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Australia
This article is part of the series: Politics of Australia
Federal Government
Executive Queen (Queen Elizabeth II) Governor-General (Michael Jeffery) Prime Minister (John Howard) Cabinet Federal Executive Council
Legislative Parliament Senate House of Representatives Elections Federal electoral system Electoral divisions
1901 - 1972 - 1974 - 1975 - 1977 - 1980 - 1983 - 1984 - 1987 - 1990 - 1993 - 1996 - 1998 - 2001 - 2004 - 2007 -
Judicial High Court Lower Courts Constitution
State and territory governments
Executive Governors and Administrators Premiers and Chief Ministers Legislative Parliaments and Assemblies State electoral systems ACT - NSW - NT - Qld. - SA - Tas. - Vic. - WA
Local government
Political parties Democrats - Greens - Labor Party - Country Liberal Party - Family First Party - Liberal Party - National Party
Foreign relations
Republicanism
Other countries :commons:Atlas of Australia (side)	Atlas   Template:Politics of Australia (side)	view • Template talk:Politics of Australia (side)	talk • [ edit]

The office of Prime Minister of Australia is, in practice, the most powerful political office in the Commonwealth of Australia. The Prime Minister is the head of government of Australia and holds office on commission from the Governor-General.

Barring exceptional circumstances, the Prime Minister is always the leader of the political party with majority support in the House of Representatives. The only case where a Senator was appointed Prime Minister was that of John Gorton.

John Howard is the current Prime Minister and was sworn in on 11 March 1996. He is the 25th Prime Minister since Federation and leads the Liberal Party of Australia.

Appointment

The Prime Minister is appointed by the Governor-General under section 64 of the Australian Constitution. This empowers the Governor-General to appoint Ministers of State, and requires such Ministers to be members of the House of Representatives or the Senate, or become members within three months of the appointment. Before being sworn in as a Minister, a person must first be sworn in as a member of the Federal Executive Council if they are not already a member. The senior members of the Executive Council constitute the Cabinet.

The Prime Minister is, like other ministers, normally sworn in by the Governor-General and then presented with the commission (Letters patent) of office. When defeated in an election, or on resigning, the Prime Minister is said to "hand in the commission" and actually does so by returning it to the Governor-General. In the event of a Prime Minister dying in office, or becoming incapacitated, the Governor-General can terminate the commission. The Governor-General can also dismiss a Prime Minister by notifying the Prime Minister in writing of the termination of their commission.

Despite the importance of the office of Prime Minister, the Constitution does not mention the office by name. The conventions of the Westminster system were thought to be sufficiently entrenched in Australia by the authors of the Constitution that it was deemed unnecessary to detail them.

If a government cannot get its appropriation (budget) legislation passed by the House of Representatives, or the House passes a vote of confidence in the government, the Prime Minister is bound by convention to resign immediately. The Governor-General's choice of replacement Prime Minister will be dictated by the circumstances.

Following a resignation in other circumstances, or the death of a Prime Minister, the Governor-General will generally appoint as Prime Minister the person voted by the governing party as their new leader. There have been three notable exceptions to this:

• When Prime Minister Joseph Lyons, leader of the United Australia Party (UAP), died suddenly in April 1939, the Governor-General Lord Gowrie called on Sir Earle Page to become caretaker Prime Minister. Page was the leader of the smaller party in the governing coalition, the Country Party. He held the office for three weeks until the UAP elected a new leader, Robert Menzies.
• In August 1941, Menzies resigned as Prime Minister. The UAP was so bereft of leadership at this time that the Country Party leader Arthur Fadden was invited to become Prime Minister, although the Country Party was the smaller of the two conservative parties. The government depended on support from two independents, who two months later voted against Fadden's budget and brought the government down, paving the way for John Curtin to be appointed as Labor Prime Minister.
• In December 1967, Prime Minister Harold Holt led the Liberal Party in a governing coalition with the smaller Country Party. The Deputy Liberal leader, and Holt's presumed successor, was William McMahon. The Leader of the Country Party, John McEwen, was the Deputy Prime Minister. Holt disappeared while swimming on 17 December, and on 19 December was declared presumed dead. McEwen announced that (for reasons he would never explain) his party would not continue in coalition with the Liberals if it were under the leadership of William McMahon. Given that the election of McMahon as Liberal leader would destroy the coalition and destabilise the Parliament, the Governor-General, Lord Casey, commissioned John McEwen to form a coalition government, but his appointment was made on the basis that the new Liberal leader, when elected, would replace him. McEwen agreed to this so long as his formal commission made no mention of any time limit. McEwen was Prime Minister for 23 days, until the election of (then Senator) John Gorton.

