Cabinet

Cabinet

• The council of senior Ministers who are empowered by the Government to take binding decisions on its behalf.

• No constitutional mentions- only unwritten conventions govern it

• so provided guiding principles (collective responsibility, solidarity) are maintained, PM has the freedom to determine shape, structure, and operations of cabinet

• PM advises GG to commission new ministers under s64 after election or reshuffle

• Ministers must be members of parliament under s64 to maintain Westminster fusion of legislative and executive

Cabinet conventions - function

• ensure that government is united and coherent

  • needed during transition to committee of ministers exercising real executive power in contrast to one monarch

• ensure internal party discipline

  • 18th century English parties were weak and couldn’t discipline members

Cabinet secrecy

• 20 years, criminal offence to breach secrecy, soundproof and secure

• binding to clerical staff who record cabinet meetings

• robust debate that refines ideas + risk assessment

• necessary to have clarity of gov’t position+ unified public perception with no weaknesses to be exploited by Opposition

• doesn’t breach good government (transparency) → creates unity

Cabinet solidarity + example

• decisions are made using consensus, compromise, majority, party room pressure or prime ministerial authority

• ensures unity of government

• must agree publicly regardless of presence

• may disagree (ethical/ religious/ electorate)

• obliged by Westminster convention to resign from the executive, leave Cabinet and return to the backbenches of parliament.

Example

• 1989 Gary Punch MP (Minister for Telecommunications and Aviation Support) resigned when Cabinet approved the construction of a third Sydney Airport runway because it affected his electorate (Barton, NSW) negatively.

• never returned to inner ministry; remained on the backbench, promoted to a parliamentary secretary, and then to a junior ministry

Structure of cabinet

Inner ministry (Cabinet)

• PM

• senior ministers (significant portfolios)

Outer ministry

• growth in business and complexity of gov’t after ww2 made a division of ministry necessary

  • increased income redistribution through government tax collection and welfare distribution

  • economic management became a government priority, featuring governments actively adjusting its spending to create or reduce aggregate demand and deal with stages of the business cycle (EXAMPLE)

  • government has to provide infrastructure (railways, telecommunication companies, NBN) because Australia’s population is too small for private companies to build critical infrastructure

  • society now expects basic entitlements e.g. free state based education, public hospitals, subsidised healthcare

Example- Morrison Gov’t assistant ministers

• new executive positions were also created e.g. parliamentary secretaries are now assistant ministers and legally part of ministry under Ministers of State Act 1952

• e.g. Morrision Gov’t had 12 assistant ministers e.g. Ben Morton MP (Tangey, WA) was assistant minister to the prime minister

  • Junior ministers (lesser portfolios) who co-opt to cabinet when their portfolio is discussed

  • Assistant ministry

    • assistant ministers/ parliamentary secretaries who co-opt to cabinet when their portfolio is discussed

Prime minister

• leader of party/ senior party in coalition with absolute majority of HoR seats

• after election leader is asked to form government and commissioned as PM under s64

• authority is from Westminster convention- no constitutional reference

Ministers

• nominated by PM

• commissioned under s64 by GG

• must be members of parliament (s64)

• are from senior ranks of the majority party in the HoR

• no. is limited to 42 by Ministers of State Act 1952, which governs the appointment of ministers

Roles

• manage portfolio (department/s of a public service), which is assigned by PM

• portfolios can be senior (treasury, defence, educaton etc, belong to cabinet members) or less critical (aged care and senior australians, asssistant treasurer)

• support cabinet decisions because of cabinet solidarity

• answer to parliament for their:

  • personal probity (character, honesty, integrity)

  • propriety (political integrity)

  • competence- management of their portfolio and departments

• participate in cabinet meetings, where they:

  • develop government policy

  • coordinate government activity

  • plan resource allocations and political strategy

Conventions in practice

• Australian parties today have the party discipline England lacked- governments formed by organised political parties with ideological frameworks that impose discipline on members

• therefore, conventions aren’t enforced anymore

• in practice, breaches of cabinet secrecy are relatively frequent and go unpunished

• in practice, ministers rarely resign from Cabinet over differences with colleagues.

