Father of the Australian Parliament - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

This is a list of Fathers of the Australian Parliament
Parliament of Australia
The Parliament of Australia, also known as the Commonwealth Parliament or Federal Parliament, is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It is bicameral, largely modelled in the Westminster tradition, but with some influences from the United States Congress...

.

The Father of the Parliament is the more senior of the Father of the Senate and the Father of the House of Representatives. Joint Fathers are shown in small type.

All Fathers of the Parliament have been members of the House of Representatives, except Senators Gordon Brown

Gordon Brown (Australian politician)

Gordon Brown was a long-serving Australian politician.Born in Derbyshire, England, he was educated at Clay Cross Grammar School before becoming a printer and engineer. He migrated to Australia in 1912, where he became an organiser of the Shop Assistants' Union and of the Socialist Party...

(1963–65) and Justin O'Byrne

Justin O'Byrne

Justin Hilary O'Byrne, AO was a long-serving Australian Labor Party politician who represented Tasmania in the Federal Senate from 1947 to 1981, acting as President of the Senate from 1974 to 1975.-Biography:...

(1977–81).

The longest-serving Father of the Parliament was the inaugural Father, Billy Hughes

Billy Hughes

William Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923....

, who held the title for 14 years 4 months (from 1 July 1938 until his death on 28 October 1952).

The only Father of the Parliament with broken service but whose latter period of continuous service was sufficiently long to qualify was Eddie Ward

Eddie Ward

Edward John "Eddie" Ward , Australian politician, was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives for 32 years from 1931 until his death....

.

The current Father of the Parliament (since 1 September 1998) is Philip Ruddock

Philip Ruddock

Philip Maxwell Ruddock is an Australian politician who is currently a member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Berowra, New South Wales, for the Liberal Party of Australia...

