Father of the Australian Parliament

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.

The only Father of the Parliament with broken service but whose latter period of continuous service was sufficiently long to qualify was Eddie Ward.

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.

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).

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.

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 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
17 February 1966 30 June 1968 Joe 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 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 Sir William McMahon
1 July 1981 4 January 1982 Sir 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 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 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 Incumbent Senator
Ian Macdonald		 Kevin Andrews 11 May 1991

See also

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

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/3/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.