List of people who have served in both Houses of the Australian Parliament explained

This is a list of Members of the Australian Parliament who have served in both the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Section 43 of the Constitution of Australia says: "A member of either House of the Parliament shall be incapable of being chosen or of sitting as a member of the other House".

Consequently, a member of one house who wishes to transfer to the other house must resign from the first house before the election or appointment to the other house. A person may simultaneously stand for election to both houses, and if successful in both bids, must choose which house he or she will be a member of. No person has ever successfully stood for election to both houses at the same time.

The following list comprises 53 people (46 men and 7 women). Of these:

The first person to have been a member of both houses was James McColl (Victoria), on 1 January 1907. All the other states and territories are represented in the list, the first person from each being:

The first woman to have been a member of both houses was Kathy Sullivan (Qld), on 1 December 1984.

In the 47th Parliament:

Only two people have gone from one house to another and later returned to the first house:

No member of this list has yet served the Parliament for an aggregate period of 30 years or more. The longest-serving person who has been a member of both houses was Bronwyn Bishop, who was in the Senate for 6 years 229 days, and in the House of Representatives for 22 years 44 days, a total of 28 years 274 days. The shortest-serving person was Thomas Marwick (1 year 65 days in the Senate; 2 years 244 days in the House of Representatives; a total of 3 years 309 days).

There are a number of members who represented different states or territories in the House of Representatives during their career. No person has ever represented more than one state or territory in the Senate. The only person who has ever represented one state or territory in one House and a different state or territory in the other House is Barnaby Joyce (Senate, Queensland, 2005–13; House of Representatives, Division of New England, New South Wales, 2013–17, 2017-).[1]

List of people who have served in both houses

The list is in chronological order based on the date on which the person began their term in the second chamber (in bold).

