Father of the Australian Senate

Last updated March 31, 2019

In Australian parliamentary practice, the Father of the Senate is the senator in the Australian Senate who has served longer, continuously, than any other currently serving senator.^[1] The title is seldom used today.^[1] It is an informal, honorific title which carries no parliamentary responsibilities. Where two or more senators have had equal lengths of continuous service, more than any other currently serving senators, they are known as the joint Fathers of the Senate. The current Father of the Senate is Ian Macdonald who acquired the status on 6 February 2015 after the resignation from Parliament of the then Father of the Senate, John Faulkner.

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 Senate is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia. There are a total of 76 Senators: 12 are elected from each of the six states regardless of population and 2 from each of the two autonomous internal territories. Senators are popularly elected under the single transferable vote system of proportional representation.

Ian Douglas Macdonald, Australian politician, has been a Liberal member of the Australian Senate since July 1990, representing Queensland. He is currently both the Father of the Senate and the Father of the Parliament.

The only Father of the Senate with broken service but whose latter period of continuous service was sufficiently long to qualify was Sir Walter Cooper. Annabelle Rankin was a joint Father of the Senate, from 1 July 1968 to 24 May 1971, the only female to achieve that status. The possibility of a woman becoming a longest-serving senator was not provided for in Australian Senate Practice, and there has still been no move to amend the text or title to this day.^[1]

The first Senate was elected on 29 and 30 March 1901. Despite the different election dates, all the members elected to that first Parliament were considered to have had equal seniority. It follows that there could not be a "longest-serving Senator" until only one Senator from the first Parliament was still serving. That occurred on 14 September 1923 with the death of Hon Edward Millen, leaving Sir George Pearce as the sole longest-serving Senator, and thus the first sole Father of the Senate.

Edward Davis Millen was an Australian journalist and politician who served as the first Minister for Repatriation.

Sir George Foster Pearce KCVO was an Australian politician who served as a Senator for Western Australia from 1901 to 1938. He began his career in the Labor Party but later joined the National Labor Party, the Nationalist Party, and the United Australia Party; he served as a cabinet minister under prime ministers from all four parties.

Since that date the Fathers and joint Fathers of the Senate have been as follows, with joint Fathers being shown in small type:

From	To	Senator	Continuous term started	Duration	Status
15 September 1923	30 June 1938	Sir George Pearce	29 March 1901	7004136070000000000♠37 years, 93 days	Father
1 July 1938	30 June 1947	Thomas Crawford Harry Foll	1 July 1917	7004109570000000000♠30 years, 0 days	Joint Fathers
1 July 1947	30 June 1950	Joe Collings Gordon Brown	1 July 1932	7003657400000000000♠18 years, 0 days	Joint Fathers
1 July 1950	30 June 1965	Gordon Brown	1 July 1932	7004120530000000000♠33 years, 0 days	Father
1 July 1965	30 June 1968	Sir Walter Cooper ^[2]	1 July 1935	7004120540000000000♠33 years, 0 days	Father
1 July 1968	24 May 1971	Bert Hendrickson Justin O'Byrne Dame Annabelle Rankin	1 July 1947	7003872900000000000♠23 years, 328 days	Joint Fathers
25 May 1971	30 June 1971	Bert Hendrickson Justin O'Byrne	1 July 1947	7003876600000000000♠24 years, 0 days	Joint Fathers
1 July 1971	30 June 1981	Justin O'Byrne	1 July 1947	7004124190000000000♠34 years, 0 days	Father
1 July 1981	23 January 1987	Doug McClelland	1 July 1962	7003897300000000000♠24 years, 207 days	Father
24 January 1987	27 February 1989	Arthur Gietzelt Peter Durack	1 July 1971	7003645200000000000♠17 years, 242 days	Joint Fathers
28 February 1989	30 June 1993	Peter Durack	1 July 1971	7003803600000000000♠22 years, 0 days	Father
1 July 1993	30 June 1999	Mal Colston Brian Harradine	13 December 1975	7003860100000000000♠23 years, 200 days	Joint Fathers
1 July 1999	30 June 2005	Brian Harradine	13 December 1975	7004107930000000000♠29 years, 200 days	Father
1 July 2005	30 June 2008	John Watson	1 July 1978	7004109580000000000♠30 years, 0 days	Father
1 July 2008	30 June 2014	Ron Boswell	5 March 1983	7004114410000000000♠31 years, 118 days	Father
1 July 2014	6 February 2015	John Faulkner	4 April 1989	7003944000000000000♠25 years, 309 days	Father
6 February 2015	incumbent	Ian Macdonald	1 July 1990	7004103460000000000♠28 years, 119 days	Father

1 2 3 Odgers’ Australian Senate Practice (13th ed): Chapter 6 - Seniority of Senators
↑ Walter Cooper had also served between 17 November 1928 and 30 June 1932.

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References

Parliamentary Handbook: Members of the Senate since 1901

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[Odgers-1] 1 2 3 Odgers’ Australian Senate Practice (13th ed): Chapter 6 - Seniority of Senators

[Cooper-2] Walter Cooper had also served between 17 November 1928 and 30 June 1932.

Father of the Australian Senate

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References