The Australian Labor Party National Executive, often referred to as the National Executive, is the executive governing body of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), charged with directly overseeing the general organisation and strategy of the party. Twenty members of the National Executive are elected by the party's National Conference, which is the highest representative body of the party's state and territory branches. The other eight members are party ex-officio members.
Members on the Executive may be officials of trade unions affiliated to the party, members of federal or state Parliaments, or rank-and-file ALP members. The ex-officio members are the National President, the National Secretary and two National Vice-Presidents (who are directly elected by Labor members), and the Leader of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party, but of these only the party Leader has a vote.
The National Executive is concerned mainly with organisational matters. It does not decide party policy, which is determined by the National Conference. The National Executive does not elect the party's parliamentary leaders, which is done by a ballot of both the Parliamentary Caucus and by the Labor Party's rank-and-file members. The National President or Vice-President are elected by party members. Its most public role is to act as the final arbiter of disputes about parliamentary candidacies (preselections). On these matters the National Executive usually votes on factional lines. The Labor Right faction holds a majority on the National Executive,The Australian, 2 July 2015: Vote change to shift Labor’s power to the Left though it did not hold a majority at the 2015 National Conference.Sydney Morning Herald, 18 June 2015: Labor powerbrokers lose control with reform back on the agenda
The power of the National Executive extends to the reorganisation of a State Branch. For example, in 1970 to improve the party's chances of electoral success, the National Executive intervened in the Socialist Left controlled Victorian Branch, involving the sacking of State officers and dissolution of the Branch. Less drastic forms of intervention are more common, such as the final arbiter of preselection disputes.ABC News, 4 November 2015: ALP national executive pulls rank on WA branch attempt to dump MPs Gary Gray and Alannah MacTiernan The executive has authority over policy as it can interpret the party’s constitution, platform and conference decisions.The Age, 27 July 2005: Labor Left accuses Right of stacking branch rules
Members of the National Executive , the current members of the National Executive are:
Member type Member name Position Faction State/territory Voting member Ex-officio members Hon. Kate Ellis National President Right South Australia Paul Erickson National Secretary Left Victoria Mich-Elle Myers National Vice President Left New South Wales Rhiannyn Douglas National Vice President Right Queensland Chris Hancock National President of Young Labor Right Queensland Nyat Mulugeta National Labor Women's Network Co-ConvenorLeft Western Australia Emily McMillan National Labor Women's Network Co-ConvenorRight New South Wales Hon. Anthony Albanese MP Leader of the Federal Parliamentary Labor Party Left New South Wales Elected members Senator the Hon. Tim Ayres Senator for New South WalesLeft New South Wales Gary Bullock National Secretary, United Workers UnionLeft Queensland Senator Raff Ciccone Senator for Victoria Right Victoria Hon. Julie Collins MP Member of the Australian House of Representatives for Franklin Left Tasmania Melissa Donnelly National Secretary, Community and Public Sector UnionLeft Australian Capital Territory Sandra Doumit National Vice-president, Australian Workers' Union Right New South Wales Hon. Kate Doust MLC Member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia Right Western Australia Gerard Dwyer National Secretary, Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association Right New South Wales Emeline Gaske National Secretary, Australian Services Union Left Victoria Senator Karen Grogan Senator for South Australia Left South Australia Gerard Hayes National President, Health Services Union Right New South Wales Hon. Julian Hill MP Member of the Australian House of Representatives for Bruce Left Victoria Graeme Kelly General Secretary, United Services Union Right New South Wales Josh Peak Secretary, Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees Association South Australia-Northern Territory Right South Australia Hon. Sam Rae MP Member of the Australian House of Representatives for Hawke Right Victoria Stacey Schinnerl Secretary, Australian Workers' Union Queensland Right Queensland Carolyn Smith Secretary, United Workers Union Western Australia Left Western Australia Wendy Streets National President, Finance Sector Union Left Queensland Shannon Threlfall-Clarke Member and former Vice-President, Australian Workers' Union Victoria Right Victoria Dylan Wight MP Member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly for Tarneit Left Victoria
Executive leaders National Presidents
Name State Term start Term end Thomas Givens Queensland 1915 1916 Jack Holloway Victoria 1916 1922 Richard Sumner Queensland 1922 30 April 1924 Joseph Hannan Victoria 30 April 1924 1928 James Kenneally Western Australia 1928 1936 Norman Makin South Australia 1936 1938 Clarrie Fallon Queensland 1938 June 1944 Fred Walsh South Australia 14 February 1945 29 November 1946 Abner McAlpine New South Wales 29 November 1946 1950 John Ferguson New South Wales 1950 1953 Denis Lovegrove Victoria 1953 1 May 1955 Joe Chamberlain Western Australia 1 May 1955 1961 Vic Stout Victoria February 1961 July 1961 Bill Colbourne New South Wales July 1961 July 1962 Jim Keeffe Queensland July 1962 August 1970 Senate Biographies - Keeffe, James Bernard Tom Burns Queensland August 1970 7 June 1973 Bob Hawke Victoria 7 June 1973 2 August 1978 Neil Batt Tasmania 2 August 1978 8 September 1980 Neville Wran New South Wales 8 September 1980 3 July 1986 Mick Young South Australia 3 July 1986 7 April 1988 John Bannon South Australia 7 April 1988 25 June 1991 Stephen Loosley New South Wales 25 June 1991 6 June 1992 Barry Jones Victoria 6 June 1992 31 July 2000 Greg Sword Victoria 31 July 2000 1 January 2004 Carmen Lawrence Western Australia 1 January 2004 1 January 2005 Barry Jones Victoria 1 January 2005 28 January 2006 Warren Mundine New South Wales 28 January 2006 10 January 2007 John Faulkner New South Wales 10 January 2007 27 February 2008 Mike Rann South Australia 27 February 2008 27 December 2008 Linda Burney New South Wales 27 December 2008 30 July 2009 Michael Williamson New South Wales 30 July 2009 August 2010 Anna Bligh Queensland August 2010 1 July 2011 Jenny McAllister New South Wales 1 July 2011 17 June 2015 Mark Butler South Australia 17 June 2015 18 June 2018 Wayne Swan Queensland 18 June 2018 23 July 2026 Kate Ellis South Australia 23 July 2026 Incumbent
National Secretaries
Name State Term start Term end Arch Stewart Victoria 1915 1925 Daniel McNamara Victoria 1926 1946 Pat Kennelly Victoria 1946 1954 Jack Schmella Queensland 1954 1960 Joe Chamberlain Western Australia 1960 1963 Cyril Wyndham Victoria 1963 1969 Mick Young South Australia 1969 1973 David Combe South Australia 1973 1981 Bob McMullan Western Australia 1981 1988 Bob Hogg Victoria 1988 1993 Gary Gray Western Australia 1993 2000 Geoff Walsh Victoria 2000 2003 Tim Gartrell New South Wales 2 September 2003 20 September 2008 Karl Bitar New South Wales 17 October 2008 16 March 2011 George Wright Victoria 19 April 2011 30 August 2016 Noah Carroll Victoria 26 September 2016 26 July 2019 Paul Erickson Victoria 16 August 2019 Incumbent Daniel McNamara was the longest serving National Secretary (known as the Federal Secretary at the time), and served concurrently as the Secretary of the Victorian branch of the party. Cyril Wyndham was the first full time professional Secretary. Prior to 1963 the position was part-time.
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