Father of the Australian Parliament

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In Australian parliamentary practice, the Father of the Australian Parliament is the more senior of the Father of the Senate and the Father of the House of Representatives. It is an informal, honorific title which carries no parliamentary responsibilities. Where two or more parliamentarians have had equal lengths of continuous service, more than any other currently serving parliamentarian, they are known as the joint Fathers of the Parliament. The current Father of the Parliament is Senator Ian Macdonald who has held the title since 10 May 2016.

Australia Country in Oceania

Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and numerous smaller islands. It is the largest country in Oceania and the world's sixth-largest country by total area. The neighbouring countries are Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and East Timor to the north; the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu to the north-east; and New Zealand to the south-east. The population of 25 million is highly urbanised and heavily concentrated on the eastern seaboard. Australia's capital is Canberra, and its largest city is Sydney. The country's other major metropolitan areas are Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth and Adelaide.

Parliament of Australia legislative branch of the Commonwealth of Australia

The Parliament of Australia is the legislative branch of the government of Australia. It consists of three elements: the Crown, the Senate and the House of Representatives. The combination of two elected chambers, in which the members of the Senate represent the states and territories while the members of the House represent electoral divisions according to population, is modelled on the United States Congress. Through both chambers, however, there is a fused executive, drawn from the Westminster system.

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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 Australian politician

Edward John Ward, Australian politician, was an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1931 until his death, excepting a short six-and-a-half week break from December 1931 to February 1932.

The first parliament was elected in March 1901. The election was held on Friday 29 March in South Australia and Tasmania, and on Saturday 30 March in the other states. Despite that slight variation in the election date, all of those elected to the first Parliament were considered to have had equal seniority. It follows that there could not be a "longest-serving parliamentarian" until only one member or Senator from the first Parliament was still serving. That occurred on 30 June 1938 with the retirement of Senator Sir George Pearce, leaving Billy Hughes as the first Father of the Parliament.

South Australia State of Australia

South Australia is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of 983,482 square kilometres (379,725 sq mi), it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, and fifth largest by population. It has a total of 1.7 million people, and its population is the second most highly centralised in Australia, after Western Australia, with more than 77 percent of South Australians living in the capital, Adelaide, or its environs. Other population centres in the state are relatively small; Mount Gambier, the second largest centre, has a population of 28,684.

Tasmania island state of Australia

Tasmania is an island state of Australia. It is located 240 km (150 mi) to the south of the Australian mainland, separated by Bass Strait. The state encompasses the main island of Tasmania, the 26th-largest island in the world, and the surrounding 334 islands. The state has a population of around 526,700 as of March 2018. Just over forty percent of the population resides in the Greater Hobart precinct, which forms the metropolitan area of the state capital and largest city, Hobart.

The longest serving Father of the Parliament was Philip Ruddock MP who held the title from 1 September 1998 until his retirement from the House on 9 May 2016; a total of 17 years and 251 days. In late December 2012, he surpassed the previous record-holder, the inaugural Father Billy Hughes, who held the title for 14 years, 4 months (from 1 July 1938 until his death on 28 October 1952).

Philip Ruddock Australian politician

Philip Maxwell Ruddock is an Australian politician who is currently mayor of Hornsby Shire. He previously was a Liberal member of the House of Representatives from 1973 to 2016. First elected in a 1973 by-election, by the time of his retirement he was the last parliamentary survivor of the Whitlam and Fraser Governments. He was both the Father of the House and the Father of the Parliament from 1998 to his retirement. He is the second longest-serving parliamentarian in the history of the Australian Parliament. Ruddock served continuously in federal cabinet during the Howard Government, as Minister for Immigration and Multicultural Affairs from 1996 to 2003, and then Attorney-General from 2003 to 2007. He is also the Vice Chair of the Global Panel Foundation Australasia - with Sir Donald Charles McKinnon as Chair.

Billy Hughes Australian politician, seventh prime minister of Australia

William Morris Hughes, was an Australian politician who served as the seventh Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1915 to 1923. He is best known for leading the country during World War I, but his influence on national politics spanned several decades. Hughes was a member of federal parliament from Federation in 1901 until his death, the only person to have served for more than 50 years. He represented six political parties during his career, leading five, outlasting four, and being expelled from three.