• conventions still observed and provide expectations for proper ministerial conduct and performance- a government that fails to observe conventions is usually ill disciplined or divided, causing declining popularity of the government

Example of conventions in practice

• July 2015

• As both Minister of Agriculture and representative of New England , Barnaby Joyce disagreed with the cabinet decision to allow the development of the large Shenhua coal mine in the Liverpool plains, some of Australia’s prime agricultural land

• Barnaby Joyce stated his disagreement was as a minister not a representative

• He refused to resign because he didn’t think it would acheive anythign

• Breachinng cabinet solidarity (publicly disputing a cabinet decision) should have caused his dismissal- but he was not dismissed or disciplined

• shows the flexible and non binding nature of conventions

Cabinet commitees + examples

• smaller groups of ministers who focus on specific areas of government activity

• meet separately from cabinet and report decisions for approval

• whole cabinet is superior and has the final judgement

• e.g. Morrison Government’s national security committee which focuses on international security issues of importance to Australia

  • consists of ministers with portfolios relevant to national security

  • permanent members include PM, deputy PM, treasurer, attorney general, home affairs minister, defence minister

  • decisions don’t require endorsement of cabinet because its responsible for critical decision needing swift implementation

    • e.g. deployed ADF to aid firefighting and rescue trapped Australians in January 2020 bushfires

    • e.g. met in January 2020 to discuss Australia’s response to Iranian missile attacks against airbases in which 300 ADF personnel were based.

Ministry

• comprised of the Ministers of State including Cabinet ministers, other ministers and assistant ministers- encompasses whole parliamentary executive branch

• Together they form the Federal Executive Council [EXCO] — the body which formally advises the Governor-General on the administration of the Commonwealth of Australia.

• EXCO is established under Section 63 of the Constitution and is part of the constitutional or formal executive.

• e.g. Morrison gov’t had 12 assistant ministers who either held small portfolios or helped the 14 ministers with senior portfolios

• assistant ministers are necessary to support senior ministers because the demand of their portfolio is large

Cabinet and the public service

Cabinet (elected political executive accountable to the lower house) provides policy and direction to the public service (appointed administrative executive accountable to their minister)

Roles of the cabinet

1. Develop and communicate the narrative of government

2. Developing and implementing policies

3. Allocate resources

4. Coordinate the machinery of government

5. Act as an information exchange

Develop and communicate the narrative of government

• narrative according to ideology, vision and priorities, influencing policy creation and citizens’ perception of the party

• ALP: fairness and equality

• Coalition: self reliance and reward for effort

Developing and implementing policies

• policies allow government to take action and are derived from ideology, election promises, responses to emerging issues and political strategies

• implemented through legislation and regulations

• tracks implementation, assisted by the cabinet implementation unit, ensuring key Government decisions are implemented on time, on budget and to expectations.

• A recent example is the 2026–27 Federal Budget, where Cabinet approved changes to capital gains and discretionary trusts and encoded them into Budget papers and associated bills.

• On time: the Budget was delivered on 12 May 2026, with staged commencement dates written into the package.

• On budget: the government framed the package as part of a broader fiscal plan, with savings and reprioritisations in the Budget process rather than an open-ended spending promise.

• To expectations: the Budget website and PM&C materials show the measures were presented as part of the government’s stated priorities, including tax reform, housing, and cost-of-living relief. It passed through appropriation acts, making it legally enforceable.

  
  

Allocate resources

• deal with emergencies (e.g. spending money on natural disasters or national security emergencies, mobilising ADF and government assets through the National Security Commitee of Cabinet)

  • Nationhood of power implied by s61 grants cabinet “a capacity to engage in enterprises and activities … for the benefit of the nation,” meaning cabinet can use government assets that’re usually unable (money, adf) to address a crisis threatening the nation.

• to accommodate costs of running departments and implementing policy

• Resources provided using funds from the Budget, a statement of the Commonwealth’s revenue and expenses , that’s passed as a bill in parliament authorising access to taxpayer funds

• Budget is created by estimating cost of departments and policies, review by cabinet ERC and PM, Treasurer and Finance Minister, then passed as a bill

Example

• In response to the bushfire crisis of 2020, Cabinet authorised the use of the ADF to assist state fire fighting services and volunteers.

• also grant money and make low- interest loans to businesses affected by the fires (Bushfire Working Capital Loan up to 50,000).