There were some other cases where someone other than the leader of the majority party in the House of Representatives was Prime Minister:

• Federation occurred on 1 January 1901, but elections for the first parliament were not scheduled until late March. In the interim, a caretaker government was necessary. In what is now known as the Hopetoun Blunder, the Governor-General Lord Hopetoun invited Sir William Lyne, the premier of the most populous state New South Wales, to form a government. Lyne was unable to do so, and returned his commission in favour of Edmund Barton, who became the first Prime Minister, and led the inaugural government into and beyond the 1901 federal election.
• Stanley Bruce led his Nationalist-Country Party coalition government into the 1929 election, which was held on 12 October. Not only was his government defeated by the Labor Party under James Scullin, but Bruce was defeated personally in his seat of Flinders - to date, the only sitting Australian Prime Minister to suffer this fate. While Bruce's membership of the parliament ended on 12 October, he continued as caretaker Prime Minister for a further ten days until the election result was clear; his commission was terminated on 22 October and Scullin was sworn in as Prime Minister.
• Most controversially of all, during the 1975 constitutional crisis, the Labor Party Prime Minister Gough Whitlam was dismissed by Sir John Kerr, despite Labor having a majority in the House of Representatives. The Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Liberal Party, Malcolm Fraser, was appointed as Prime Minister to replace Whitlam.

Theoretically the Governor-General can dismiss the Prime Minister or any other Minister at any time, but his or her power to do so is heavily circumscribed by convention.

Powers

Most of the Prime Minister's powers derive from his or her position as the head of the Cabinet, and through their leadership of the party (or coalition of parties) in the majority in the lower house. In practice, the Federal Executive Council will act to ratify all decisions made by the Cabinet, and in practice, decisions of the Cabinet will always require the support of the Prime Minister. The powers of the Governor-General - to assent to legislation, to dissolve and prorogue Parliament, to call elections, and to make appointments - are exercised on the advice of the Prime Minister.

The power of the Prime Minister is subject to a number of limitations. If the Prime Minister is removed as leader of his or her party, or if the government they lead loses a vote of no-confidence in the House of Representatives, they must resign the office or be dismissed by the Governor-General. The Prime Minister's party will normally have a majority in the House of Representatives, and party discipline is exceptionally strong in Australian politics, so the passage of government-proposed legislation through the House is usually a formality. Attaining the support of the Senate can be more difficult, since there the government will often be in a minority.

Prime Ministerial salary and benefits

Salary

Prime Ministerial pay history

Date established	Salary
2 June 1999	$289,270
6 September 2006	$309,270
1 July 2007	$330,000

The Prime Minister is the highest-paid member of parliament.

Ministerial salary is expressed as an additional percentage on top of the basic parliamentary salary. The Remuneration Tribunal's Report Number 1 of 2006^[1] confirms the Prime Minister's additional salary as 160% of his parliamentary salary, ie. he earns in total 260% of the salary of an ordinary parliamentarian.

Benefits

The Royal Australian Air Force's 34 Squadron transports the Prime Minister within Australia and overseas by specially converted Boeing Business Jets and smaller Challenger aircraft. The aircraft contain secure communications equipment as well as office, conference room and sleeping compartments. The call-sign for the aircraft whilst the Prime Minister is onboard is "Commonwealth One".

Prime Ministers also receive the opportunity to attend many significant cultural and sporting events from prime viewing positions.

