Update on Selected Australian Political Records
Rob Lundie
Martin Lumb
Politics and Public Administration Group
9 February 1999
This Note is designed to answer those frequently asked questions about
who was the first, youngest, oldest, most often, etc. in Australian federal
politics. The information is current as at 1 February 1999 and has been
compiled from sources including the Parliamentary Handbook, Hansard,
the Australian Dictionary of Biography and State parliamentary
handbooks.
First Governor-General
Rt Hon. John Adrian Louis Hope, 7th Earl of Hopetoun who served from
1 January 1901 to 9 January 1903.
First Australian-born Governor-General
Rt Hon. Sir Isaac Alfred Isaacs who served from 22 January 1931
to 23 January 1936.
Parliament first opened
In Melbourne on 9 May 1901. It moved to the provisional Parliament House
in Canberra on 9 May 1927 and then to the present Parliament House on
9 May 1988.
Youngest person in the House of Representatives
Edwin Corboy (ALP, Swan, WA) was elected at a by-election on 26 October
1918 aged 22 years 2 months and served until defeated at the next
election on 13 December 1919. The youngest person elected to any
Australian parliament was Matthew Smith (LP, Franklin) who was elected
to the Tasmanian House of Assembly on 29 August 1998 aged 20 years 5 months.
Youngest person in the Senate
Senator Bill O'Chee (National, Qld) was appointed under section
15 of the Constitution on 8 May 1990 aged 24 years 10 months. The youngest
person actually elected was Senator Natasha Stott Despoja (AD,
SA) on 2 March 1996 aged 26 years 5 months. She had been appointed
to the Senate on 29 November 1995.
Oldest person first elected to the House of Representatives
Sir Edward Braddon (Free Trade, Tasmania and later Wilmot, Tas) was elected
at the age of 71 years 9 months and served from 29 March 1901 until
his death on 2 February 1904.
Oldest person appointed or elected to the Senate
Senator John Verran (Nationalist, SA) was appointed under section 15
of the Constitution aged 71 years 1 month and served from 30 August
1927 to 16 November 1928.
First woman political candidate
Catherine Helen Spence in 1897 when she ran for the National Australasian
Convention. She came 22nd out of 33 candidates and was not elected.
Women first eligible to vote and sit in the Commonwealth Parliament
Women in SA and WA had been granted the right to vote before Federation
and so were eligible to vote in the first Commonwealth election on 29-30
March 1901. All women (except Aboriginal women) became eligible to vote
through the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 which came into effect
on 12 June 1902. Thus, the first election at which they could vote and
stand for the Commonwealth Parliament was that of 16 December 1903.
First woman candidate for the House of Representatives
Selina Anderson (Protectionist) for Dalley, NSW, at the 16 December 1903
election. Selina Anderson was also a candidate under her maiden name of
Siggins for the Country Party in the seat of Calare at the 16 December
1922 election.
First women elected to Parliament
Dame Enid Lyons (UAP and later LP, Darwin, Tas) was elected to the House
of Representatives on 21 August 1943 and retired on 19 March
1951. On the same date Senator Dame Dorothy Tangney (ALP, WA) was
elected to the Senate and served to 19 March 1951 and then from 28 April
1951 to 30 June 1968. The first woman elected to any Australian
parliament was Edith Cowan (Nationalist, West Perth) who was elected to
the WA Legislative Assembly on 12 March 1921 and served until 22 March
1924.
First Aboriginal appointed and elected to Parliament
Senator Neville Bonner (LP and later IND, Qld) was appointed on 11 June
1971 under section 15 of the Constitution and returned at the next election
on 18 May 1974. He served until 4 February 1983.
Oldest and longest serving Member of Parliament
William Morris Hughes entered Parliament aged 38 years 6 months on 29
March 1901 and died aged 90 years 1 month on 28 October 1952 whilst
still a member. He served for 51 years 7 months representing a number
of electorates and various parties.
Shortest serving Member of Parliament
Charles Howroyd (Nationalist, Darwin, Tas) died on 10 May 1917 five days
after being elected on 5 May 1917. He never sat in Parliament.
First Prime Minister
Sir Edmund Barton (Protectionist, Hunter, NSW) served from 1 January
1901 to 4 September 1903.
Youngest person to become Prime Minister
John Watson (ALP, Bland, NSW) became Prime Minister aged 37 and served
from 27 April 1904 to 17 August 1904.
Oldest person to become Prime Minister
Sir John McEwen (Country Party, Murray, Vic) became Prime Minister aged
67 years 8 months after Harold Holt's death and served from 19 December
1967 to 10 January 1968 when Senator John Gorton (LP, Vic) was elected
as Leader by the Liberal Party. He was the first and only Senator to become
Prime Minister.
Longest serving Prime Minister
Sir Robert Menzies (LP, Kooyong, Vic) was Prime Minister for 16 years
1 month 8 days continuously from 19 December 1949 to 26 January
1966. He was also Prime Minister for 2 years 4 months 4 days from 26 April
1939 to 29 August 1941.