• illustrates how Cabinet can allocate Commonwealth physical and financial resources to manage a natural disaster.

Coordinating machinery of gov’t

• Political power flows from Cabinet.

• Cabinet controls bureaucratic power through ministers that provide policy guidance to department.

• Cabinet directs bureaucratic power through departments that give expertise and advice to ministers about policies.

• Cabinet corrects bureaucratic power

• ministers that ensure departments’ policy is coherent with other isolated departments,

• ministers that bring feedback about policy administration from departments to cabinet, allowing cabinet to resolve inconsistencies, conflicts, duplication and other issues across government

• Public service is a well coordinated bureaucracy responsible for 24 percent of Australia’s economic activity

Acting as an information exchange

• Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Cabinet Secretariat provide administrative support to ensure cabinet power is exercised consistently and in response to correct information

• since there is such a variety of information e.g. public service advice, parliamentary committee reports, government inquires, court decisions.

Factors affecting cabinet’s roles and powers

PM

• critical to character of Cabinet decision making

• personal qualities influence cabinet relationships and respect for PM’s authority, which influences cabinet performance

• Example

• Julia Gillard’s Cabinet (2010–2013)

  • contained her disaffected rival, Rudd, as Foreign Minister.

  • Despite this, her Cabinet was collegial and achieved decisions through consensus and majority.

  • Her personal quality- strong negotiation from work as a union official and lawyer- helped this

Relationships between ministers, and parties in a coalition

• relationships within cabinet determine the exercise of its power

• cabinet can be collegial, reaching decision by consensus

• cabinets can be divided by rivalry, reaching decisions by majority or even PM authority

• Example

  Coalition Cabinet (2013-2016)

  • presence of two parties can lead to issues with decision making, necessitating compromise

  • In 2013 the Nationals were able to prevent the purchase of GrainCorp — a major Australian agricultural company — by US company Archer Daniels Midland, despite Liberal Party support for foreign investment in all sectors of the Australian economy.

Timing

• new gov’t can struggle with decision making due to inexperience, while mature gov’t can make decisions smoothly because of well developed processes.

• long term gov’t can lack vigor or new ideas

The type of decision

• exercise of cabient power is dependent on the circumstances of the day

• Deliberative- most decisions are deliberative, with appropriate time and discussion devoted to them

• Swift- some situations require swift decisions e.g. Morrisons Gov’t response to 2020 bushfire crisis, creation of national cabinet to respond to covid -19 pandemic (reference specific example)

Roles of the PM according to the cabinet handbook

• responsible for the membership of the Cabinet and Cabinet committees + determines which ministers form cabinet

• determine and regulate all Cabinet arrangements for the Government

• final arbiter of Cabinet procedures

• advises Governor General on appointment of Ministers, including the title and scope of each minister’s portfolio

• as chair, PM sets the Cabinet’s agenda and determines when and where meetings take place.

• PM leads and guides discussion to achieve a collective response and ensures the clarity of decisions- when a collective decision isn’t possible, PM’s view is authoritative

Roles of the PM

• key spokesperson for Australia

• head of cabinet

• leader of the government

• most senior minister

Sources of PM’s power

1. leader of majority party in lower house

2. chairperson of cabinet

3. access to information

4. patronage

5. determining election dates

6. face of gov’t

Leader of majority party in lower house

• able to determine outcome of every vote on the floor because they’re the leader of the HoR majority party

• party votes en bloc and wins every vote

• PM can determine procedures and processes of House + control legislation and debate

Chairperson of cabinet

• PM controls business list (cabinet agenda), controlling discussion topics

• agenda setting power is vital- determines priorities of government

• ministers must submit items to cabinet using a strict format (three day rule, page limits, deadlines, cost- benefit analysis, human rights impact statement, summary of impacts on regulations and laws)

• three day rule- Cabinet submissions and related documents be distributed to ministers at least three working days before they are considered by the Cabinet or a Cabinet Committee

• January 2020 PM Morrison shifted government priority and policy focus to climate change after criticisms of initial responses to bushfire crisis

Access to information

• PM is most informed individual in the political system- no other member of the executive has access to such support and wealth of information

• while ministers have access to expert advice from their departments, PM receives advice from across gov’t, including highly classified material from Australia’s national security agencies

