List of prime ministers of Australia

The Lodge, the official residence of the prime minister

The prime minister of Australia is the leader of the Australian Government and the Cabinet of Australia, with the support of the majority of the House of Representatives.^[1][2] Thirty-one people (thirty men and one woman) have served in the position since the office was created in 1901.^[3] The role of prime minister is not mentioned in the Constitution of Australia,^[4] but the prime minister is still appointed by the governor-general who under Section 64 of the constitution has the executive power to appoint ministers of state. The governor-general is appointed by the monarch of Australia based on the advice of the incumbent prime minister.^[2] Governors-general do not have fixed terms, but usually serve for five years.^[5]

Federal elections must be held every three years, although prime ministers may call elections early.^[6] Prime ministers do not have fixed terms, and generally serve the full length of their term unless they lose the majority of the House or are replaced as the leader of their party. Three former prime ministers lost a majority in the House (Alfred Deakin on two occasions, George Reid and Andrew Fisher), six resigned following leadership spills (John Gorton, Bob Hawke, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott and Malcolm Turnbull) and three died in office (Joseph Lyons, John Curtin and Harold Holt, who disappeared and is presumed to have died).^[7] Two prime ministers also lost their role in a double dissolution election, a snap election where the entire Senate stands for re-election rather than the typical half to resolve deadlocks between the two houses. These were Joseph Cook in 1914 and Malcolm Fraser in 1983. One prime minister, Gough Whitlam, was dismissed by the governor-general during a constitutional crisis.^[8]

Since the office was established in 1901, thirty men and one woman have been prime minister. Robert Menzies and Kevin Rudd served two non-consecutive terms in office while Alfred Deakin and Andrew Fisher served three non-consecutive terms.^[9] The prime ministership of Frank Forde, who was prime minister for seven days in 1945, was the shortest in Australian history.^[10] Menzies served the longest, with eighteen years over two non-consecutive periods.^[11] The current prime minister is Anthony Albanese, who assumed office on 23 May 2022.^[9] There are currently seven living former prime ministers. The most recent former prime minister to die was Hawke, on 16 May 2019.^[12]

List of prime ministers

The parties shown are those to which the prime ministers belonged at the time they held office, and the electoral divisions shown are those they represented while in office. Several prime ministers belonged to parties other than those given and represented other electorates before and after their time in office.

