Whips have managed business and maintained party discipline for Australia's federal political parties in the Senate since Federation. The term has origins in the British parliamentary system.

Though the Remuneration Tribunal and parliamentary website refer to the senior Labor and Liberal whips as "chief" whips and their junior whips as "deputy whips", the parties tend to refer to the senior whips as "whips" when announcing their officeholders to the Senate. A number of Senate whips have gone on to serve as ministers, and several as Leader of the Government or Leader of the Opposition in the Senate. Australian Labor Party

In addition to those below, Kay Denman served as a deputy whip from 18 September to 31 December 1995, a period when one of Labor's two whips was on leave of absence while conducting parliamentary business overseas.

Whip Date Leader James Stewart 21 May 1901 Chris Watson David O'Keefe 29 April 1904 Hugh de Largie 20 February 1907 Andrew Fisher Rudolph Ready 18 September 1914 Billy Hughes Frank Tudor Ted Needham 8 May 1917 VacantAlbert Gardiner was the only Labor senator from 1 July 1920 to December 1922. 1 July 1920 Matthew Charlton Ted Needham 6 July 1923 Charles McHugh 9 July 1926 Charles Graham 28 September 1927 James Scullin James Dunn 14 August 1929 Bert Hoare 18 March 1931 John V. MacDonald 1 July 1935 John Curtin Bill Ashley 20 September 1938 Robert Clothier 6 October 1941 Ben Chifley Jack Critchley 13 June 1950 H. V. Evatt Sid O'Flaherty 4 September 1957 Arthur Calwell

Whip Date Deputy Whip Date Deputy Whip Date Leader Justin O'ByrneLater served as President of the Australian Senate. 20 February 1962 Bob Poke 20 February 1962 Arthur Calwell Gough Whitlam George Poyser 18 December 1972 George Poyser 10 June 1974 Don Devitt 10 June 1974 George Georges 27 January 1976 Gordon McIntosh 27 January 1976 Bill Hayden Ted Robertson 24 November 1980 Kerry Sibraa 24 November 1980 Gordon McIntosh 10 March 1983 Bob Hawke Gerry Jones 22 August 1985 Gerry Jones 14 September 1987 Graham Maguire 14 September 1987 Jim McKiernan 14 September 1987 Dominic Foreman 4 November 1988 John Faulkner 12 February 1991 Paul Keating Bryant Burns 4 May 1993 Chris Evans 20 March 1996 Stephen Conroy 30 April 1996 Kim Beazley Kay Denman 24 September 1997 Kerry O'Brien 19 October 1998 John Quirke 19 October 1998 Joe Ludwig 17 August 2000 Susan Mackay 22 November 2001 Trish Crossin 22 November 2001 Geoff Buckland 22 November 2001 Simon Crean Mark Latham George Campbell 22 October 2004 Ruth Webber 22 October 2004 Kim Beazley Linda Kirk 1 July 2005 Kevin Rudd Kerry O'Brien 3 December 2007 Dana Wortley 3 December 2007 Anne McEwen 1 July 2008 Don Farrell 1 July 2008 Julia Gillard Anne McEwen 27 September 2010 Carol Brown 27 September 2010 Helen Polley 27 September 2010 Kevin Rudd Catryna Bilyk 18 October 2013 Anne Urquhart 18 October 2013 Bill Shorten Anne Urquhart 30 August 2016 30 August 2016 Jenny McAllister 30 August 2016 Sam Dastyari 3 February 2017 Chris Ketter 5 December 2017 Raff Ciccone 1 July 2019 Malarndirri McCarthy 2 July 2019 Anthony Albanese 31 May 2022 Louise Pratt 31 May 2022 Karen Grogan 18 March 2024 Tony Sheldon 9 May 2025 Lisa Darmanin 9 May 2025 9 May 2025

