Edmund Barton (1901-1903)
He was the first prime minister of Australia, taking charge of this prestigious position on 1st January 1901 in Sydney.
Alfred Deakin (1903-1904; 1905-1908; 1909-1910)
Not only was he Australia’s second prime minister, but he also had the honour of holding this position three times.
Chris Watson (1904)
He was our first Labor prime minister but he stayed in office for only four months.
George Reid (1904-1905)
The fourth prime minister of the country also held the office for a brief period and his term ended in less than a year.
Andrew Fisher (1908-09; 1910-1913; 1914-1915)
He also held the office of the prime minister three times and is considered among the founding members of Labor party.
Joseph Cook (1913-1914)
When he took the office, the sixth prime minister had more than three decades of experience in politics.
William Morris Hughes (1915-1923)
He served the country as its prime minister for seven years, and in total spent more than five decades as a member of House of Representatives.
Stanley Melbourne Bruce (1923-1929)
The second youngest prime minister of Australia stayed in office for six years.
James Scullin (1929-1932)
The Labor prime minister witnessed the impacts of the Great Depression on our economy and termed his tenure a nightmare.
Joseph Lyons (1932-1939)
He was our prime minister for seven years and the first one to die in office.
Earle Page (1939)
He was Australia’s prime minister for only 20 days.
Robert Menzies (1939-1941; 1949-1966)
The longest serving prime minister of Australia held this office twice. In total, he led the country for over 18 years.
Arthur Fadden (1941)
The Queenslander was prime minister for only 40 days.
John Curtin (1941-1945)
Regarded as one of our greatest prime ministers, he was an instrumental figure during the World War II.
Francis Forde (1945)
He served as prime minister for only eight days after the death of his predecessor.
Ben Chifley (1945-1949)
He took reins of the Labor party after Curtin’s death and later became the nation’s 16th prime minister.
Harold Holt (1966-1967)
He became our nation’s prime minister after Robert Menzies’ 16-year term came to an end. While in office Harold died after drowning at sea.
John McEwen (1967-1968)
He took over the country’s command after the death of Harold Holt.
John Gorton (1968-1971)
He replaced Harold Holt as Liberal party’s leader and became Australia’s 19th prime minister.
William McMahon (1971-1972)
Another Liberal prime minister, he served Australian politics for more than three decades.
Gough Whitlam (1972-1975)
His leadership brought the Labor party back in office after more than 20 years. His government was dismissed by the Governor-General.
Malcolm Fraser (1975-1983)
He became caretaker prime minister after Gough Whitlam and returned in office again after the election.
Robert Hawke (1983-1991)
Australia’s longest serving Labor prime minister secured the top office after being the opposition leader for only one month.
Paul Keating (1991-1996)
The 24th prime minister of Australia was first elected for a House of Representative seat at the age of 25.
John Howard (1996-2007)
The second longest serving prime minister of Australia made the decision to support Iraq war in 2003.
Kevin Rudd (2007-2010; 2013)
He was one of the few leaders to have been removed from party leadership while serving as prime minister. Later, he once again became prime minister after Labor party made him its leader again.
Julia Gillard (2010-2013)
The first woman prime minister of Australia took over Labor’s leadership from Kevin Rudd before being defeated in a leadership ballot by him.
Tony Abbott (2013-2015)
The 28th prime minister of Australia lost his leadership battle against Malcolm Turnbull after serving two years in office.
Malcolm Turnbull (2015-)
The Liberal party member is leading the party into the election to decide the country’s next prime minister.
Source: National Archives of Australia
