The Australian Minister for the Arts is the Hon Simon Crean

Simon Crean

Simon Findlay Crean is an Australian politician, and the current Minister for the Arts and Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government in the Australian Federal Government. He was leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition at the Federal level,...

 MP. The portfolio is part of the Prime Minister and Cabinet portfolio. The only minister before Simon Crean to have the title of Minister for the Arts was Bob McMullan

Bob McMullan

Robert Francis McMullan is an Australian former politician who represented the Australian Labor Party in both the Senate and the House of Representatives....

 between 24 March 1993 and 25 March 1994. However, "Arts" has appeared in several ministerial titles since Peter Howson

Peter Howson (Australian politician)

Peter Howson, CMG was an Australian politician.-Biography:Howson was born in London, England in 1919 to Jessie and George Arthur Howson, and was educated at Stowe School and Trinity College, Cambridge...

 was appointed Minister for the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts on 10 March 1971.

List of arts ministers

Minister	Party affiliation	Period	Ministerial Title
Peter Howson Peter Howson (Australian politician) Peter Howson, CMG was an Australian politician.-Biography:Howson was born in London, England in 1919 to Jessie and George Arthur Howson, and was educated at Stowe School and Trinity College, Cambridge...	Liberal Party Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is an Australian political party.Founded a year after the 1943 federal election to replace the United Australia Party, the centre-right Liberal Party typically competes with the centre-left Australian Labor Party for political office...	1971–1972	Minister for the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts
Gough Whitlam Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam, AC, QC , known as Gough Whitlam , served as the 21st Prime Minister of Australia. Whitlam led the Australian Labor Party to power at the 1972 election and retained government at the 1974 election, before being dismissed by Governor-General Sir John Kerr at the climax of the...	Labor Party Australian Labor Party The Australian Labor Party is an Australian political party. It has been the governing party of the Commonwealth of Australia since the 2007 federal election. Julia Gillard is the party's federal parliamentary leader and Prime Minister of Australia...	1972–1972
Tony Staley Tony Staley Anthony Allan Staley, AO is an Australian politician, member of parliament and businessman....	Liberal Party	1976–1977	Minister assisting the Prime Minister in matters concerning the Arts
Barry Cohen Barry Cohen Barry Cohen AM is a former Australian Labor politician. He was a minister in the government of Bob Hawke.-Biography:He was born in Griffith, New South Wales and educated at Griffith High School, Sydney Grammar School and North Sydney Technical High School. He received a Bachelor of Arts from the...	Labor Party	1984–1987	Minister for Arts, Heritage and the Environment
John Brown		1987–1988	Minister for the Arts, Sport, the Environment, Tourism and Territories
Graham Richardson Graham Richardson Graham Frederick Richardson , a former Australian politician, was a Senator for New South Wales from 1983–94 for the Australian Labor Party, a senior minister in Hawke and Keating governments, and is now a political lobbyist, public speaker, and media commentator. During his time in politics,...		1988–1990
Ros Kelly Ros Kelly Ros Kelly AO was a member of the Australian House of Representatives for the Division of Canberra from 18 October 1980 to 30 January 1995. She was a minister in the governments of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating....		1990–1991
		1991–1993	Minister for the Arts, Sport, the Environment and Territories
Bob McMullan Bob McMullan Robert Francis McMullan is an Australian former politician who represented the Australian Labor Party in both the Senate and the House of Representatives....		1993–1994	Minister for the Arts and Administrative Services
Michael Lee Michael Lee (Australian politician) Michael John Lee is an Australian Labor politician. He was a member of the House of Representatives 1984–2001, a minister in Paul Keating's government, and a member of the City of Sydney Council 2004–08....		1994–1996	Minister for Communications and the Arts
Richard Alston Richard Alston (politician) Richard Kenneth Robert Alston was a Liberal member of the Australian Senate from 1986 to 2004, representing the state of Victoria....	Liberal Party	1996–1998
		1998–2003	Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts
Daryl Williams Daryl Williams Daryl Robert Williams AM QC , Australianpolitician, was a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives from March 1993 to October 2004, representing the Division of Tangney, Western Australia.-Biography:...		2003–2004
Helen Coonan Helen Coonan Helen Lloyd Coonan is a former Australian politician, who was a Liberal member of the Australian Senate representing New South Wales from July 1996 to August 2011.-Early life:...		2004–2007
Peter Garrett Peter Garrett Peter Robert Garrett, AM, MP , is an Australian musician, environmentalist, activist and politician.Garrett was lead singer of the Australian rock band Midnight Oil from 1973 until its disbanding in 2002...	Labor Party	2007–2010	Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts
		2010–2010	Minister for Environment Protection, Heritage and the Arts
Simon Crean Simon Crean Simon Findlay Crean is an Australian politician, and the current Minister for the Arts and Minister for Regional Australia, Regional Development and Local Government in the Australian Federal Government. He was leader of the Australian Labor Party and Leader of the Opposition at the Federal level,...		2010–Present	Minister for the Arts