Notes

Liberal Party of Australia

Whip Date Deputy Whip Date Leader Unclear 21 February 1945 Robert Menzies Annabelle Rankin 1 July 1947 Reg Wright 21 February 1950 Annabelle Rankin 11 June 1951 Malcolm Scott 8 March 1966 Harold Holt Bob Cotton 12 March 1968 John Gorton Reg Withers 25 November 1969 William McMahon Harold YoungLater served as President of the Australian Senate. 16 August 1971 Billy Snedden Fred Chaney 20 November 1974 Fred Chaney 8 April 1975 Kathy Martin 8 April 1975 Malcolm Fraser Peter Baume 11 October 1977 Peter Baume 28 February 1978 John Knight 1 March 1978 John Knight 25 November 1980 Allan Rocher 25 November 1980 Bernie Kilgariff 24 February 1981 Bernie Kilgariff 24 March 1981 Andrew Thomas 24 March 1981 Margaret Reid 18 November 1982 Andrew Peacock John Howard Margaret Reid 14 September 1987 Sue Knowles 14 September 1987 Andrew Peacock John Hewson John Panizza 4 May 1993 Alexander Downer John Howard John Panizza 9 May 1995 Paul Calvert 9 May 1995 Paul Calvert 11 February 1997 Bill Heffernan 11 February 1997 Helen Coonan 10 November 1998 Jeannie Ferris 23 November 2001 Jeannie Ferris 22 August 2002 Alan Eggleston 22 August 2002 Stephen Parry 11 September 2006 Stephen Parry 12 April 2007 Julian McGauran 8 May 2007 Judith Adams 3 December 2007 Brendan Nelson Malcolm Turnbull Whip Date Deputy Whip Date Deputy Whip Date Leader Stephen Parry 12 April 2007 Judith Adams 3 December 2007 David Bushby 4 February 2009 Malcolm Turnbull Tony Abbott Helen Kroger 4 July 2011 Chris Back 8 May 2012 David Bushby 1 July 2014 Anne Ruston 1 July 2014 David Fawcett 1 July 2014 Dean Smith 13 October 2015 Malcolm Turnbull Jane Hume 7 September 2018 Scott Morrison Dean Smith 22 January 2019 Jonathon Duniam 12 February 2019 22 January 2019 Wendy Askew 26 July 2022 Paul Scarr 26 July 2022 Matt O'Sullivan 26 July 2022 Peter Dutton Maria Kovacic 14 March 2024 Leah Blyth 8 July 2025 Jessica Collins 8 July 2025 Sussan Ley Vacant 22 January 2026 Leah Blyth and Paul Scarr 23 February 2026 Angus Taylor Leah Blyth 24 March 2026 Kerrynne Liddle 2 April 2026 Maria Kovacic 4 July 2026 4 July 2026

Notes

National Party of Australia

Whip Date Leader Ron Maunsell 27 February 1973 Doug Anthony Glen Sheil 21 February 1980 Stan Collard 17 February 1981 Ian Sinclair Glen Sheil 21 February 1985 Grant Tambling 14 September 1987 Charles Blunt Tim Fischer David Brownhill 1 July 1990 Florence Bjelke-Petersen 23 March 1993 Bill O'Chee 1 July 1993 Julian McGauran 1 July 1999 John Anderson Mark Vaile Nigel Scullion 7 February 2006 Fiona Nash 6 February 2007 Warren Truss John Williams 22 September 2008 Bridget McKenzie 13 September 2013 Barry O'Sullivan 1 July 2014 Matt Canavan 10 September 2015 Barry O'Sullivan 24 February 2016 Barnaby Joyce John Williams 1 September 2016 Michael McCormack Perin Davey 2 July 2019 Barnaby Joyce Ross Cadell 26 July 2022 David Littleproud Matt Canavan 21 July 2025 11 March 2026 Matt Canavan Ross Cadell 23 March 2026

Greens Western Australian Greens In May 1996, following the 1996 election, the two members of the Western Australian Greens in the Senate announced they were to be whip and deputy whip of their party. The deputy whip, Christabel Chamarette, had lost her seat at the election, and left the Senate just over a month after the announcement. The party lost its other seat (and its whip) at the 1998 election, with her leaving office in June 1999. The party only merged with the Australian Greens in 2003, after it lost its senators. Whip Date Deputy Whip Date Dee Margetts 20 May 1996 Christabel Chamarette 20 May 1996 None 1 July 1996 None 1 July 1999