From	To	Father of the Parliament	Father of the Senate	Continuous term started	Father of the House of Representatives	Continuous term started
29/30 March 1901	14 September 1923	Nil	Nil	n/a	Nil	n/a
15 September 1923	8 April 1935	Nil	Sir George Pearce George Pearce Sir George Foster Pearce KCVO was an Australian politician who was instrumental in founding the Australian Labor Party in Western Australia....	29 March 1901	Nil	n/a
9 April 1935	30 June 1938	Nil		29 March 1901	Billy Hughes Billy Hughes William Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923....	30 March 1901
1 July 1938	30 June 1947	Billy Hughes Billy Hughes William Morris "Billy" Hughes, CH, KC, MHR , Australian politician, was the seventh Prime Minister of Australia from 1915 to 1923.... MP	Thomas Crawford Thomas Crawford (Australian politician) Thomas William Crawford was a long-serving member of the Australian Senate and joint Father of the Senate.-Early life:... Harry Foll	1 July 1917
1 July 1947	30 June 1950		Gordon Brown Gordon Brown (Australian politician) Gordon Brown was a long-serving Australian politician.Born in Derbyshire, England, he was educated at Clay Cross Grammar School before becoming a printer and engineer. He migrated to Australia in 1912, where he became an organiser of the Shop Assistants' Union and of the Socialist Party... Joseph Collings Joseph Collings Joseph Silver Collings was a long-serving Australian politician. He was a hardworking Australian Labor Party bureaucrat with valuable writing and speaking talents, who was eventually rewarded by a five-year stint as a federal government minister.Collings was born in Brighton, England and...	1 July 1932
1 July 1950	28 October 1952		Gordon Brown Gordon Brown (Australian politician) Gordon Brown was a long-serving Australian politician.Born in Derbyshire, England, he was educated at Clay Cross Grammar School before becoming a printer and engineer. He migrated to Australia in 1912, where he became an organiser of the Shop Assistants' Union and of the Socialist Party...
29 October 1952	9 December 1961	Sir Earle Page Earle Page Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page, GCMG, CH was the 11th Prime Minister of Australia, and is to date the second-longest serving federal parliamentarian in Australian history, with 41 years, 361 days in Parliament.-Early life:... MP			Sir Earle Page Earle Page Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page, GCMG, CH was the 11th Prime Minister of Australia, and is to date the second-longest serving federal parliamentarian in Australian history, with 41 years, 361 days in Parliament.-Early life:...	13 December 1919 Australian federal election, 1919 Federal elections were held in Australia on 13 December 1919. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Nationalist Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes defeated the opposition Australian...
10 December 1961	31 July 1963	Eddie Ward Eddie Ward Edward John "Eddie" Ward , Australian politician, was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives for 32 years from 1931 until his death.... MP			Eddie Ward Eddie Ward Edward John "Eddie" Ward , Australian politician, was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives for 32 years from 1931 until his death....	6 February 1932
1 August 1963	30 June 1965	Senator Gordon Brown Gordon Brown (Australian politician) Gordon Brown was a long-serving Australian politician.Born in Derbyshire, England, he was educated at Clay Cross Grammar School before becoming a printer and engineer. He migrated to Australia in 1912, where he became an organiser of the Shop Assistants' Union and of the Socialist Party...			Joe Clark Joe Clark (Australian politician) Joseph "Joe" James Clark, CBE was an Australian politician, serving in the Australian House of Representatives as the Member for Darling from 15 September 1934 to 29 September 1969, a term of making him one of the longest-serving members of the House of Representatives.Clark's father was Joseph... John McEwen John McEwen Sir John "Black Jack" McEwen, GCMG, CH , was an Australian politician and the 18th Prime Minister of Australia... Sir Robert Menzies Robert Menzies Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia....	15 September 1934 Australian federal election, 1934 Federal elections were held in Australia on 15 September 1934. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives, and 18 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent United Australia Party led by Prime Minister of Australia Joseph Lyons with coalition partner the Country Party led...
1 July 1965	16 February 1966	Joe Clark Joe Clark (Australian politician) Joseph "Joe" James Clark, CBE was an Australian politician, serving in the Australian House of Representatives as the Member for Darling from 15 September 1934 to 29 September 1969, a term of making him one of the longest-serving members of the House of Representatives.Clark's father was Joseph... MP John McEwen John McEwen Sir John "Black Jack" McEwen, GCMG, CH , was an Australian politician and the 18th Prime Minister of Australia... MP Sir Robert Menzies Robert Menzies Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, , Australian politician, was the 12th and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia.... MP	Sir Walter Cooper	1 July 1935
17 February 1966	30 June 1968	Joe Clark MP John McEwen MP	Sir Walter Cooper	1 July 1935	Joe Clark John McEwen
1 July 1968	29 September 1969	Joe Clark MP John McEwen MP	Bert Hendrickson Justin O'Byrne Justin O'Byrne Justin Hilary O'Byrne, AO was a long-serving Australian Labor Party politician who represented Tasmania in the Federal Senate from 1947 to 1981, acting as President of the Senate from 1974 to 1975.-Biography:... Dame Annabelle Rankin Annabelle Rankin Dame Annabelle Jane Mary Rankin DBE was the second woman member of the Australian Senate, the first woman from Queensland to sit in the Parliament of Australia, the first woman to have a federal portfolio and the first woman to be appointed head of a foreign mission.-Biography:Rankin was born in...	1 July 1947	Joe Clark John McEwen