Political parties

  Australian Labor Party

  Liberal Party of Australia

  Australian Country Party

  Nationalist Party

  United Australia Party

  Fusion Liberal Party

  National Labor Party

  Free Trade Party

  Protectionist Party

Status

List of prime ministers of Australia

No.	Portrait	Name (Birth–death) Constituency	Election (Parliament)	Term of office			Political party	Ministry	Monarch	Governor-General	Ref.
				Took office	Left office	Time in office
1		Edmund Barton (1849–1920) MP for Hunter, NSW	1901 (1st)	1 January 1901	24 September 1903	2 years, 266 days	Protectionist	Barton	Victoria	Lord Hopetoun	[13]
									Edward VII
										Lord Tennyson
2		Alfred Deakin (1856–1919) MP for Ballaarat, Vic[a]	— (1st)	24 September 1903	27 April 1904	216 days	Protectionist	1st Deakin			[14]
			1903 (2nd)
										Lord Northcote
3		Chris Watson (1867–1941) MP for Bland, NSW	— (2nd)	27 April 1904	18 August 1904	113 days	Labor	Watson			[15]
4		George Reid (1845–1918) MP for East Sydney, NSW	— (2nd)	18 August 1904	5 July 1905	321 days	Free Trade	Reid			[16]
(2)		Alfred Deakin (1856–1919) MP for Ballaarat, Vic[a]	— (2nd)	5 July 1905	13 November 1908	3 years, 131 days	Protectionist	2nd Deakin			[14]
			1906 (3rd)
										Lord Dudley
5		Andrew Fisher (1862–1928) MP for Wide Bay, Qld	— (3rd)	13 November 1908	2 June 1909	201 days	Labor	1st Fisher			[17]
(2)		Alfred Deakin (1856–1919) MP for Ballaarat, Vic[a]	— (3rd)	2 June 1909	29 April 1910	331 days	Liberal	3rd Deakin			[14]
(5)		Andrew Fisher (1862–1928) MP for Wide Bay, Qld	1910 (4th)	29 April 1910	24 June 1913	3 years, 56 days	Labor	2nd Fisher			[17]
									George V
										Lord Denman
6		Joseph Cook (1860–1947) MP for Parramatta, NSW	1913 (5th)	24 June 1913	17 September 1914	1 year, 85 days	Liberal	Cook			[18]
										Ronald Munro Ferguson
(5)		Andrew Fisher (1862–1928) MP for Wide Bay, Qld	1914 (6th)	17 September 1914	27 October 1915	1 year, 40 days	Labor	3rd Fisher			[17]
		Billy Hughes (1862–1952) MP for West Sydney, NSW (until 1917) MP for Bendigo, Vic (1917–22) MP for North Sydney, NSW (from 1922)	— (6th)	27 October 1915	14 November 1916	7 years, 105 days	Labor	1st Hughes			[19]
7			– (6th)	14 November 1916	17 February 1917		National Labor	2nd Hughes
			– (6th)	17 February 1917	9 February 1923		Nationalist	3rd Hughes
			1917 (7th)					4th Hughes
			1919 (8th)					5th Hughes
										Lord Forster
8		Stanley Bruce (1883–1967) MP for Flinders, Vic	1922 (9th)	9 February 1923	22 October 1929	6 years, 255 days	Nationalist (Coalition)	1st Bruce			[20]
										Lord Stonehaven
			1925 (10th)					2nd Bruce
			1928 (11th)					3rd Bruce
9		James Scullin (1876–1953) MP for Yarra, Vic	1929 (12th)	22 October 1929	6 January 1932	2 years, 76 days	Labor	Scullin			[21]
										Sir Isaac Isaacs
10		Joseph Lyons (1879–1939) MP for Wilmot, Tas	1931 (13th)	6 January 1932	7 April 1939[b]	7 years, 91 days	United Australia	1st Lyons			[22]
			1934 (14th)					2nd Lyons
			— (14th)				United Australia (Coalition)	3rd Lyons
									Edward VIII
										Lord Gowrie
									George VI
			1937 (15th)					4th Lyons
11		Earle Page (1880–1961) MP for Cowper, NSW	— (15th)	7 April 1939	26 April 1939	19 days	Country (Coalition)	Page			[23]
12		Robert Menzies (1894–1978) MP for Kooyong, Vic	— (15th)	26 April 1939	29 August 1941	2 years, 125 days	United Australia	1st Menzies			[24]
							United Australia (Coalition)	2nd Menzies
			1940 (16th)					3rd Menzies
13		Arthur Fadden (1894–1973) MP for Darling Downs, Qld	— (16th)	29 August 1941	7 October 1941	39 days	Country (Coalition)	Fadden			[25]
14		John Curtin (1885–1945) MP for Fremantle, WA	—	7 October 1941	5 July 1945[b]	3 years, 271 days	Labor	1st Curtin			[26]
			1943 (17th)					2nd Curtin
										Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester
15		Frank Forde (1890–1983) MP for Capricornia, Qld	— (17th)	5 July 1945	13 July 1945	7 days	Labor	Forde			[27]
16		Ben Chifley (1885–1951) MP for Macquarie, NSW	— (17th)	13 July 1945	19 December 1949	4 years, 159 days	Labor	1st Chifley			[28]
			1946 (18th)					2nd Chifley
										Sir William McKell
(12)		Robert Menzies (1894–1978) MP for Kooyong, Vic	1949 (19th)	19 December 1949	26 January 1966	16 years, 38 days	Liberal (Coalition)	4th Menzies			[24]
			1951 (20th)					5th Menzies
									Elizabeth II
										Sir William Slim
			1954 (21st)					6th Menzies
			1955 (22nd)					7th Menzies
			1958 (23rd)					8th Menzies
										Lord Dunrossil
										Lord De L'Isle
			1961 (24th)					9th Menzies
			1963 (25th)					10th Menzies
										Lord Casey
17		Harold Holt (1908–1967) MP for Higgins, Vic	— (25th)	26 January 1966	17 December 1967[b]	1 year, 327 days	Liberal (Coalition)	1st Holt			[29]
			1966 (26th)					2nd Holt
18		John McEwen (1900–1980) MP for Murray, Vic	— (26th)	19 December 1967	10 January 1968	22 days	Country (Coalition)	McEwen			[30]
19		John Gorton (1911–2002) MP for Higgins, Vic[c]	— (26th)	10 January 1968	10 March 1971	3 years, 59 days	Liberal (Coalition)	1st Gorton			[32]
										Sir Paul Hasluck
			1969 (27th)					2nd Gorton
20		William McMahon (1908–1988) MP for Lowe, NSW	— (27th)	10 March 1971	5 December 1972	1 year, 270 days	Liberal (Coalition)	McMahon			[33]
21		Gough Whitlam (1916–2014) MP for Werriwa, NSW	1972 (28th)	5 December 1972	11 November 1975	2 years, 341 days	Labor	1st Whitlam			[34]
			— (28th)					2nd Whitlam
			1974 (29th)					3rd Whitlam
										Sir John Kerr
22		Malcolm Fraser (1930–2015) MP for Wannon, Vic	— (29th)	11 November 1975	11 March 1983	7 years, 120 days	Liberal (Coalition)	1st Fraser			[35]
			1975 (30th)					2nd Fraser
										Sir Zelman Cowen
			1977 (31st)					3rd Fraser
			1980 (32nd)					4th Fraser
										Sir Ninian Stephen
23		Bob Hawke (1929–2019) MP for Wills, Vic	1983 (33rd)	11 March 1983	20 December 1991	8 years, 284 days	Labor	1st Hawke			[36]
			1984 (34th)					2nd Hawke
			1987 (35th)					3rd Hawke
										Bill Hayden
			1990 (36th)					4th Hawke
24		Paul Keating (b. 1944) MP for Blaxland, NSW	— (36th)	20 December 1991	11 March 1996	4 years, 82 days	Labor	1st Keating			[37]
			1993 (37th)					2nd Keating
										Sir William Deane
25		John Howard (b. 1939) MP for Bennelong, NSW	1996 (38th)	11 March 1996	3 December 2007	11 years, 267 days	Liberal (Coalition)	1st Howard			[38]
			1998 (39th)					2nd Howard
										Peter Hollingworth
			2001 (40th)					3rd Howard
										Michael Jeffery
			2004 (41st)					4th Howard
26		Kevin Rudd (b. 1957) MP for Griffith, Qld	2007 (42nd)	3 December 2007	24 June 2010	2 years, 203 days	Labor	1st Rudd			[39]
										Dame Quentin Bryce
27		Julia Gillard (b. 1961) MP for Lalor, Vic	— (42nd)	24 June 2010	27 June 2013	3 years, 3 days	Labor	1st Gillard			[40]
			2010 (43rd)					2nd Gillard
(26)		Kevin Rudd (b. 1957) MP for Griffith, Qld	— (43rd)	27 June 2013	18 September 2013	83 days	Labor	2nd Rudd			[39]
28		Tony Abbott (b. 1957) MP for Warringah, NSW	2013 (44th)	18 September 2013	15 September 2015	1 year, 362 days	Liberal (Coalition)	Abbott			[41]
										Sir Peter Cosgrove
29		Malcolm Turnbull (b. 1954) MP for Wentworth, NSW	— (44th)	15 September 2015	24 August 2018	2 years, 343 days	Liberal (Coalition)	1st Turnbull			[42]
			2016 (45th)					2nd Turnbull
30		Scott Morrison (b. 1968) MP for Cook, NSW	— (45th)	24 August 2018	23 May 2022	3 years, 272 days	Liberal (Coalition)	1st Morrison			[43]
			2019 (46th)					2nd Morrison
										David Hurley
31		Anthony Albanese (b. 1963) MP for Grayndler, NSW	2022 (47th)	23 May 2022	Incumbent	2 years, 223 days[d]	Labor	Albanese			[44]
									Charles III
										Samantha Mostyn

