Ministerial Careers and Accountability in the Australian Commonwealth Government

This book examines the roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of Australian Commonwealth cabinet ministers. We will examine what sorts of jobs ministers do, what is expected of them and what they expect of the job. We will examine how they (are supposed to) work together as a team. We will consider aspects of how they are chosen to become ministers, how they are scrutinised by parliament and to some extent by the media, and how ministers view the accountability mechanisms themselves. Subsequent chapters will then explore what the public often considers to be the heart of ministerial accountability: the issues that lead to calls for them to resign. We examine in some detail scandals around ministers. Our final chapter assesses ministerial accountability.