30 September 1969	1 February 1971	John McEwen John McEwen Sir John "Black Jack" McEwen, GCMG, CH , was an Australian politician and the 18th Prime Minister of Australia... MP			John McEwen John McEwen Sir John "Black Jack" McEwen, GCMG, CH , was an Australian politician and the 18th Prime Minister of Australia...
2 February 1971	24 May 1971	Arthur Calwell Arthur Calwell Arthur Augustus Calwell Australian politician, was a member of the Australian House of Representatives for 32 years from 1940 to 1972, Immigration Minister in the government of Ben Chifley from 1945 to 1949 and Leader of the Australian Labor Party from 1960 to 1967.-Early life:Calwell was born in... MP			Arthur Calwell Arthur Calwell Arthur Augustus Calwell Australian politician, was a member of the Australian House of Representatives for 32 years from 1940 to 1972, Immigration Minister in the government of Ben Chifley from 1945 to 1949 and Leader of the Australian Labor Party from 1960 to 1967.-Early life:Calwell was born in...	21 September 1940 Australian federal election, 1940 Federal elections were held in Australia on 21 September 1940. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election...
25 May 1971	30 June 1971		Bert Hendrickson Justin O'Byrne
1 July 1971	2 November 1972		Justin O'Byrne Justin O'Byrne Justin Hilary O'Byrne, AO was a long-serving Australian Labor Party politician who represented Tasmania in the Federal Senate from 1947 to 1981, acting as President of the Senate from 1974 to 1975.-Biography:...
3 November 1972	11 November 1975	Fred Daly MP			Fred Daly	21 August 1943 Australian federal election, 1943 Federal elections were held in Australia on 21 August 1943. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Prime Minister of Australia John Curtin easily defeated the opposition Country Party led...
12 November 1975	10 November 1977	Kim Beazley sr. Kim Edward Beazley Kim Edward Beazley, AO , known as Kim Beazley during his career, Australian politician, was Minister for Education in the government of Gough Whitlam and a Labor member of the Australian House of Representatives for 32 years, from 1945 to 1977.Beazley, the youngest of seven children, was born in... MP			Kim Beazley sr. Kim Edward Beazley Kim Edward Beazley, AO , known as Kim Beazley during his career, Australian politician, was Minister for Education in the government of Gough Whitlam and a Labor member of the Australian House of Representatives for 32 years, from 1945 to 1977.Beazley, the youngest of seven children, was born in...	18 August 1945
11 November 1977	19 September 1980	Senator Justin O'Byrne Justin O'Byrne Justin Hilary O'Byrne, AO was a long-serving Australian Labor Party politician who represented Tasmania in the Federal Senate from 1947 to 1981, acting as President of the Senate from 1974 to 1975.-Biography:...			Clyde Cameron Clyde Cameron Clyde Robert Cameron, AO , Australian politician, was a member of the Australian House of Representatives for 31 years from 1949 to 1980, a Cabinet minister in the Whitlam government and a leading figure in the Australian labour movement for forty years.-Biography:Cameron was born in Murray Bridge,... Sir William McMahon William McMahon Sir William "Billy" McMahon, GCMG, CH , was an Australian Liberal politician and the 20th Prime Minister of Australia...	10 December 1949 Australian federal election, 1949 Federal elections were held in Australia on 10 December 1949. All 121 seats in the House of Representatives, and 42 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election, where the single transferable vote was introduced...
20 September 1980	30 June 1981				Sir William McMahon William McMahon Sir William "Billy" McMahon, GCMG, CH , was an Australian Liberal politician and the 20th Prime Minister of Australia...
1 July 1981	4 January 1982	Sir William McMahon William McMahon Sir William "Billy" McMahon, GCMG, CH , was an Australian Liberal politician and the 20th Prime Minister of Australia... MP	Doug McClelland	1 July 1962
5 January 1982	31 March 1983	Malcolm Fraser Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser AC, CH, GCL, PC is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. He came to power in the 1975 election following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government, in which he played a key role... MP Sir James Killen James Killen Sir Denis James "Jim" Killen, AC, KCMG , was an Australian politician.-Education and early career:Killen was born in Dalby, Queensland and educated at Brisbane Grammar School and the University of Queensland, where he graduated in law... MP Sir Billy Snedden Billy Snedden Sir Billy Mackie Snedden, KCMG, QC was an Australian politician representing the Liberal Party. He was Leader of the Opposition at the 1974 federal election, failing to defeat the Labor incumbent Gough Whitlam.-Early life:... MP			Malcolm Fraser Malcolm Fraser John Malcolm Fraser AC, CH, GCL, PC is a former Australian Liberal Party politician who was the 22nd Prime Minister of Australia. He came to power in the 1975 election following the dismissal of the Whitlam Labor government, in which he played a key role... Sir James Killen James Killen Sir Denis James "Jim" Killen, AC, KCMG , was an Australian politician.-Education and early career:Killen was born in Dalby, Queensland and educated at Brisbane Grammar School and the University of Queensland, where he graduated in law... Sir Billy Snedden Billy Snedden Sir Billy Mackie Snedden, KCMG, QC was an Australian politician representing the Liberal Party. He was Leader of the Opposition at the 1974 federal election, failing to defeat the Labor incumbent Gough Whitlam.-Early life:...	10 December 1955 Australian federal election, 1955 Federal elections were held in Australia on 10 December 1955. All 122 seats in the House of Representatives, and 30 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Liberal Party of Australia led by Prime Minister of Australia Robert Menzies with coalition partner the Country Party...
