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Barton, Edmund
Federation was Edmund Barton's 'one great thing'. One of the key architects of Australians constitution, Barton became the new nation's first Prime Minister at a grand ceremony in Centennial Park, Sydney, on first of January 1901. -
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Deakin, Alfred
Alfred Deakin, Australia's second Prime Minister, was also the fifth and the seventh. He was in office three times in the first ten years of Federation. -
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Watson, John Christian
Australia's first Labor Prime Minister held office for only 4 months in 1904, but his imprint on legislation extended through the first decade of the Australian Parliament. -
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Reid, George Houston
George Reid, Prime Minister from 1904 to 1905, was leader of the Opposition for six of the first seven years of the Australian Parliament. -
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Deakin, Alfred
Often referred to as 'The constructor' his work in building soundly on the nation's constitutional foundations is evident a century later. -
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Fisher, Andrew
Like Alfred Deakin, Andrew Fisher was Prime Minister three times, in 1908-09, 1910-13 and 1914-15. Although very different in background, these two men share the title of founder of the new nation's statutory structure. -
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Deakin, Alfred
Perhaps the finest speaker in the Australian Parliament's first century, Deakin's love of learning informed his political life. -
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Fisher, Andrew
Fisher was a founding member of both the Labor party in Queensland and of the federal parliamentary Labor party. He held the House of Representatives seat of Wide Bay from 1901 until 1915. -
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Cook, Joseph
Joseph Cook was Australia's sixth Prime Minister, taking office in 1913 with a Liberal party majority of only 1 seat in the House of Representatives. On leaving politics, Cook served as Australia's third High Commissioner in London from 1921 to 1927. -
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Fisher, Andrew
When Fisher was Prime Minister the Royal Australian Navy was established, the Commonwealth bank was set up, the Northern Territory of South Australia was transferred to the Commonwealth, the Federal capital of Canberra was founded, and the construction of the trans-Australian railway line linking Perth to the other capitals was begun. -
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Hughes, William Morris
William Morris Hughes was Australia's longest serving Prime Minister until 1957 when Robert Menzies overtook Hughes' record term. Hughes lost office in February 1923, but served in Parliament was three decades more. -
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Bruce, Stanley Melbourne
Australia's eighth Prime Minister is also the second youngest. He was a decorated war hero before he became Prime Minister in 1923. -
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Scullin, James Henry
James Scullin was unlucky in his timing. The New York Stock Exchange failure 'The Wall Street crash' took place in his first week of his government. He faced the crisis of economic depression by attempting to manage a failing economy while implementing Labor reforms. -
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Lyons, Joseph
Joseph Lyons was Prime Minister for 7 years, he was the first Australian Prime Minister to die in office. -
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Page, Earle Christmas Grafton
Earle Page was Prime Minister for only 20 days. Page was also Deputy Prime Minister to SM Bruce in 1923-29 and to Joseph Lyons in 1934-39 -
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Menzies, Robert Gordon
Robert Menzies was Australia's longest serving Prime Minister. He held the office twice, from 1939 to 1941 and from 1949 to 1966. All together he was Prime Minister for over 18 years, still record term for an Australian Prime Minister. -
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Fadden, Arthur William
As well as his '40 days and 40 nights' in office, he was acting Prime Minister for periods totaling nearly two years during his coalition governments with Prime Minister Robert Menzies. -
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Curtin, John
Australia's 14th Prime Minister is widely regarded as one of the greatest. John Curtin's achievement rests on his leadership of the nation during much of World War II. -
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Forde, Francis Miachel
Francis Forde was Prime Minister for only 8 days, after the death of John Curtin. With unswerving loyalty to his party and its leadership, Forde was a Federal Parliamentarian for 24 years. -
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Chifley, Joseph Benedict
Ben Chifley was a railway engine driver in his home town of Bathurst, NSW, Ben Chifley became one of the most highly regarded of Australia's Prime Ministers, he was a prime mover of the Economic Organisation of the War. -
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Menzies, Robert Gordon
Menzies' second period as a Prime Minister laid the foundations for 22 consecutive years in government for the Liberal-Country Party coalition. -
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Holt, Harold Edward
Australia's 17th Prime Minister, Harold Holt was in office until pronounced dead after drowning at sea, the third Prime Minister to die in office. -
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McEwen,John
John McEwen was Prime Minister following the death of Harold Holt. Though only briefly Prime Minister, McEwen served as Deputy Prime Minister for 12 years, he was acting Prime Minister many times in the years from 1958 to 1971. -
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Gorton , John Grey
Gorton became the 19th Prime Minister and left the job in unusual circumstances, he declared himself out of office after a tied party vote of confidence in his leadership on 10th of March 1971. -
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McMahon, William
McMahon was fist elected to parliament in 1949, and held the seat of Lowe, in Sydney, for 33 years until his retirement in 1982. -
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Whitlam, Edward Gough
Gough Whitlam's Labor government, the first after more two decades, set out to change Australia through a wide-ranging reform program. Whitlam's term abruptly ended when his government was dismissed by the Governor-General on 11 November 1975 -
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Fraser, John Malcolm
Malcolm Fraser begun his term as caretaker Primer Minister after Governor-General Sir John Kerr dismissed Gough Whithlam's Labor Government. -
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Hawke, Robert James Lee
With eight years in office, Bob Hawke was Australia's longest-serving Labor Prime Minister. He became Prime Minister after only two years in Parliament, and only one month as leader of the opposition. -
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Keating, Paul John
The Keating government pursued economic growth as a precondition for improving the daily lives of all Australians. His government established the Republican Advisory Committee to facilitate debate on the possibility of an Australian republic, supported reform of vocational education and training, and introduced policies encouraging economic competitiveness. -
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Howard, John Winston
John Howard was the second-longest Prime Minister after Robert Menzies. When he lost the seat of Bennelong in 2007, John Howard also became the second Australian Prime Minister to lose his seat, the first being Stanley Melbourne Bruce in 1929. -
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Rudd, Kevin Michael
On 24 June 2010 Kevin Rudd became one of the few leaders to be removed by their own party in their first term as Prime Minister. -
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Gillard, Julia Eileen
Julia Gillard became the first woman to hold the office . On 26 June 2013, Gillard was defeated in a leadership ballot by Rudd, who was sworn in as Prime Minister the following day 27 June. She announced that she would not contest her seat at the forthcoming election and was retiring from politics. -
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Rudd, Kevin Michael
On 27 June 2013, the Governor-General again swore in Kevin Rudd as Prime Minister after he was voted leader of the Parliamentary Labor party. Following Labor's defeat in the September 2015 Federal Election, Kevin Rudd resigned from Parliament on 22 November 2013. -
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Abbott, Anthony John
Before becoming Prime Minister he served as the leader of the Opposition since 1 December 2009. On 14 September 2014, Abbott was defeated in a leadership ballot by Malcolm Turnbull. -
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Turnbull, Malcolm Bligh
Malcolm Turnbull was elected leader of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister-designate on 14 September 2015, and the following day was sworn in as Prime Minister of Australia by Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove.