Post-nominals			12 November 1969	10 March 1971	Template:Age in years and days
		McMahon		10 March 1971	22 March 1971
22	Malcolm Mackay Template:Post-nominals			22 March 1971	5 December 1972	Template:Age in years and days
23	Lance Barnard Template:Post-nominals	Template:Australian party style |	Labor	Whitlam	5 December 1972	30 November 1973	Template:Age in days days

Ministers for the Army

The following served as Minister for the Army:<ref name=Handbook />

Order	Minister	Party		Prime Minister	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	Geoffrey Street Template:Post-nominals	rowspan=3 Template:Australian party style |	United Australia	Menzies	13 November 1939	28 October 1940	Template:Age in days days
2	Senator Percy Spender	28 October 1940			29 August 1941	Template:Age in days days
		Fadden		29 August 1941	7 October 1941
3	Frank Forde Template:Post-nominals	rowspan=4 Template:Australian party style |	Labor	Curtin	7 October 1941	6 July 1945	Template:Age in years and days
		Forde		6 July 1945	13 July 1945
		Chifley		13 July 1945	1 November 1946
4	Cyril Chambers Template:Post-nominals			1 November 1946	19 December 1949	Template:Age in years and days
5	Josiah Francis Template:Post-nominals	rowspan=10 Template:Australian party style |	Liberal	Menzies	19 December 1949	7 November 1955	Template:Age in years and days
6	Eric Harrison Template:Post-nominals	7 November 1955			28 February 1956	Template:Age in days days
7	John Cramer Template:Post-nominals	28 February 1956			18 December 1963	Template:Age in years and days
8	Jim Forbes Template:Post-nominals	18 December 1963			26 January 1966	Template:Age in years and days
9	Malcolm Fraser Template:Post-nominals	Holt		26 January 1966	19 December 1967	Template:Age in years and days
		McEwen		19 December 1967	10 January 1968
		Gorton		10 January 1968	28 February 1968
10	Phillip Lynch Template:Post-nominals			28 February 1968	12 November 1969	Template:Age in years and days
11	Andrew Peacock Template:Post-nominals			12 November 1969	10 March 1971	Template:Age in years and days
		McMahon		10 March 1971	2 February 1972
12	Bob Katter, Sr. Template:Post-nominals		Template:Australian party style |	Country	2 February 1972	5 December 1972	Template:Age in days days
13	Lance Barnard Template:Post-nominals	Template:Australian party style |	Labor	Whitlam	5 December 1972	30 November 1973	Template:Age in days days

Ministers for Air

The following served as Minister for Air:<ref name=Handbook />

Order	Minister	Party		Prime Minister	Term start	Term end	Term in office
1	James Fairbairn Template:Post-nominals	Template:Australian party style |	United Australia	Menzies	13 November 1939	13 August 1940	Template:Age in days days
2	Arthur Fadden Template:Post-nominals	rowspan=3 Template:Australian party style |	Country		14 August 1940	28 October 1940	Template:Age in days days
3	John McEwen Template:Post-nominals	28 October 1940			29 August 1941	Template:Age in days days
		Fadden		29 August 1941	7 October 1941
4	Arthur Drakeford Template:Post-nominals	rowspan=3 Template:Australian party style |	Labor	Curtin	7 October 1941	6 July 1945	Template:Age in years and days
		Forde		6 July 1945	13 July 1945
		Chifley		13 July 1945	19 December 1949
5	Thomas White Template:Post-nominals	rowspan=14 Template:Australian party style |	Liberal	Menzies	19 December 1949	11 May 1951	Template:Age in years and days
6	Philip McBride Template:Post-nominals	11 May 1951			17 July 1951	Template:Age in days days
7	William McMahon Template:Post-nominals	17 July 1951			9 July 1954	Template:Age in years and days
8	Athol Townley Template:Post-nominals	9 July 1954			24 October 1956	Template:Age in years and days
9	Frederick Osborne Template:Post-nominals	24 October 1956			29 December 1960	Template:Age in years and days
10	Senator Harrie Wade	29 December 1960			22 December 1961	Template:Age in days days
11	Les Bury Template:Post-nominals	22 December 1961			27 July 1962	Template:Age in days days
12	David Fairbairn Template:Post-nominals	27 July 1962			10 June 1964	Template:Age in years and days
13	Peter Howson Template:Post-nominals	10 June 1964			26 January 1966	Template:Age in years and days
		Holt		26 January 1966	19 December 1967
		McEwen		19 December 1967	10 January 1968
		Gorton		10 January 1968	28 February 1968
14	Gordon Freeth Template:Post-nominals			28 February 1968	13 February 1969	Template:Age in days days
15	Dudley Erwin Template:Post-nominals			13 February 1969	12 November 1969	Template:Age in days days
16	Senator Tom Drake-Brockman		rowspan=2 Template:Australian party style |	Country	12 November 1969	10 March 1971	Template:Age in years and days
		McMahon	10 March 1971		5 December 1972
17	Lance Barnard Template:Post-nominals	Template:Australian party style |	Labor	Whitlam	5 December 1972	30 November 1973	Template:Age in days days

See also

• Department of Defence (Australia)
• Department of Munitions (11 June 1940 — April 1948)
• Minister for Defence Industry
• Minister for Defence Personnel
• Minister for Veterans' Affairs (Australia)
• Defence Estate and Infrastructure Group

External links

• Template:Official website