Father of the Australian Parliament

Last updated March 31, 2019

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, 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.

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.

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 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 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 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.

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 was a long-serving 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]	Sir George Pearce	29 March 1901	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 1961	Sir 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 1965	Senator 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	Joe Clark John McEwen Sir Robert Menzies
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 Dame Annabelle Rankin	1 July 1947	Joe Clark John McEwen
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 1971		Bert 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 1980	Senator Justin O'Byrne			Clyde Cameron Sir William McMahon	10 December 1949
20 September 1980	30 June 1981	Senator Justin O'Byrne			Sir William McMahon
1 July 1981	4 January 1982	Sir William McMahon MP	Doug McClelland	1 July 1962	Sir William McMahon
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 1983	Sir James Killen MP Sir Billy Snedden MP			Sir James Killen Sir Billy Snedden
22 April 1983	15 August 1983	Sir 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	Peter Durack		Ian Sinclair	30 November 1963
1 July 1993	31 August 1998	Ian Sinclair MP	Mal Colston Brian Harradine	13 December 1975	Ian Sinclair	30 November 1963
1 September 1998	30 June 1999	Philip Ruddock MP	Mal Colston Brian Harradine		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	Incumbent	Senator Ian Macdonald	Ian Macdonald	1 July 1990	Kevin Andrews	11 May 1991

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↑ 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.

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[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.

v t e Members of the Parliament of Australia
House of Representatives	1901–1903 1903–1906 1906–1910 1910–1913 1913–1914 1914–1917 1917–1919 1919–1922 1922–1925 1925–1928 1928–1929 1929–1931 1931–1934 1934–1937 1937–1940 1940–1943 1943–1946 1946–1949 1949–1951 1951–1954 1954–1955 1955–1958 1958–1961 1961–1963 1963–1966 1966–1969 1969–1972 1972–1974 1974–1975 1975–1977 1977–1980 1980–1983 1983–1984 1984–1987 1987–1990 1990–1993 1993–1996 1996–1998 1998–2001 2001–2004 2004–2007 2007–2010 2010–2013 2013–2016 2016–2019
Senate	1901–1903 1904–1906 1907–1910 1910–1913 1913–1914 1914–1917 1917–1920 1920–1923 1923–1926 1926–1929 1929–1932 1932–1935 1935–1938 1938–1941 1941–1944 1944–1947 1947–1950 1950–1951 1951–1953 1953–1956 1956–1959 1959–1962 1962–1965 1965–1968 1968–1971 1971–1974 1974–1975 1975–1978 1978–1981 1981–1983 1983–1985 1985–1987 1987–1990 1990–1993 1993–1996 1996–1999 1999–2002 2002–2005 2005–2008 2008–2011 2011–2014 2014–2016 2016–2019
Served in both houses Represented multiple states 30+ years Father of the Parliament

Father of the Australian Parliament

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