• PM has dedicated dep’t called dep’t of PM and Cabinet

• provides policy advice on matters including public and gov’t admin, domestic and international affairs, implications of propsoals for commonwealth- state relations

Patronage

Prime Minister has the power to:

essentially reward and punish party members

• promote backbench members of parliament to the ministry; (a significant increase in power, prestige and remuneration; first step on executive career ladder awarded by PM)

• promote members of the outer ministry to a Cabinet portfolio; (good relations must be maintained to be promoted)

• allocate portfolios amongst ministers; ( match minister’s expertise and experience with a portfolio for efficient governance + reward loyalty with desirable portfolios (home affairs, treasury, defence) vs punish disloyalty using a less desirable one )

• demote senior ministers to the rank of junior or assistant minister; and

• dismiss any minister from the ministry (breach of cabinet solidarity or disloyalty to a PM is a sackable offence)

• e.g.

• Morrison’s first ministry in 2018 was formed following party room coup

• To prevent the emergence fo embittered rivals, Morrison used allocation of porfolios to create incentives for loyalty

• Dutton (instigator of leadership spill) appointed to previous coveted Home Affairs portfolio to neutralise threat to leadership BUT removed immigration from porfolio, reducing Dutton’s influence in Cabinet

• included ministers who played central roles in Turnbull’s fall

• Senator Mathias Cormann retained the Finance portfolio

• Michaelia Cash MP was appointed Minister for Small and Family Business, Skills and Vocational Training.

• Angus Taylor MP — who had supported Morrison’s rival, Dutton, in the party room ballot — was appointed Minister for Energy

Determining election dates

• PM has discretion to decide election date within parliament’s three-year max term as imposed by s28

• Several states e.g. WA have removed premier’s power to call elections through legally imposing a 4 year parliament term. This deprivese premiers of the power to manipulate election dates for political advantage.

• However, constitutional chagne in Australia are historically difficult, so the PM still retains the power to time federal elections strategically.

• can manipulate electoral cycle to maximise chances of re-election based on factors favoring it e.g. gov’t has popular measures to announce or opposition has leadership instability

• e.g. Delay of the 2019 election

• gov’t was weakend, unpopular, disunited and suffered policy indecision

• gov’t was weakened- March 2019 passing of Medevac Bill was the first time in 80 years a government lost a legislative vote. Losing a critical vote in the lower hosue can be considered a de-f acto vote of no confidence, and some called on the gov’t to resign and call election

• gov’t was disunited- party room coup had deposed Malcolm Turnbull, a government backbencher resigned

• Morrison used his power to delay election as long as posisble to regroup and allow crises to recede

• Election was called in May 2019, close to expiry of parliament in July.

• suprisingly, Morrison Gov’t won the election, showing how PM’s ability to control election timing can be a political advantage

• can manipulate annual budget to target and benefit critical voter groups and swing voters to get support for the election e.g. low to middle income earners living in outer suburbs are mostly swing voters that can change their vote to support parties promisnig help with cost of living and transport- PM can target tax relief or spending to get their support.

• e.g. in the 2019 budget delivered 1 month before May general election, Morrison gov’t announced a $550 per year rebate for people earning between $50,000 and $90,000 per annum.

• Morrison gov’t also promised $100 billion on roads, rails and car parks to relieve pressure on outer suburb commuters

• budget targetedlow to middle income bracket electors live in outer suburbs with poor infrastructure e.g. public transport

Face of gov’t

• most regconised figure in political system; enhance powr through media

• public appeal is critical because of rising leader centrism, reinforced by 24/7 news cycle and constant polling on the question of “preferred leader”

• 24/7 news cycle means PM with ability to perform well in the contemporary media environment is in a commanding position.

• e.g. Kevin Rudd was the first to embrace social media to engage younger voters through YouTube, Facebook and other platforms. Tony Abbott lacked a polished media performance. He often relied on ministers to address the media.

• e.g. Morrison’s 2019 victory

• Liberal Party election campaign focused on promoting Morrison as a leader and the unpopularity of Bill Shorten, the ALP opposition leader, with almsot no focus on policies or poor record of government.