1 April 1983	21 April 1983	Sir James Killen MP Sir Billy Snedden MP			Sir James Killen Sir Billy Snedden
22 April 1983	15 August 1983	Sir James Killen James Killen Sir Denis James "Jim" Killen, AC, KCMG , was an Australian politician.-Education and early career:Killen was born in Dalby, Queensland and educated at Brisbane Grammar School and the University of Queensland, where he graduated in law... MP			Sir James Killen James Killen Sir Denis James "Jim" Killen, AC, KCMG , was an Australian politician.-Education and early career:Killen was born in Dalby, Queensland and educated at Brisbane Grammar School and the University of Queensland, where he graduated in law...
16 August 1983	18 January 1984	Doug Anthony Doug Anthony John Douglas Anthony, AC, CH , is a former Australian politician. He was leader of the National Party from 1971 to 1984, and Deputy Prime Minister from 1971 to 1972 and again from 1975 to 1983.-Early life:... MP			Doug Anthony Doug Anthony John Douglas Anthony, AC, CH , is a former Australian politician. He was leader of the National Party from 1971 to 1984, and Deputy Prime Minister from 1971 to 1972 and again from 1975 to 1983.-Early life:...	14 September 1957
19 January 1984	23 January 1987	Tom Uren Tom Uren Thomas Uren, AO was a Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party. He helped establish the heritage and conservation movement in Australia and, in particular, worked to preserve the heritage of inner Sydney.-Early life:... MP			Tom Uren Tom Uren Thomas Uren, AO was a Deputy Leader of the Australian Labor Party. He helped establish the heritage and conservation movement in Australia and, in particular, worked to preserve the heritage of inner Sydney.-Early life:...	22 November 1958 Australian federal election, 1958 Federal elections were held in Australia on 22 November 1958. All 122 seats in the House of Representatives, and 32 of the 60 seats in the Senate were up for election...
24 January 1987	27 February 1989		Arthur Gietzelt Arthur Gietzelt Arthur Thomas Gietzelt, AO is a former Australian politician and minister.Gietzelt was educated at Hurstville High School. He served in the armed forces in New Guinea during World War II from 1941 to 1945.... Peter Durack Peter Durack Peter Drew Durack, QC was an Australian politician, representing the Liberal Party. He rose to become Attorney-General of Australia....	1 July 1971
28 February 1989	19 February 1990		Peter Durack Peter Durack Peter Drew Durack, QC was an Australian politician, representing the Liberal Party. He rose to become Attorney-General of Australia....
20 February 1990	30 June 1993	Ian Sinclair Ian Sinclair Ian McCahon Sinclair AC , is an Australian politician and former leader of the National Party of Australia.Sinclair was born in Sydney, the son of a suburban accountant. He was educated at Knox Grammar School and at the University of Sydney, where he graduated in arts and law... MP			Ian Sinclair Ian Sinclair Ian McCahon Sinclair AC , is an Australian politician and former leader of the National Party of Australia.Sinclair was born in Sydney, the son of a suburban accountant. He was educated at Knox Grammar School and at the University of Sydney, where he graduated in arts and law...	30 November 1963
1 July 1993	31 August 1998		Mal Colston Mal Colston Malcolm Arthur "Mal" Colston , Australian politician, was a Senator in the Parliament of Australia representing the state of Queensland between 1975 and 1999... Brian Harradine Brian Harradine Richard William Brian Harradine , Australian politician, was an independent member of the Australian Senate from 1975 to 2005, representing the state of Tasmania. He was the longest-serving independent federal politician in Australian history, and a Father of the Senate.He was born in Quorn, South...	13 December 1975 Australian federal election, 1975 Federal elections were held in Australia on 13 December 1975. All 127 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 64 seats in the Senate were up for election following a double dissolution of both Houses....		30 November 1963
1 September 1998	30 June 1999	Philip Ruddock Philip Ruddock Philip Maxwell Ruddock is an Australian politician who is currently a member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Berowra, New South Wales, for the Liberal Party of Australia... MP			Philip Ruddock Philip Ruddock Philip Maxwell Ruddock is an Australian politician who is currently a member of the House of Representatives representing the Division of Berowra, New South Wales, for the Liberal Party of Australia...	22 September 1973
1 July 1999	30 June 2005		Brian Harradine Brian Harradine Richard William Brian Harradine , Australian politician, was an independent member of the Australian Senate from 1975 to 2005, representing the state of Tasmania. He was the longest-serving independent federal politician in Australian history, and a Father of the Senate.He was born in Quorn, South...
1 July 2005	30 June 2008		John Watson John Watson (Australian politician) John Odin Wentworth Watson is an Australian politician. He was a Liberal member of the Australian Senate from 1978 to 2008, representing the state of Tasmania...	1 July 1978
1 July 2008	incumbent		Ron Boswell Ron Boswell Ronald Leslie Doyle "Ron" Boswell , Australian politician, has been a National Party member of the Australian Senate since 5 March 1983, representing Queensland. Since 2008 he has been the Father of the Senate....	5 March 1983 Australian federal election, 1983 Federal elections were held in Australia on 5 March 1983. All 125 seats in the House of Representatives, and all 64 seats in the Senate, were up for election, following a double dissolution...

See also