# President of the Liberal Party of Australia

The President of the Liberal Party of Australia is a senior position within the federal party. A member of both the party's two governing bodies (Federal Council, Federal Executive), the position was established at the same time as the party's foundation. The position was established by the party's constitution and has had nineteen different office-holders. The current president is John Olsen, elected president in August 2020.

## Presidents of the Liberal Party

    Note: the right-hand column does not allocate height proportional to time in office.
A list of leaders (including acting leaders) since 1945.
| No. | Leader (birth–death) | Took office | Left office | State | Other/former positions |
| 1 | Malcolm Ritchie (1894–1971) | July–September 1945 | 2 September 1947 | Victoria | Federal provisional chairman. |
| 2 | Richard Casey (1890–1976) | 2 September 1947 | 10 December 1949 | Victoria | MP for Corio (1931–1940); 15th Treasurer of Australia (1935–1939); 1st Minister to the United States (1940–1942); Governor of Bengal (1944–1946). |
| No federal president between 11 December 1949 – 26 January 1950. |||||||
| (1) | Malcolm Ritchie (1894–1971) | 27 January 1950 | 19 November 1951 | Victoria | President of the Liberal Party. |
| 3 | W. H. Anderson (1897–1968) | 19 November 1951 | 13 November 1956 | Victoria | — |
| 4 | Lyle Moore (1899–1982) | 13 November 1956 | 14–17 November 1960 | New South Wales | President of the New South Wales Liberal Party (1949–1956). |
| 5 | Philip McBride (1892–1982) | 14–17 November 1960 | 9 November 1965 | South Australia | MP for Grey (1931–1937) and Wakefield (1946–1958); Senator for South Australia (1937–1944); 39th Minister for Defence (1950–1958). |
| 6 | Jock Pagan (1892–1982) | 9 November 1965 | 9 June 1970 | New South Wales | President of the New South Wales Liberal Party (1962–1965). |
| 7 | Robert Southey (1922–1998) | 9 June 1970 | 11 October 1975 | Victoria | — |
| 8 | John Atwill (1926–2001) | 11 October 1975 | 15 May 1982 | New South Wales | President of the New South Wales Liberal Party (1970–1975). |
| 9 | A. J. Forbes (1923–2019) | 15 May 1982 | 18 July 1985 | South Australia | MP for Barker (1956–1975); Minister for the Navy (1963–1964); Minister for the Army (1963–1966); Minister for Health (1966–1971); Minister for Immigration (1971–1972); President of the South Australian Liberal Party (1979–1982); |
| 10 | John Valder (1931–2017) | 18 July 1985 | 30 October 1987 | — | — |
| 11 | John Elliott (1941–2021) | 30 October 1987 | 23 October 1990 | Victoria | — |
| 12 | Ashley Goldsworthy (b. 1935) | 23 October 1990 | 28 August 1993 | Queensland | Vice-president of the Liberal Party. |
| 13 | Tony Staley (1939–2023) | 28 August 1993 | 2 July 1999 | Victoria | MP for Chisholm (1970–1980); Minister for the Capital Territory (1976–1977); Minister for Post and Telecommunications (1977–1980). |
| 14 | Shane Stone (b. 1950) | 2 July 1999 | 25 June 2005 | Victoria Northern Territory | Northern Territory MLA for Port Darwin (1990–2000); Chief Minister of the Northern Territory (1995–1999). |
| 15 | Chris McDiven (b. 1949) | 25 June 2005 | 19 February 2008 | Western Australia New South Wales | — |
| 16 | Alan Stockdale (b. 1945) | 19 February 2008 | 25 June 2014 | Victoria | Victoria MLA for Brighton (1985–1999); Treasurer of Victoria (1992–1999). |
| 17 | Richard Alston (b. 1941) | 27 June 2014 | June 2017 | Victoria | Senator for Victoria (1986–2004); Minister for Communications and the Arts (1996–1997); Communications, the Information Economy and the Arts (1997–1998); Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (1998–2003); High Commissioners of Australia to the United Kingdom (2005–2008). |
| 18 | Nick Greiner (b. 1941) | June 2017 | August 2020 | New South Wales | Premier of New South Wales (1988–1992); Leader of the New South Wales Liberal Party (1983–1992); New South Wales MLA for Ku-ring-gai (1980–1992). |
| 19 | John Olsen (b. 1945) | August 2020 | Incumbent | South Australia | Premier of South Australia (1996–2001); Leader of the South Australian Liberal Party (1982–1990; 1996–2001); President of the South Australian Liberal Party (1976–1979; 2017–2020); Australian Consul General in New York (2006–2009); Australian Consul-General in Los Angeles (2002–2006). |