Hi everyone, last week I wrote about our Prime Ministers which made me realise I have no idea who our Deputy Prime Minister is, I had to Google it and it is some guy named Richard Marles I know nothing about him. He is pictured above.
Our only female Deputy Prime Minister was Julia Gillard. Since 1968 only three Deputy Prime Ministers have gone on to be Prime Minister, Paul Keating, Julia Gillard and Anthony Albansese.
The office of Deputy Prime Minister was officially created in 1968 although the term was used unofficially for years before that. The Deputy Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor-General on advice from the Prime Minister.
If the Labor Party is in office, then the deputy will be a member of that party but if the Coalition is in office, then the leader of the Liberal Party is Prime Minister and the leader of the National Party is deputy.
During 20172018 there was a parliamentary eligibility crisis when the position was made vacant for the first time since its official creation. This was because Barnaby Joyce was ruled ineligible to be a member of parliament by the High Court of Australia as he held New Zealand citizenship at the time of his election which went against section 44 of the Constitution of Australia.
However, he regained the position on the 6 December 2017 after he won the by-election for the seat of New England.
Jo-AnneRamplings 
Dearest Jo-Anne,
It looks like you also have a very unique function as: Deputy Prime Minister and even Governor-General.
The citizenship is only an issue for those running for President as they all have to be born in the USA.
Hugs,
Mariette
Even after reading and writing this I am still not sure what he does on a day to day basis
😉