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. 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 controversially 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 31st and 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]
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.
Status
Portrait | scope=col rowspan=2 | Name | scope=col rowspan=2 class=unsortable | Election | scope=colgroup colspan=3 | Term of office | scope=col rowspan=2 | Political party | scope=col rowspan=2 class=unsortable | Ministry | Monarch | Governor-General | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
scope=col class=unsortable | Took office | scope=col class=unsortable | Left office | scope=col | Time in office | ||||||||
1 | Edmund Barton | 1901 (1st) | 1 January 1901 | 24 September 1903 | Protectionist | Barton | Victoria | Lord Hopetoun | [13] | ||||
Edward VII | |||||||||||||
Lord Tennyson | |||||||||||||
2 | Alfred Deakin | — (1st) | 24 September 1903 | 27 April 1904 | Protectionist | 1st Deakin | |||||||
1903 (2nd) | |||||||||||||
Lord Northcote | |||||||||||||
3 | scope=row style="text-align:center" | Chris Watson | — (2nd) | 27 April 1904 | 18 August 1904 | Labor | Watson | ||||||
4 | scope=row style="text-align:center" | George Reid | — (2nd) | 18 August 1904 | 5 July 1905 | Free Trade | Reid | [14] | |||||
(2) | Alfred Deakin | — (2nd) | 5 July 1905 | 13 November 1908 | Protectionist | 2nd Deakin | |||||||
1906 (3rd) | |||||||||||||
Lord Dudley | |||||||||||||
5 | scope=row style="text-align:center" | Andrew Fisher | — (3rd) | 13 November 1908 | 2 June 1909 | Labor | 1st Fisher | [15] | |||||
(2) | scope=row style="text-align:center" | Alfred Deakin | — (3rd) | 2 June 1909 | 29 April 1910 | Liberal | 3rd Deakin | ||||||
(5) | Andrew Fisher | 1910 (4th) | 29 April 1910 | 24 June 1913 | Labor | 2nd Fisher | |||||||
George V | |||||||||||||
Lord Denman | |||||||||||||
6 | Joseph Cook (1860–1947) | 1913 (5th) | 24 June 1913 | 17 September 1914 | Liberal | Cook | [16] | ||||||
Ronald Munro Ferguson | |||||||||||||
(5) | scope=row style="text-align:center" | Andrew Fisher | 1914 (6th) | 17 September 1914 | 27 October 1915 | Labor | 3rd Fisher | ||||||
Billy Hughes | — (6th) | 27 October 1915 | 14 November 1916 | Labor | 1st Hughes | [17] | |||||||
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 | 1922 (9th) | 9 February 1923 | 22 October 1929 | Nationalist (Coalition) | 1st Bruce | |||||||
Lord Stonehaven | |||||||||||||
1925 (10th) | 2nd Bruce | ||||||||||||
1928 (11th) | 3rd Bruce | ||||||||||||
9 | James Scullin | 1929 (12th) | 22 October 1929 | 6 January 1932 | Labor | Scullin | |||||||
Sir Isaac Isaacs | |||||||||||||
10 | Joseph Lyons (1879–1939) | 1931 (13th) | 6 January 1932 | 7 April 1939 | United Australia | 1st Lyons | |||||||
1934 (14th) | 2nd Lyons | ||||||||||||
— (14th) | United Australia (Coalition) | 3rd Lyons | |||||||||||
Edward VIII | |||||||||||||
Lord Gowrie | |||||||||||||
George VI | |||||||||||||
1937 (15th) | 4th Lyons | ||||||||||||
11 | scope=row style="text-align:center" | Earle Page | — (15th) | 7 April 1939 | 26 April 1939 | Country (Coalition) | Page (Caretaker) | ||||||
12 | scope=rowgroup rowspan=3 style="text-align:center" | Robert Menzies | — (15th) | 26 April 1939 | 29 August 1941 | United Australia | 1st Menzies | ||||||
United Australia (Coalition) | 2nd Menzies | ||||||||||||
1940 (16th) | 3rd Menzies | ||||||||||||
13 | scope=row style="text-align:center" | Arthur Fadden | — (16th) | 29 August 1941 | 7 October 1941 | Country (Coalition) | Fadden | ||||||
14 | John Curtin | — | 7 October 1941 | 5 July 1945 | Labor | 1st Curtin | |||||||
1943 (17th) | 2nd Curtin | ||||||||||||
Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester | |||||||||||||
15 | scope=row style="text-align:center" | Frank Forde | — (17th) | 5 July 1945 | 13 July 1945 | Labor | Forde (Caretaker) | ||||||
16 | Ben Chifley | — (17th) | 13 July 1945 | 19 December 1949 | Labor | 1st Chifley | |||||||
1946 (18th) | 2nd Chifley | ||||||||||||
Sir William McKell | |||||||||||||
(12) | Robert Menzies | 1949 (19th) | 19 December 1949 | 26 January 1966 | Liberal (Coalition) | 4th Menzies | |||||||
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 | scope=rowgroup rowspan=2 style="text-align:center" | Harold Holt | — (25th) | 26 January 1966 | 17 December 1967 | Liberal (Coalition) | 1st Holt | ||||||
1966 (26th) | 2nd Holt | ||||||||||||
18 | scope=row style="text-align:center" | John McEwen | — (26th) | 19 December 1967 | 10 January 1968 | Country (Coalition) | McEwen (Caretaker) | ||||||
19 | John Gorton | — (26th) | 10 January 1968 | 10 March 1971 | Liberal (Coalition) | 1st Gorton | [18] | ||||||
Sir Paul Hasluck | |||||||||||||
1969 (27th) | 2nd Gorton | ||||||||||||
20 | scope=row style="text-align:center" | William McMahon | — (27th) | 10 March 1971 | 5 December 1972 | Liberal (Coalition) | McMahon | ||||||
21 | Gough Whitlam | 1972 (28th) | 5 December 1972 | 11 November 1975 | Labor | 1st Whitlam | [19] | ||||||
— (28th) | 2nd Whitlam | ||||||||||||
1974 (29th) | 3rd Whitlam | ||||||||||||
Sir John Kerr | |||||||||||||
22 | Malcolm Fraser | — (29th) | 11 November 1975 | 11 March 1983 | Liberal (Coalition) | 1st Fraser | [20] | ||||||
1975 (30th) | 2nd Fraser | ||||||||||||
Sir Zelman Cowen | |||||||||||||
1977 (31st) | 3rd Fraser | ||||||||||||
1980 (32nd) | 4th Fraser | ||||||||||||
Sir Ninian Stephen | |||||||||||||
23 | Bob Hawke | 1983 (33rd) | 11 March 1983 | 20 December 1991 | Labor | 1st Hawke | [21] | ||||||
1984 (34th) | 2nd Hawke | ||||||||||||
1987 (35th) | 3rd Hawke | ||||||||||||
Bill Hayden | |||||||||||||
1990 (36th) | 4th Hawke | ||||||||||||
24 | Paul Keating | — (36th) | 20 December 1991 | 11 March 1996 | Labor | 1st Keating | [22] | ||||||
1993 (37th) | 2nd Keating | ||||||||||||
Sir William Deane | |||||||||||||
25 | John Howard | 1996 (38th) | 11 March 1996 | 3 December 2007 | Liberal (Coalition) | 1st Howard | [23] | ||||||
1998 (39th) | 2nd Howard | ||||||||||||
Peter Hollingworth | |||||||||||||
2001 (40th) | 3rd Howard | ||||||||||||
Michael Jeffery | |||||||||||||
2004 (41st) | 4th Howard | ||||||||||||
26 | Kevin Rudd | 2007 (42nd) | 3 December 2007 | 24 June 2010 | Labor | 1st Rudd | [24] | ||||||
Dame Quentin Bryce | |||||||||||||
27 | scope=rowgroup rowspan=2 style="text-align:center" | Julia Gillard | — (42nd) | 24 June 2010 | 27 June 2013 | Labor | 1st Gillard | [25] | |||||
2010 (43rd) | 2nd Gillard | ||||||||||||
(26) | scope=row style="text-align:center" | Kevin Rudd | — (43rd) | 27 June 2013 | 18 September 2013 | Labor | 2nd Rudd | ||||||
28 | Tony Abbott | 2013 (44th) | 18 September 2013 | 15 September 2015 | Liberal (Coalition) | Abbott | [26] | ||||||
Sir Peter Cosgrove | |||||||||||||
29 | scope=rowgroup rowspan=2 style="text-align:center" | Malcolm Turnbull | — (44th) | 15 September 2015 | 24 August 2018 | Liberal (Coalition) | 1st Turnbull | [27] | |||||
2016 (45th) | 2nd Turnbull | ||||||||||||
30 | Scott Morrison | — (45th) | 24 August 2018 | 23 May 2022 | Liberal (Coalition) | 1st Morrison | [28] | ||||||
2019 (46th) | 2nd Morrison | ||||||||||||
David Hurley | |||||||||||||
31 | Anthony Albanese | 2022 (47th) | 23 May 2022 | Incumbent | Labor | Albanese | [29] | ||||||
Charles III | |||||||||||||
Samantha Mostyn |
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.[30]