Senator Macdonald is only the third Senator to hold the title with Senators Gordon Brown (1963–65) and Justin O'Byrne (1977–81) being the other two.

Gordon Brown (Australian politician) Australian politician

Gordon Brown was a long-serving Australian politician.

Justin OByrne Australian politician

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

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 29 March 1901 Nil n/a
9 April 1935 30 June 1938 Nil [1] Billy Hughes 30 March 1901
1 July 1938 30 June 1947 Billy Hughes MP Thomas Crawford
Harry Foll
1 July 1917
1 July 1947 30 June 1950 Gordon Brown
Joe Collings
1 July 1932
1 July 1950 28 October 1952 Gordon Brown
29 October 1952 9 December 1961Sir Earle Page MP Sir Earle Page 13 December 1919
10 December 1961 31 July 1963 Eddie Ward MP Eddie Ward 6 February 1932
1 August 1963 30 June 1965Senator
Gordon Brown
Joe Clark
John McEwen
Sir Robert Menzies
15 September 1934
1 July 1965 16 February 1966 Joe Clark MP
John McEwen MP
Sir Robert Menzies MP
Sir Walter Cooper 1 July 1935
17 February 1966 30 June 1968Joe Clark MP
John McEwen MP
Joe Clark
John McEwen
1 July 1968 29 September 1969 Bert Hendrickson
Justin O'Byrne
Dame Annabelle Rankin
1 July 1947
30 September 1969 1 February 1971 John McEwen MP John McEwen
2 February 1971 24 May 1971 Arthur Calwell MP Arthur Calwell 21 September 1940
25 May 1971 30 June 1971Bert Hendrickson
Justin O'Byrne
1 July 1971 2 November 1972 Justin O'Byrne
3 November 1972 11 November 1975 Fred Daly MP Fred Daly 21 August 1943
12 November 1975 10 November 1977 Kim Beazley sr. MP Kim Beazley sr. 18 August 1945
11 November 1977 19 September 1980Senator
Justin O'Byrne
Clyde Cameron
Sir William McMahon
10 December 1949
20 September 1980 30 June 1981 Sir William McMahon
1 July 1981 4 January 1982Sir William McMahon MP Doug McClelland 1 July 1962
5 January 1982 31 March 1983 Malcolm Fraser MP
Sir James Killen MP
Sir Billy Snedden MP
Malcolm Fraser
Sir James Killen
Sir Billy Snedden
10 December 1955
1 April 1983 21 April 1983Sir James Killen MP
Sir Billy Snedden MP
Sir James Killen
Sir Billy Snedden
22 April 1983 15 August 1983Sir James Killen MP Sir James Killen
16 August 1983 18 January 1984 Doug Anthony MP Doug Anthony 14 September 1957
19 January 1984 23 January 1987 Tom Uren MP Tom Uren 22 November 1958
24 January 1987 27 February 1989 Arthur Gietzelt
Peter Durack
1 July 1971
28 February 1989 19 February 1990 Peter Durack
20 February 1990 30 June 1993 Ian Sinclair MP Ian Sinclair 30 November 1963
1 July 1993 31 August 1998 Mal Colston
Brian Harradine
13 December 1975
1 September 1998 30 June 1999 Philip Ruddock MP Philip Ruddock 22 September 1973
1 July 1999 30 June 2005 Brian Harradine
1 July 2005 30 June 2008 John Watson 1 July 1978
1 July 2008 30 June 2014 Ron Boswell 5 March 1983
1 July 2014 6 February 2015 John Faulkner 4 April 1989
6 February 2015 9 May 2016 Ian Macdonald 1 July 1990
10 May 2016 IncumbentSenator
Ian Macdonald
Kevin Andrews 11 May 1991

See also

Father of the House is a title that has been traditionally bestowed, unofficially, on certain members of some legislatures, most notably the House of Commons in the United Kingdom. In some legislatures the title refers to the longest continuously-serving member, while in others it refers to the oldest member. Recently, the title Mother of the House or Mother of Parliament has also been used, although the usage varies between countries; it is simply the female alternative to Father of the House, being applied when the relevant member is a woman.

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References

  1. Although Senator Sir George Pearce and Billy Hughes MP were elected on different dates (29 March and 30 March 1901 respectively), all members of the First Parliament were considered to be of equal seniority.

Sources