Posted 14/05/2024 by Nathan Church
In early March 2024, the Opposition established a Shadow Minister for Western Sydney to ‘signal very clearly our intention to make great inroads’ into that area. While this is the first instance of Western Sydney being a specific portfolio, other examples of geographic portfolios have existed for over a hundred years, in both government and shadow ministries. This Flagpost provides an overview analysis of these, including the various motivations for their creation.
The first geographic portfolio was created in November 1916 as the Department of Home Affairs and Territories. Among its other functions, this department became responsible for the Northern Territory, Papua and Norfolk Island. The ‘Territories’ portfolio has subsequently been one of the most enduring, with 50 government and 19 Opposition members holding the responsibility, including current holders Kristy McBain and Darren Chester, respectively.
In terms of the specific mainland territories, there was a Government Minister for the Capital Territory from 1972 until 1983. The Shadow Ministry largely mirrored this but also extended it until 1996, almost 7 years after ACT self-government was realised when the Legislative Assembly first met. The larger and more remote Northern Territory has also been a longstanding geographic portfolio, either in its own right or within the broader construct of ‘Northern Development’ or ‘Northern Australia’.
Within this portfolio Dr Rex Patterson was a notable player in the politics of Northern Australia. Having formally served as Commonwealth Director of Northern Development until 1965, Patterson was elected the following year as the ALP’s candidate for the Herbert by‑election. Less than a month later he was unanimously elected as Chair of the ALP’s Federal Parliamentary committee on Northern Development (essentially portfolio spokesperson) and would become Minister for the portfolio when the Whitlam Government came to power in 1972.
Over the last 15 years specific geographic portfolios have also been created in response to natural disasters. From 2009 to 2010 Bill Shorten was appointed as Parliamentary Secretary for Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction and, shortly after, Joe Ludwig became Minister Assisting the Attorney-General on Queensland Floods Recovery (2011–2013). More recently, Linda Reynolds served briefly as Minister for North Queensland Recovery in 2019 in the aftermath of devastating floods. Within these roles, the main responsibilities included facilitating recovery grant payments and concessional loans, shepherding supporting legislation through the parliament and coordinating recovery funds and projects with relevant state governments. However, in all 3 cases, the geographic portfolio was held alongside other duties, with Shorten, Ludwig and Reynolds also responsible for Disabilities and Children’s Services, Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, and Defence Industry and Emergency Management, respectively.
Another coordinating geographic portfolio was Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games, which Warwick Smith (1996–97), Andrew Thomson (1997–98) and Jackie Kelly (1998–2001) held. At the creation of the portfolio Minister Smith (who also held responsibility for Sport, Territories and Local Government) highlighted that this new portfolio would ‘involve a close working relationship with members of the NSW Government, the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympics (SOCOG) and the Sydney Paralympics Organising Committee (SPOC)’.
Like the recent appointment of the Shadow Minister for Western Sydney, previous Oppositions have also created geographic portfolios, with Tasmania being the most prominent. Five parliamentarians have held the Opposition’s Tasmania portfolio: Peter Rae and Robert Ellicott (1975), Neal Blewett (1980–83), Helen Polley (2016–19) and Carol Brown (2019–22). Additionally, mining-heavy states Western Australia and Queensland have had specific portfolios, held respectively by Alannah MacTiernan (2014–16) and the specific ‘Shadow Minister for Queensland Resources’, Murray Watt (2021–22).
As the above examples show, geographic portfolios are established for a variety of reasons. These span administrative requirements, responding to need or heightening profile—and even a mixture of the three. Like any other ministry or shadow ministry, these portfolios signal an intention of priority and focus. Accordingly, tracing their development over time provides further narrative context and insight into the arc of national policy development and the way geography shapes this thinking.