• Morrison won despite crises in previous governance, showing power of leader centrism

• e.g. Morrison’s unpopularity in 2020

• Morrison took a family holiday during the 2020 bushfire crisis and was confronted by angry residents and firefighters on his return. Acting quickly to repair the damage, he announced CW assistance packages and deployment of ADF to help with rescue.

• However, political advertising ( funded by Liberal Party) not government advertising (funded by taxpayers to provide informaiton) was used to announce these campaigns, causing it to backfire and accusations of political motives.

• Morrison’s experience in winning an election almost single-handedly, and then being heavily criticised for his leadership during a national crisis shows how much focus is on Prime Ministers as the face of government.

limitations on a prime minister’s power

1. no personal mandate

2. disuinity in cabinet

3. rivals within cabinet

4. limits imposed by the party

5. limits imposed by a coalition party

6. size of the HoR majority

7. federalism

8. the opposition

9. negative media attention and polling

No personal mandate

• US president holds office and has a personal mandate because they are directly elected.

• PM is indirectly elected; is the leader of the elected majority party in the lower house- only the electors in the PM’s electorate directly vote for PM as their local member

• so they don’t have a personal mandate for policy or to protect their position as the prime minister

• In a Westminster system, becoming Prime Minister is the gift of the majority party, not the people- and the party can depose them at any time e.g. Julia Gillard in 2013, Tony Abbott in 2015, Malcolm Turnbull in 2018

• recent frequency of deposition shows increasing weakness of australian PMs

Disunity of cabinet

• can be caused by factions and state tensions

Factions

• factions exist- blocs of party members with different interpretations of the core ideology/ beliefs of the party

• ALP has formal right and left, Liberal has moderate and conservative

• cabinets contain ministers from different facitons as both facitons demand representation

• can promote rivalry and disunity

State tensions

• as a federation’s government Commonwealth ministries and cabinets are expected to balance state representation amongst ministers

• each state has different needs and priorities- tensions can arise between ministers from different states

Coalition

• coalition ministries and cabinets are composed of ministers from two separate parties

• different views on e.g. economy- Liberal is pro market, Nationals are interventionist (especially in agriculture and rural economy) and more conservative party

Rivals within cabinet

• most challenges against a PM come from within their own cabinet

• swiftest route to PM is by deposing the current PM, and ministers are ambitious

• between 2010 and 2018, 4 PMs were deposed by a minister within their cabinet

• Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard ousted Kevin Rudd.

• Foreign Minister, Rudd removed Gillard.

• Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull displaced Tony Abbott.

• Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton challenged Malcolm Turnbull, who was ultimately replaced by his Treasurer, Scott Morrison.

Example- reforms

• aimed to ensure stable leadership

• occurred after a tumultuous period which saw the ALP replace Rudd with Julia Gillard (in 2010) and then Gillard with Rudd (in 2013).

• Rudd reformed so a spill motion (vote declaring leadership vacant) requires a 60 per cent vote of Caucus if the ALP is in Opposition, and 75 per cent if it is in government, instead of the original 50 percent.

• If there’s more than 1 leadership candidate, the caucus and the ALP rank and file each have a 50 percent weighted vote for the leader

• after reforms, Shorten won after contesting leadership with Albanese following Rud’s resignation in 2013. He was able to hold office as the ALP Opposition Leader for the period 2013 to 2019 — the first time since Kim Beazley resigned in 2001 that a Labor leader had served a full term in government or Opposition, showing the effectiveness of the reform in ensuring stable leadership.

• Liberal party also introduced similar rules- from dec 2018, liberal party room must vote with 2 thirds majority to unseat leader. Introduced after Morrison became PM- replaced Turnbull in 2018, who replaced Abbott in 2015.

• Liberal reform is similar and is likely to have the same effect- current events….?

Limits imposed by the party

• as party leader, PM must face party room meetings and answer to backbenchers, who can depose the leader and elect another one

• party may support leader but limit policies proposed by the leader.

Example: Turnbull’s conservative policies

• To consolidate support from the party room and achieve a majority of votes in the 2015 leadership spill, moderate and progressive Liberal Malcolm Turnbull promised not to embark on ‘progressive’ policies and to leave existing ‘conservative’ policies in place.