The Prime Minister's official residence is The Lodge in Canberra, but not all Prime Ministers choose to make use of it. Jim Scullin preferred to live at the Hotel Canberra (now the Hyatt Hotel); Ben Chifley lived in the Kurrajong Hotel; and John Howard has made Kirribilli House in Sydney his primary residence. The official residences are fully staffed and catered for both the Prime Minister and his family. A considerable amount of official entertaining is conducted at these residences.

In June 2007, businessman and former President of the Liberal Party in Victoria, Michael Kroger, announced that he and other Australian businessmen, a group dubbed the "Melbourne Lodgers", were examining properties in Melbourne for the Prime Minister to use as a residence while in that city. Despite Kroger's political affiliation, he maintained that if bought, the residence would be offered for the use of all Prime Ministers regardless of party affiliation. Chief on the list was Stonnington Mansion in the suburb of Malvern.^[2]

Prime Ministers continue to have benefits after leaving office, such as free office space, the right to hold a Life Gold Pass and budgets for office help and staff assistance. The Life Gold Pass entitles the holder to travel within Australia for "non-commercial" purposes at government expense.

Former Prime Ministers continue to be important national figures, and in some cases go on to successful post-prime ministerial careers. Some notable examples have included: Edmund Barton, who was a judge of the High Court; George Reid, who was High Commissioner to the United Kingdom; and Arthur Fadden, who was Treasurer under another Prime Minister.

Living former Prime Ministers

As of 2007, there are four living former Prime Ministers: Gough Whitlam, Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke and Paul Keating. The most recently deceased Prime Minister is Sir John Gorton, who died on 19 May 2002. Gough Whitlam is the oldest living former Australian Prime Minister.

The greatest number of living former Prime Ministers at any one time was eight. This has occurred twice:

• between 7 October 1941 (when John Curtin succeeded Arthur Fadden) and 18 November 1941 (when Chris Watson died), the eight living former Prime Ministers were Bruce, Cook, Fadden, Hughes, Menzies, Page, Scullin and Watson
• between 13 July 1945 (when Ben Chifley succeeded Frank Forde) and 30 July 1947 (when Sir Joseph Cook died), the eight living former Prime Ministers were Bruce, Cook, Fadden, Forde, Hughes, Menzies, Page and Scullin.

Seven former Prime Ministers were alive during the periods 18 November 1941 - 13 July 1945, and 30 July 1947 - 13 June 1951.

No two former Prime Ministers have died in the same year. The former Prime Minister Stanley Bruce (August) and the then-incumbent Prime Minister Harold Holt (December) both died in 1967.

Prime Ministerial Births

Seventeen Prime Ministers were born in the 19th century. The earliest-born Prime Minister was George Reid, born 25 February 1845. The first Prime Minister born in the 20th century was Sir William McMahon, born 23 February 1908.

The only two pairs of Prime Ministers who were born in the same year are:

• 1885 - John Curtin (January) and Ben Chifley (September)
• 1908 - Sir William McMahon (February) and Harold Holt (August).

History

Since the framers of the Australian constitution from the beginning intended it to largely follow the Westminster system, the office of Prime Minister has existed since the inauguration of the Commonwealth on 1 January 1901.

List of Prime Ministers

Below is a list of Prime Ministers of Australia by name, date assumed office, date left office, and political party.

The parties shown are those to which the Prime Ministers belonged at the time they held office. Several Prime Ministers belonged to parties other than those given before and after their prime ministerships.

