Members of the Australian Parliament who have served for at least 30 years

Last updated April 24, 2019

This is a list of Members of the Parliament of Australia who have served for at least 30 years.

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 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.

The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Australia, the upper house being the Senate. Its composition and powers are established in Chapter I of the Constitution of Australia.

Those who were Father of the Senate or Father of the House of Representatives are shown. A Father of either House is the person currently serving who has served longer, continuously, than any other currently serving member of that House. Where two or more people have equal lengths of continuous service, more than any other people, they are called joint Fathers. The more senior of the Father of the House and the Father of the Senate is the Father of the Parliament. Only those Fathers who served for 30 years or more will appear in this list.

No woman yet appears on this list. Bronwyn Bishop served in the Australian parliament longer than any other woman, in October 2014 outstripping the record of 27 years and 119 days previously held by Kathy Sullivan.^[2] At the end of her term at the 2 July 2016 double dissolution, Bishop had served for 28 years and 274 days.

Bronwyn Kathleen Bishop is an Australian politician, she served as a member of federal parliament for almost 30 years – the longest period of service by a woman. A member of the Liberal Party, she was a minister in the Howard Government from 1996 to 2001 and Speaker of the House of Representatives from 2013 to 2015. As of 2018 she is a political commentator at Sky News Live.

Kathryn Jean Martin Sullivan AM, Australian politician, was a Liberal member of the Australian Senate from 1974 to 1984, representing Queensland, and a member of the House of Representatives for the Division of Moncrieff, Queensland, from 1984 to 2001. She previously held the record for the longest service in the Australian Parliament for a woman, topping the record previously held by Dorothy Tangney. This record has since been surpassed by Bronwyn Bishop. She was the first woman member of the parliament to have served in both houses.