Timeline

Career-based timeline

This timeline shows most of the early life, the political career and death of each prime minister from 1901. The first prime minister was Edmund Barton in the early 20th century.^[45]

Key

• Each dark coloured bar denotes the time spent as prime minister
• A light colour denotes time spent in Parliament before or after serving as prime minister
• A grey colour bar denotes the time the prime minister spent outside Parliament, either before or after their political career

Notable moments

• changed party: Cook (pre-office), Watson (post-office), Hughes (in office and post-office), Lyons (pre-office)
• died in office: Lyons, Curtin, Holt
• died shortly after leaving office: Chifley
• left Parliament on leaving office: Barton, Bruce, Menzies, Fraser, Hawke, Keating, Howard, Gillard, Turnbull
• long career after being prime minister: Cook, Hughes, Scullin, Page, Fadden, McMahon
• was prime minister after an interruption to their service in Parliament: Scullin, Curtin, Chifley
• lived for more than twenty years after leaving Parliament: Watson, Cook, Bruce, Forde, Gorton, Whitlam, Fraser, Hawke, Keating
• former prime minister still living: Keating, Howard, Rudd, Gillard, Abbott, Turnbull, Morrison

Timeline

See also

• History of Australia
• List of prime ministers of Australia by birthplace
• List of prime ministers of Australia by time in office
• Politics of Australia
• Spouse of the prime minister of Australia

Notes

1. Ballarat was spelt Ballaarat until the 1973 election.
2. Died in office
3. Gorton was a Senator until he resigned from the Senate on 1 February 1968; he was elected to the House of Representatives at the Higgins by-election on 24 February 1968.^[31]
4. As of 1 January 2025

References

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12. "Bob Hawke, former Australian prime minister, dies aged 89". The Guardian. 16 May 2019. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
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22. Hart, P. R.; Lloyd, C. J. (1986). "Lyons, Joseph Aloysius (1879–1939)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
23. Bridge, Carl. "Page, Sir Earle Christmas Grafton (1880–1961)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 21 October 2008.
24. Martin, A. W. "Menzies, Sir Robert Gordon (Bob) (1894–1978)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 22 November 2008.
25. Cribb, Margaret Bridson. "Fadden, Sir Arthur William (1894–1973)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 22 November 2008.
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31. Williams, Evan (11 March 2020). "From the Archives, 1968: The day the PM became an MP". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
32. "John Gorton | MOAD". Museum of Australian Democracy. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
33. Leeser, Julian, "McMahon, Sir William (Billy) (1908–1988)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 1 September 2022
34. "Gough Whitlam | MOAD". Museum of Australian Democracy. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
35. "Malcolm Fraser | MOAD". Museum of Australian Democracy. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
36. "Bob Hawke | MOAD". Museum of Australian Democracy. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
37. "Paul Keating | MOAD". Museum of Australian Democracy. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
38. "John Howard | MOAD". Museum of Australian Democracy. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
39. "Kevin Rudd | MOAD". Museum of Australian Democracy. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
40. "Julia Gillard | MOAD". Museum of Australian Democracy. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
41. "Tony Abbott | MOAD". Museum of Australian Democracy. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
42. "Malcolm Turnbull | MOAD". Museum of Australian Democracy. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
43. "Scott Morrison | MOAD". Museum of Australian Democracy. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
44. "Anthony Albanese | MOAD". Museum of Australian Democracy. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
45. Rutledge, Martha (1979). "Sir Edmund (Toby) Barton (1849–1920)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 7. Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. ISBN 978-0-522-84459-7. ISSN 1833-7538. OCLC 70677943. Retrieved 21 October 2008.

External links

• Official website of the Prime Minister of Australia
• Museum of Australian Democracy Prime Minister Information