Shortest serving Prime Minister
Frank Forde (ALP, Capricornia, Qld) was Prime Minister for 8 days from
6 July 1945 to 13 July 1945 having been commissioned by the Governor-General
upon the death of John Curtin. He then lost the leadership ballot to Ben
Chifley.
Oldest serving Prime Minister
Sir Robert Menzies (LP, Kooyong, Vic) was 71 years 1 month when he resigned
on 17 December 1966, having been in Parliament since 15 September
1934.
First Prime Minister to die in office
Joseph Lyons (UAP, Wilmot, Tas), Prime Minister from 6 January 1932,
died on 7 April 1939.
First woman member of the Ministry/Cabinet
The first woman Cabinet member was Dame Enid Lyons (LP, Darwin, Tas),
Vice-President of the Executive Council from 19 December 1949 to 7 March
1951. In 1956, Prime Minister Robert Menzies instituted a two-tier ministry,
with the Cabinet comprising the senior ministers, and the non-Cabinet
ministers attending meetings only in cases directly involving their portfolios.
The first woman minister responsible for a government department was Senator
Dame Annabelle Rankin (LP, Qld), Minister for Housing from 26 January
1966 to 22 March 1971. The first woman to administer a government department
and be a member of the Cabinet was Senator Dame Margaret Guilfoyle
(LP, Vic), who was appointed to Cabinet on 8 July 1976 during her
term as Minister for Social Security from 22 December 1975 to 3 November
1980.
First Minister to resign because of a disagreement with Cabinet
Charles Kingston (Protectionist, Adelaide, SA) resigned from the Barton
Ministry as Minister for Trade and Customs on 24 July 1903 over a disagreement
in Cabinet about whether the proposed Conciliation and Arbitration
Bill 1903 should cover seamen on all ships engaged in Australian coastal
trade.
Government with the largest majority
The Fraser Liberal Party/National Country Party Coalition Government
had a majority of 55 after the 1975 election having won 91 seats to the
ALP's 36.
Government with the smallest majority
The Cook Liberal Party Government had a one seat majority (38-37) after
the 1913 election. The Menzies UAP/Country Party Coalition retained Government
after the 1940 election with 37 seats to 36 (ALP-32 and Non-Communist
Labor-4) with one Independent. The Menzies Liberal Party/Country Party
Coalition retained Government after the 1961 election, because although
it had won the same number of seats (62) as the ALP, the ALP numbers included
two Territory members (ACT and NT) who did not have full voting rights
and therefore did not affect the outcome of divisions. They could only
vote on bills affecting the territories.
First Member suspended from the House of Representatives
Sir James Catts (ALP, Cook, NSW) was suspended on 18 August 1910 for
referring to a statement by Elliott Johnson (LP, Lang, NSW) as 'a dirty,
skunky thing to say' and for going over to the other side of the House
and saying 'you dirty skunks'.
First Senator suspended from the Senate
Senator Arthur Rae (ALP, NSW) was suspended on 1 November 1912 for describing
a statement attributed to him by Senator Edward Millen (Anti-Socialist,
NSW) as 'a deliberate falsehood' and then failing to withdraw it. He was
suspended for the remainder of the day's sitting.
Member suspended from the House of Representatives most often
Eddie Ward (ALP, East Sydney, NSW) was suspended 15 times. Wilson Tuckey
(LP, O'Connor, WA) has been suspended 12 times including twice for 7 days.
He has also been asked to withdraw from the Chamber 6 times under Standing
Order 304A ('sin bin') which came into force on 21 February 1994. This
standing order allows the Speaker to order the withdrawal of members from
the Chamber for one hour for disorderly conduct without a question having
to be put to the House. Wilson Tuckey was also the first person to be
asked to withdraw from the Chamber under this standing order on 24 February
1994, 3 days after it came into effect.
Senator suspended from the Senate most often
Senator James Keeffe (ALP, Qld) was suspended 6 times during his term
from 1 July 1965 to 4 February 1983.
Speaker who has suspended the most Members
Sir John McLeay (LP, Boothby, SA), Speaker from 29 August 1956 to 31 October
1966, suspended members 23 times.
President who has suspended the most Senators
Sir Alister McMullin (LP, NSW), President from 8 September 1953
to 30 June 1971, and Sir Condor Laucke (LP, SA), President from 17 February
1976 to 30 June 1981, both suspended senators on 6 occasions.
First private Members' bill passed into law
The Life Assurance Companies Bill 1904 was initiated by
Sir Littleton Groom (Protectionist, Darling Downs, Qld) and passed into
law in 1905 as Act No. 12 of 1905.
First Private Senators' bill passed into law
The Commonwealth Conciliation and Arbitration Bill 1908 was initiated
by Senator Edward Needham (ALP, WA) and passed into law as Act No. 28
of 1909.
First broadcast of the proceedings of Parliament
Radio broadcasts began on 10 July 1946. Senate proceedings have been
regularly televised from August 1990 and House proceedings from February
1991.
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