Members of the Parliament who have served for at least 30 years

Name	Chamber	Start of service	End of service	Period of service	Continuous service	Father of the Senate/House	Father of the Parliament
Hughes, Billy Billy Hughes	House of Reps	30 March 1901	28 October 1952	7004188410000000000♠51 years, 213 days	Yes	1935–52	1938–52
Ruddock, Philip Philip Ruddock	House of Reps	22 September 1973	9 May 2016	7004155690000000000♠42 years, 229 days	Yes	1998–2016	1998–2016
Page, EarleSir Earle Page	House of Reps	13 December 1919	9 December 1961	7004153380000000000♠41 years, 362 days	Yes	1952–61	1952–61
Pearce, GeorgeSir George Pearce	Senate	29 March 1901	30 June 1938	7004136080000000000♠37 years, 94 days	Yes	1923–38	–
Cooper, WalterSir Walter Cooper	Senate	17 November 1928 1 July 1935	30 June 1932 30 June 1968	7004133760000000000♠36 years, 227 days	No	1965–68	–
Maloney, William William Maloney	House of Reps	30 March 1904	27 August 1940	7004133000000000000♠36 years, 151 days	Yes	–	–
McEwen, JohnSir John McEwen	House of Reps	15 September 1934	1 February 1971	7004132880000000000♠36 years, 139 days	Yes	Joint Father 1963–69 Father 1969–71	Joint Father 1965–69 Father 1969–71
Makin, Norman Norman Makin	House of Reps	13 December 1919 29 May 1954	14 August 1946 1 November 1963	7004131860000000000♠36 years, 37 days	No	–	–
Brennan, Frank Frank Brennan	House of Reps	8 February 1911 15 September 1934	19 December 1931 31 October 1949	7004131460000000000♠35 years, 362 days	No	–	–
Clark, Joe Joe Clark	House of Reps	15 September 1934	29 September 1969	7004127990000000000♠35 years, 15 days	Yes	Joint Father 1963–69	Joint Father 1965–69
Sinclair, Ian Ian Sinclair	House of Reps	30 November 1963	31 August 1998	7004126940000000000♠34 years, 275 days	Yes	1990–98	1990–98
Watkins, David David Watkins	House of Reps	29 March 1901	8 April 1935	7004124290000000000♠34 years, 11 days	Yes	–	–
O'Byrne, Justin Justin O'Byrne	Senate	1 July 1947	30 June 1981	7004124190000000000♠34 years, 0 days	Yes	Joint Father 1968–71 Father 1971–81	1977–81
Howard, John John Howard	House of Reps	18 May 1974	24 November 2007	7004122440000000000♠33 years, 191 days	Yes	–	–
Cadman, Alan Alan Cadman	House of Reps	18 May 1974	17 October 2007	7004122050000000000♠33 years, 152 days	Yes	–	–
Brown, Gordon Gordon Brown	Senate	1 July 1932	30 June 1965	7004120530000000000♠33 years, 0 days	Yes	Joint Father 1947–50 Father 1950–65	1963–65
Groom, LittletonSir Littleton Groom	House of Reps	14 September 1901 19 December 1931	12 October 1929 6 November 1936	7004120410000000000♠32 years, 353 days	No	–	–
Francis, JosiahSir Josiah Francis	House of Reps	16 December 1922	4 November 1955	7004120120000000000♠32 years, 324 days	Yes	–	–
Holt, Harold Harold Holt	House of Reps	17 August 1935	19 December 1967^[3]	7004118130000000000♠32 years, 125 days	Yes	–	–
Ward, Eddie Eddie Ward	House of Reps	7 March 1931 6 February 1932	19 December 1931 31 July 1963	7004117870000000000♠32 years, 99 days	No	1961–63	1961–63
Beazley, Kim Kim Beazley, Sr.	House of Reps	18 August 1945	10 November 1977	7004117730000000000♠32 years, 85 days	Yes	1975–77	1975–77
Daly, Fred Fred Daly	House of Reps	21 August 1943	11 November 1975	7004117710000000000♠32 years, 83 days	Yes	1972–75	1972–75
Calwell, Arthur Arthur Calwell	House of Reps	21 September 1940	2 November 1972	7004117310000000000♠32 years, 43 days	Yes	1971–72	1971–72
McMahon, WilliamSir William McMahon	House of Reps	10 December 1949	4 January 1982	7004117140000000000♠32 years, 26 days	Yes	Joint Father 1977–80 Father 1980–82	1981–82
Lynch, Patrick Patrick Lynch	Senate	1 January 1907	30 June 1938	7004115040000000000♠31 years, 181 days	Yes	–	–
Menzies, RobertSir Robert Menzies	House of Reps	15 September 1934	17 February 1966	7004114790000000000♠31 years, 156 days	Yes	Joint Father 1963–66	Joint Father 1965–66
Boswell, Ron Ron Boswell	Senate	5 March 1983	30 June 2014	7004114400000000000♠31 years, 117 days	Yes	2008–2014	–
Uren, Tom Tom Uren	House of Reps	22 November 1958	19 February 1990	7004114130000000000♠31 years, 90 days	Yes	1984–90	1984–90
Scullin, James James Scullin	House of Reps	13 April 1910 18 February 1922	31 May 1913 31 October 1949	7004112620000000000♠30 years, 304 days	No	–	–
Cameron, Clyde Clyde Cameron	House of Reps	10 December 1949	19 September 1980	7004112420000000000♠30 years, 285 days	Yes	Joint Father 1977–80	–
Jull, David David Jull	House of Reps	13 December 1975 1 December 1984	5 March 1983 17 October 2007	7004109970000000000♠30 years, 39 days	No	–	–
Lazzarini, Hubert Bert Lazzarini	House of Reps	13 December 1919 15 September 1934	19 December 1931 1 October 1952	7004109820000000000♠30 years, 24 days	No	–	–
Crawford, Thomas Thomas Crawford	Senate	1 July 1917	30 June 1947	7004109570000000000♠30 years, 0 days	Yes	Joint Father 1938–47	–
Foll, Harry Harry Foll	Senate	1 July 1917	30 June 1947	7004109570000000000♠30 years, 0 days	Yes	Joint Father 1938–47	–
Watson, John John Watson	Senate	1 July 1978	30 June 2008	7004109580000000000♠30 years, 0 days	Yes	2005–08	–

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References

↑ Handbook of the 42nd Parliament: Members who have served in both chambers
↑ Wilson, Janet, & McCann, Dr Joy (9 July 2014). "Representation of women in Australian parliaments 2014". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 2014-12-11.
↑ While Harold Holt has subsequently been legally deemed to have died on 17 December 1967, he was not declared presumed dead until 19 December and he is considered to have served until that date, as both a member and as Prime Minister.

Sources

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[1] Handbook of the 42nd Parliament: Members who have served in both chambers

[2] Wilson, Janet, & McCann, Dr Joy (9 July 2014). "Representation of women in Australian parliaments 2014". Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 2014-12-11.

[3] While Harold Holt has subsequently been legally deemed to have died on 17 December 1967, he was not declared presumed dead until 19 December and he is considered to have served until that date, as both a member and as Prime Minister.

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Served in both houses Represented multiple states 30+ years Father of the Parliament

Members of the Australian Parliament who have served for at least 30 years

Contents

Members of the Parliament who have served for at least 30 years

See also

Related Research Articles

References

Sources