• example, he didn’t change the Liberal Party’s policies on same-gender marriage or climate change, both of which were ‘conservative’ at the time he came to power

• he had to respect party views, meaning the party effectively limited his power

• the party room revolt following his cabinet’s national energy guarantee policy resulted in two party room leadership ballots, both by conservative ministers, and resulted in the deposition of Turnbull as a PM.

Cacus meaning

• parliamentary labor party

ALP rank and file

• ordinary ALP members across Australia

Limits imposed by a coalition party

• the coalition agreement is a secret pact between leaders of the 2 coalition parties that are signed each time a new leader takes over one of the parties or a coalition government forms after election

• liberal party governs in partnerhsip with the nationals, so must accomadate the Nationals’ priorities

  • cabinet positions (Resource and Agriculture, Deputy PM) are reserved for Nationals based on the ratio of Liberal/ National proporiton of seats in parlaiment, allowing Nationals to demand more places in the ministry if they increase the proportion of their seats

• the coalition agreement weakens a liberal PM because they must share power witha junior party, that they depend on for pwoer

Size of the HoR majority

• small majorities weaken a government and PM by:

  • reducing ability to dominate HoR

  • empowering government backbenchers willing to break party discipline.

  • forcing dependence on negotiation with non- government backbenchers to remain in power, making minority government especially vulnerable in lower house

• Example: Disunity and rivalry undermine Turnbull

• A divided party, the manner of coming to power and the small majority undermined the power of Malcolm Turnbull after the 2016 election

• Small majority

  • lost the 14 seat majority achieved by Abbot at the 2013 election, only retaining gov’t in 2016 by a single seat

• The manner of coming to power

  • moderate Turnbull deposed conservative PM Tony Abbot, alienating conservative party members and causing party division

• A divided party

• alienated conservative party members after deposition of a conservative PM

• high tensions in cabinet due to factional differences between PM and conservative ministers

• Example: National Energy Guarantee

• devised as a compromise acceptable to moderates and conservatives

• party room initially agreed, but conservative party members declared the NEG’s carbon dioxide emissions component intolerable

• caused a party room revolt and a conservative minister, Peter Dutton’s party room challenge which failed but fatally weakened the PM, causing his supporters to drift away

• Second party room leadership ballot saw Scott Morrison defeat both Turnbull and Dutton and emerge as the new Liberal leader and Prime Minister. Both Dutton and Morrison were members of the Turnbull Government’s Cabinet.

Federalism

• PM’s the head of CW executive, and the CW’s powers are constitutionally defined and therefore limited

• However, in reality, CW is the dominant partner within the federation, and the PM is its most powerful figure - it can use vertical fiscal imbalance and other means to coerce states.

• National Cabinet ( Prime Minister, state Premiers, territory Chief Ministers and Head of the Australian Local Government Association) is a central body of Australian federalism

• PM’s power is limited by the need to cooperate with state governments to acheive national goals, since states share power in the federation

Opposition

• second largest party, holding 2 roles

1. holds government to account using parliamentary procedures and non- parliamentary tactics to check the power of government and its PM

2. present itself as a viable alternative government

Example: Abbot opposition- frequently referred to as the most effective opposition leader

1. the fall of Kevin Rudd in 2010. Abbott used parliamentary and media strategies to highlight the problems of the first Rudd Government;

2. the fall of Julia Gillard in 2013. Abbott successfully campaigned against the Gillard Government’s ‘Carbon Tax’, undermining the integrity of the Prime Minister; and,

3. the defeat of Kevin Rudd. Abbott won the 2013 general election, defeating Rudd a second time

Negative media attention and polling

• if PM is unable to master 24/7 news cycle and constant polling (e.g. Newspoll polls electorates on opionons on issues and popularity of major party leaders) it can be a weakness

Example: Unpopular prime ministers are usually weaker prime ministers

• When Kevin Rudd abandoned his Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme after the Copenhagen Climate Conference, his popularity plummeted. A Newspoll taken on 4 May 2009 showed he had lost 1 million supporters in two weeks. The Nielson poll recorded a fall from 59 points to 45 points, the largest decline in the popularity of a Prime Minister for 40 years.

• Powerful pressure groups — such as the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) and the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) - can be pivotal in influencing these polls and thus can strengthen or weaken a Prime Minister. The MCA’s $20 million campaign against the mining tax severely damaged Prime Minister Rudd.