Australian Greens

The Australian Greens appointed their first whip in the Senate when the party increased from two to four members in 2005. She became entitled to a salary when the party increased to five members in 2008. Whip Date Leader Rachel Siewert 9 August 2005 Bob Brown Christine Milne Richard Di Natale 4 February 2020 Adam Bandt Nick McKim 15 September 2021 15 May 2025 Larissa Waters

Pauline Hanson's One Nation One Nation first entered the Senate in 1999, but had only one seat and consequently did not elect a whip. The party's senator was defeated in 2004 and left the Senate in 2005. In 2016, four One Nation senators were elected, and the party elected a whip for the first time.

Whip Date Leader Brian Burston 1 September 2016 Pauline Hanson Peter Georgiou 24 May 2018 Pauline Hanson 2 July 2019 Sean Bell 27 October 2025

Defunct

Free Trade/Anti-Socialist Party (1901–09)

Whip Date Leader John Clemons 1901 George Reid Henry Dobson 21 November 1907 Thomas Chataway 26 November 1908 Joseph Cook

Protectionist Party (1901–09) Whip Date Leader None 1901 Edmund Barton John Keating by 30 April 1902 None by 5 July 1905 Alfred Deakin

Commonwealth Liberal Party (1909–17) Whip Date Leader Thomas Chataway 21 June 1909 Alfred Deakin Joseph Cook Unclear 1 July 1913

National Labor (1916–17) Whip Date Leader Hugh de Largie 14 November 1916 Billy Hughes

Nationalist Party of Australia (1917–31) Whip Date Leader Hugh de Largie 13 June 1917 Billy Hughes Edmund Drake-Brockman 10 February 1923 Stanley Bruce Walter Duncan Harry Foll 1 July 1926 John Latham

United Australia Party (1931–45) Whip Date Leader Harry Foll 7 May 1931 Joseph Lyons George McLeay 29 November 1937 Dick Dein 7 November 1938 Robert Menzies Allan MacDonald 8 October 1941 Billy Hughes Robert Menzies James McLachlan July 1944?

Australian Democrats (1977–2015) The Australian Democrats first elected a whip in 1981, reflecting an increase from two to five of the party's Senate membership. The party lost all its seats at the 2007 election, and its senators duly left their seats the following June. Whip Date Leader Michael Macklin by 19 November 1981 Don Chipp Janine Haines Paul McLean by 31 October 1989 Janet Powell Vicki Bourne 3 September 1991 John Coulter Cheryl Kernot Meg Lees Natasha Stott Despoja Lyn Allison 1 July 2002 Andrew Bartlett Andrew Bartlett 13 December 2004 Lyn Allison None 1 July 2008

Nick Xenophon Team Senator Nick Xenophon entered the Senate as an independent in 2008. In 2016 he ran as part of the Nick Xenophon Team, which saw Xenophon and two of his running mates (and a lower house MP) elected, so the Nick Xenophon Team elected a whip.

Whip Date Leader Skye Kakoschke-Moore 1 September 2016 Nick Xenophon

Democratic Labour Party The Democratic Labour Party (until 2013 the Democratic Labor Party) elected its first whip in 1968, when its membership increased from two to four. The party continued to do so until 1974, when the party lost all its seats at the double dissolution election. The party re-entered the Senate following the 2010 election, but did not have a whip as it only had one senator, who left the party in 2014. Whip Date Leader Condon Byrne 13 August 1968 Vince Gair Jack Little 10 October 1973 Frank McManus None 10 May 1974

Palmer United Party The Palmer United Party won three Senate seats at the 2013 election, the new senators taking their seats on 1 July 2014. Two of the three had left within a year, but the remaining senator retained the position of whip until his defeat in 2016.

Whip Date Leader Zhenya Wang 1 July 2014 Glenn Lazarus None 9 May 2016

Notes

References