Prime Ministers of Australia  …  Present – 1975      1975 – 1941      1941 – 1914      1914 – 1901       More Information
See also  What the letters after their names mean (postnominals)

The Prime Ministers of Australia & Their Party is a chronological list of the leaders of federal and state political parties, who have at some point in time held the Australian Prime Minister’s office.

The office of Australian Prime Ministers was held more than once by Rudd, Deakin, Fisher and Menzies. Robert Menzies held the longest continuous term of 16 years, 1 month, and 8 days. In contrast, Francis Forde served the shortest term of 7 days followed by Earle Page for 19 days, John McEwan for 22 days and Arthur Fadden for 39 days. Youngest man to take the office was John Watson at the age of 37.

Summary

The following shows the amount of time each party was in power without interruption. For example, the Labor Party under Keating and Hawk held power for 13 years before being defeated by another party.

	Yrs	Mths	Days
Labor
Gillard – Rudd	5	9	14
Keating – Hawke	13	0	0
Whitlam	2	11	7
Forde – John Curtin	3	9	6
Scullin	2	2	16
Hughes – Fisher	8	4	22
Fisher	3	1	26
Fisher	0	6	21
Watson	0	3	21
Liberal
Abbott	current PM
Howard	11	8	23
Fraser	7	4	0
McMahon – Gorton	4	10	26
Holt – Menzies	18	0	0
Cook	1	2	25

	Yrs	Mths	Days
Country
McEwen	0	0	23
Fadden	0	1	9
Page	0	0	20
United Australia
Menzies	2	4	4
Lyons	7	3	2
Nationalist
Bruce	6	8	14
Free Trade
Reid	0	10	18
Protectionist
Deakin	0	10	28
Deakin	3	4	9
Deakin – Barton	3	3	26

Summary

The following shows in more detail when each party was in power. For information about a specific term of office held by an Australian Prime Minister, please see our page Prime Ministers of Australia.

	Prime Minister	Yrs	Mths	Days	Date	Party
28	Tony Abbott				2013 – present	Liberal
* * 27 26	Kevin Michael Rudd Julia Eileen Gillard Julia Eileen Gillard Kevin Michael Rudd	5	9	10	2013 2010 – 2013 2010 2007 – 2010	Labor
25	John Winston Howard	11	8	23	1996 – 2007	Liberal
24 23	Paul John Keating Robert James Lee Hawke	13	0	0	1991 – 1996 1983 – 1991	Labor
22	John Malcolm Fraser	7	4	0	1975 – 1983	Liberal
21	Edward Gough Whitlam	2	11	7	1972 – 1975	Labor
20 19	William McMahon John Grey Gorton	4	10	26	1971 – 1972 1968 – 1971	Liberal
18	John McEwen	0	0	23	1967 – 1968	Country
17 *	Harold Edward Holt Robert Gordon Menzies	18	0	0	1966 – 1967 1949 – 1966	Liberal
15 14	Francis Michael Forde John Curtin	3	9	6	1945 1941 – 1945	Labor
13	Arthur William Fadden	0	1	9	1941	Country
12	Robert Gordon Menzies	2	4	4	1939 – 1941	United Australia
11	Earle Christmas Grafton Page	0	0	20	1939	Country
10	Joseph Aloysius Lyons	7	3	2	1932 – 1939	United Australia
9	James Henry Scullin	2	2	16	1929 – 1932	Liberal
8	Stanley Melbourne Bruce	6	8	14	1923 – 1929	Nationalist
7 *	William Morris Hughes Andrew Fisher	8	4	22	1915 – 1923 1914 – 1915	Liberal
6	Joseph Cook	1	2	25	1913 – 1914	Labor
*	Andrew Fisher	3	1	26	1910 – 1913	Liberal
*	Alfred Deakin	0	10	28	1909 – 1910	Protectionist
5	Andrew Fisher	0	6	21	1908 – 1909	Liberal
*	Alfred Deakin	3	4	9	1905 – 1908	Protectionist
4	George Houstoun Reid	0	10	18	1904 – 1905	Free Trade
3	John Christian Watson	0	3	21	1904	Liberal
2 1	Alfred Deakin Sir Edmund Barton	3	3	26	1903 – 1904 1901 – 1903	Protectionist

NOTES about the Nationalist Party
In 1931 the National Party joined with other groups and formed the United Australia Party.