List of longest-serving members of the Australian House of Representatives
Encyclopedia
This is a List of Fathers of the Australian House of Representatives.

The Father of the House of Representatives
Australian House of Representatives
The House of Representatives is one of the two houses of the Parliament of Australia; it is the lower house; the upper house is the Senate. Members of Parliament serve for terms of approximately three years....

 is an informal title that carries no parliamentary responsibilities. It is held by the member who has served longer, continuously, than any other currently serving member. Where two or more members have equal lengths of continuous service, more than any other currently serving members, they are known as the joint Fathers of the House of Representatives. Joint Fathers are shown in small type in the following list.

The only Father of the House of Representatives 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 first House of Representatives was elected in March 1901. The election was held on Friday 29 March in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...

 and Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...

, and on Saturday 30 March in the other states. Despite that slight variation in the election date, all the members elected to the First Parliament were considered to have had equal seniority. It follows that there could not be a "longest-serving member" until only one member from the First Parliament was still in the House. That occurred on 8 April 1935 with the death of David Watkins
David Watkins (Australian politician)
David Watkins was an Australian politician and Member of the Australian House of Representatives for Newcastle from 1901 until his death in 1935....

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

 as the inaugural Father of the House of Representatives. Hughes was also the inaugural Father of the Parliament
Father of the Australian Parliament
This is a list of Fathers of the Australian Parliament.The Father of the Parliament is the more senior of the Father of the Senate and the Father of the House of Representatives...

 from 1938.

Since that date the Fathers and joint Fathers of the House of Representatives have been:
From To Member Continuous
term started
Status
9 April 1935 28 October 1952 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 Father
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:...

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...

Father
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....

6 February 1932 Father
1 August 1963 16 February 1966 Joseph 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...

Joint Fathers
17 February 1966 29 September 1969 Joseph Clark
John McEwen
15 September 1934 Joint Fathers
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...

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...

Father
2 February 1971 2 November 1972 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...

Father
3 November 1972 11 November 1975 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...

Father
12 November 1975 10 November 1977 Kim Beazley (senior)
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 Father
11 November 1977 19 September 1980 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...

Joint Fathers
20 September 1980 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...

10 December 1949 Father
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...

 
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...

Joint Fathers
1 April 1983 21 April 1983 Sir James Killen
Sir Billy Snedden
10 December 1955 Joint Fathers
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...

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...

Father
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:...

14 September 1957 Father
19 January 1984 19 February 1990 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...

Father
20 February 1990 31 August 1998 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 Father
1 September 1998 Incumbent 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 Father

See also

  • Father of the House
    Father of the House
    Father of the House is a term that has by tradition been unofficially bestowed on certain members of some national legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. In some legislatures the term refers to the oldest member, but in others it refers the longest-serving member.The...

  • Father of the Australian Senate
  • Father of the Australian Parliament
    Father of the Australian Parliament
    This is a list of Fathers of the Australian Parliament.The Father of the Parliament is the more senior of the Father of the Senate and the Father of the House of Representatives...

  • Members of the Parliament of Australia who have served for at least 30 years
    Members of the Parliament of Australia who have served for at least 30 years
    This is a list of Members of the Parliament of Australia who have served for at least 30 years.Their service does not need to be continuous; broken terms are aggregated.All these periods of service were spent in one House exclusively...

  • Parliamentary Handbook: Members of the House of Representatives since 1901
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