Australian Government & Prime Ministers

There are 3 levels of government in Australia – federal, state or territory and local.

A governor general represents the monarch in the federal government. The governor general usually acts on the prime minister’s advice. However, the governor general can act without the advice of the prime minister in times of political uncertainty.

The Senate is the upper house. In principle, the Senate was intended to represent the states. Within each state, each party gets a number of seats proportional to its share of the total votes cast in the election.

Sir Edmund Barton (1849-1920), was the first Prime Minister of Australia. He held the office from 1901 to 1903.

Sir Henry Parkes (1815-1896), was a British-born politician and writer who became known as Australia’s “Father of Federation.”

In November 1975, Sir John Kerr, the Governor General, removed Gough Whitlam from office.

Sir Robert Menzies served as Prime Minister of Australia from 1939 to 1941 and from 1949 to 1966. He served for more than 18 years—longer than any other Prime Minister in Australian history.

Australia has had 30 Prime Ministers since Federation in 1901. Scott Morrison is Australia's 30th Prime Minister.

Francis Forde served only eight days in July 1945 as Prime Minister.

Alfred Deakin served as Prime Minister of Australia 3 times—from September 1903 to April 1904, from July 1905 to November 1908, and from June 1909 to April 1910.