NameSenateHouse of RepresentativesTotal parliamentary
service
State/
Territory		FromToServiceElectorateFromToService
James McCollVIC1 January 19075 September 1914Echuca, Vic29 March 19015 November 190613 years, 105 days
William HiggsQLD30 March 190131 December 1906Capricornia, Qld13 April 191016 December 192218 years, 160 days
Sir Robert BestVIC29 March 190130 June 1910Kooyong, Vic24 August 1910[2] 16 December 192221 years, 209 days
William StorySA1 January 19043 April 1917Boothby, SA5 May 191716 December 192218 years, 319 days
George FairbairnVIC1 July 191730 June 1923Fawkner, Vic12 December 190631 May 191312 years, 157 days
Josiah ThomasNSW1 July 191730 June 1923Barrier, NSW29 March 190126 March 191725 years, 227 days
14 November 192530 June 1929
Herbert PrattenNSW1 July 191723 November 192110 December 192116 December 192210 years, 296 days
Martin, NSW16 December 19227 May 1928
David O'KeefeTAS29 March 190131 December 1906Denison, Tas16 December 192214 November 192518 years, 247 days
1 July 191030 June 1920
Sir Walter Massy-GreeneNSW17 October 192313 November 1925[3] Richmond, NSW13 April 191016 December 192226 years, 276 days
1 July 192630 June 1938
Joseph HannanVIC22 July 1924[4] 13 November 1925Fawkner, Vic31 May 19135 May 1917 5 years, 90 days
Percy AbbottNSW14 November 192530 June 1929[5] New England, NSW31 May 19133 November 1919[6] 10 years, 21 days
Jack Duncan-HughesSA19 December 193130 June 1938Boothby, SA16 December 192217 November 1928 15 years, 137 days
Wakefield, SA21 September 194021 August 1943
Dick DeinNSW1 July 193530 June 1941Lang, NSW19 December 19317 August 19348 years, 232 days
William GibsonVIC1 July 193530 June 1947Corangamite, Vic14 December 191812 October 192925 years, 170 days
19 December 19317 August 1934
John LeckieVIC1 July 193530 June 1947Indi, Vic5 May 191713 December 191914 years, 241 days
Sir Philip McBrideSA21 October 193730 June 194424 years, 183 days
Wakefield, SA28 September 194614 October 1958
Oliver BadmanSA1 July 193230 September 1937[7] Grey, SA23 October 193721 August 194311 years, 30 days
Richard KeaneVIC1 July 193826 April 1946[8] Bendigo, Vic12 October 192919 December 193110 years, 4 days
Thomas MarwickWA19 August 193622 October 1937Swan, WA21 December 194021 August 19433 years, 309 days
Sir Keith WilsonSA1 July 193830 June 1944Sturt, SA10 December 194929 May 195421 years, 132 days
10 December 195531 October 1966
Allan GuyTAS22 February 195030 June 1956Bass, Tas17 years, 112 days
Wilmot, Tas21 September 194028 September 1946
George RankinVIC22 February 195030 June 1956Bendigo, Vic23 October 193731 October 194918 years, 139 days
Joe FitzgeraldNSW1 July 196211 April 1974[9] Phillip, NSW10 December 194910 December 195517 years, 286 days
John GortonVIC22 February 19501 February 1968Higgins, Vic24 February 196811 November 197525 years, 241 days
Don JessopSA1 July 19715 June 1987Grey, SA26 November 196625 October 196918 years, 309 days
Don ChippVIC1 July 197818 August 1986Higinbotham, Vic25 October 1969[10] 25 years, 20 days
Hotham, Vic25 October 196910 November 1977
David HamerVIC1 July 197830 June 1990Isaacs, Vic18 years, 174 days
13 December 197510 November 1977
Allan RocherWA1 July 197810 February 1981Curtin, WA21 February 19813 October 199820 years, 85 days
Steele HallSA18 May 197416 November 1977Boothby, SA21 February 198129 January 199618 years, 161 days
John MartyrWA11 March 19814 February 1983Swan, WA13 December 197518 October 19806 years, 277 days
John CoatesTAS1 July 198120 August 1996Denison, Tas2 December 197213 December 197518 years, 63 days
Jim ShortVIC1 December 198412 May 1997Ballarat, Vic13 December 197518 October 198017 years, 109 days
Kathy Sullivan[11] QLD18 May 19745 November 1984Moncrieff, Qld1 December 19848 October 200127 years, 119 days
Michael BaumeNSW1 July 19859 September 1996Macarthur, NSW13 December 19755 March 198318 years, 154 days
Grant ChapmanSA11 July 198730 June 2008Kingston, SA13 December 19755 March 198328 years, 74 days
Grant TamblingNT11 July 19879 November 2001Northern Territory, NT18 October 19805 March 198316 years, 261 days
Fred ChaneyWA18 May 197427 February 1990Pearce, WA24 March 19908 February 199318 years, 243 days
Bob WoodsNSW8 March 19947 March 1997Lowe, NSW11 July 198713 March 19938 years, 246 days
Bronwyn BishopNSW11 July 198724 February 1994Mackellar, NSW26 March 19949 May 2016
Gareth EvansVIC1 July 19786 February 1996Holt, Vic2 March 199630 September 199921 years, 69 days
Bob McMullanACT16 February 19886 February 1996Canberra, ACT2 March 19963 October 199822 years, 86 days
Fraser, ACT3 October 199819 July 2010
Cheryl KernotQLD1 July 199015 October 1997Dickson, Qld3 October 199810 November 200110 years, 146 days
Michael RonaldsonVIC1 July 200528 February 2016Ballarat, Vic24 March 19908 October 200122 years, 76 days
Belinda NealNSW8 March 19943 September 1998Robertson, NSW24 November 200719 July 20107 years, 53 days
David FawcettSA1 July 2011currently servingWakefield, SA9 October 200424 November 2007
David FeeneyVIC1 July 200812 August 2013Batman, VIC7 September 20131 February 20189 years, 190 days
Barnaby JoyceQLD1 July 20058 August 2013New England, NSW7 September 201327 October 2017
2 December 2017currently serving
Matt ThistlethwaiteNSW1 July 20119 August 2013Kingsford Smith, NSW7 September 2013currently serving
Deborah O'NeillNSW13 November 2013currently servingRobertson, NSW25 August 20107 September 2013
Pauline HansonQLD2 July 2016currently servingOxley, Qld2 March 19963 October 1998
David SmithACT23 May 201811 April 2019Bean, ACT18 May 2019currently serving
Sarah HendersonVIC11 September 2019currently servingCorangamite, Vic7 September 201318 May 2019
Dave SharmaNSW30 November 2023currently servingWentworth, NSW18 May 201921 May 2022

Sources

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Barnaby Joyce wins preselection for lower house seat of New England News.com.au . www.news.com.au . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130413145108/http://www.news.com.au/national-news/barnaby-joycewins-preselection-for-lower-house-seat-of-new-england/story-fncynjr2-1226619700846 . 2013-04-13.
  2. By-election
  3. Term expired
  4. Appointed to fill a casual vacancy
  5. Defeated
  6. Retired
  7. Resigned
  8. Died
  9. [Double dissolution]
  10. Changed seats
  11. Initially known as Kathy Martin, then as Kathy Martin Sullivan, later as Kathy Sullivan.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "List of people who have served in both Houses of the Australian Parliament".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.