#	Name	Took office	Left office	Party	Total Time In Office
1	Edmund Barton	1 January 1901	24 September 1903	Protectionist	2 years, 8 months, 24 days
2	Alfred Deakin	24 September 1903	27 April 1904	Protectionist	0 years, 7 months, 4 days
3	Chris Watson	27 April 1904	18 August 1904	Labor	0 years, 3 months, 21 days
4	Sir George Reid	18 August 1904	5 July 1905	Free Trade	0 years,10 months, 18 days
-	Alfred Deakin	5 July 1905	13 November 1908	Commonwealth Liberal	3 years, 4 months, 9 days
5	Andrew Fisher	13 November 1908	2 June 1909	Labor	0 years, 6 months, 21 days
-	Alfred Deakin	2 June 1909	29 April 1910	Commonwealth Liberal	0 years, 10 months, 28 days
-	Andrew Fisher	29 April 1910	24 June 1913	Labor	3 years, 1 month, 26 days
6	Joseph Cook	24 June 1913	17 September 1914	Commonwealth Liberal	1 year, 2 months, 25 days
-	Andrew Fisher	17 September 1914	27 October 1915	Labor	1 year, 1 month, 11 days
7	Billy Hughes	27 October 1915	9 February 1923	Labor	7 years, 3 months, 14 days
8	Stanley Bruce	9 February 1923	22 October 1929	Nationalist	6 years, 8 months, 14 days
9	James Scullin	22 October 1929	6 January 1932	Labor	2 years, 2 months, 16 days
10	Joseph Lyons	6 January 1932	7 April 1939	United Australia	7 years, 3 months, 2 days
11	Sir Earle Page	7 April 1939	26 April 1939	Country	0 years, 0 months, 20 days
12	Robert Menzies	26 April 1939	28 August 1941	United Australia	2 years, 4 months, 4 days
13	Arthur Fadden	28 August 1941	7 October 1941	Country	0 years, 1 month, 9 days
14	John Curtin	7 October 1941	5 July 1945	Labor	3 years, 8 months, 29 days
15	Frank Forde	6 July 1945	13 July 1945	Labor	0 years, 0 months, 8 days
16	Ben Chifley	13 July 1945	19 December 1949	Labor	4 years, 5 months, 7 days
-	Sir Robert Menzies	19 December 1949	26 January 1966	Liberal	16 years, 1 month, 8 days
17	Harold Holt	26 January 1966	19 December[3]) 1967	Liberal	1 year, 10 months, 23 days
18	John McEwen	19 December 1967	10 January 1968	Country	0 years, 0 months, 23 days
19	John Gorton	10 January 1968	10 March 1971	Liberal	3 years, 2 months, 0 days
20	William McMahon	10 March 1971	5 December 1972	Liberal	1 year, 8 months, 25 days
21	Gough Whitlam	5 December 1972	11 November 1975	Labor	2 years, 11 months, 7 days
22	Malcolm Fraser	11 November 1975	11 March 1983	Liberal	7 years, 4 months, 0 days
23	Bob Hawke	11 March 1983	20 December 1991	Labor	8 years, 9 months, 10 days
24	Paul Keating	20 December 1991	11 March 1996	Labor	4 years, 2 months, 20 days
25	John Howard	11 March 1996	Incumbent	Liberal	Currently in Office

Graphical timeline

References

See also

• Prime Minister
• Ballarat Botanical Gardens contains a collection of bronze busts of all Australian Prime Ministers set within Horse Chestnut Avenue.
• Australian Prime Ministers with military service
• List of Australian Prime Ministers by time served
• List of Australian Prime Ministers by state
• Deputy Prime Minister of Australia

External links

• Australia's Prime Ministers / National Archive of Australia
• Biographies of Australia's Prime Ministers / National Museum of Australia
• Official website of the Prime Minister of Australia
• Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet

Prime Ministers of Australia
Barton | Deakin | Watson | Reid | Fisher | Cook | Hughes | Bruce | Scullin | Lyons | Page | Menzies | Fadden | Curtin | Forde | Chifley | Holt | McEwen | Gorton | McMahon | Whitlam | Fraser | Hawke | Keating | Howard

•  • [ e] Politics of Australia
Commonwealth	Parliament House of Representatives Senate High Court Federal Court Queen Governor-General Prime Minister Cabinet Executive Council
Federal elections	1969 1972 1974 1975 1977 1980 1983 1984 1987 1990 1993 1996 1998 2001 2004 2007
State/territory elections	ACT (2004 election) NSW (2007 election) NT (2005 election) QLD (2006 election) SA (2006 election) TAS (2006 election) VIC (2006 election) WA (2005 election)
Political parties	Australian Democrats Australian Greens Australian Labor Party Family First Party Liberal Party of Australia National Party of Australia