Prime Minister of Australia

The Prime Minister of Australia is the leader of the Australian government. He or she has the most powerful political office in the Commonwealth of Australia.

The current Prime Minister of Australia, since 24 June 2010, is Julia Gillard, who is the first woman in the post, after Kevin Rudd resigned from office.

Prime Ministerial Power & Roles

• The prime minister can choose his or her own ministers;
• Can choose election dates;
• Represents the country;
• Spokesperson for the government, both domestically and internationally;
• Advisor to the Governor-General;
• Create bills in parliament

List of Prime Ministers

No.	Name	Party	Assumed office	Left office
1	Edmund Barton	Protectionist	1 January 1901	24 September 1903
2	Alfred Deakin	Protectionist	24 September 1903	27 April 1904
3	Chris Watson	Labor	27 April 1904	18 August 1904
4	Sir George Reid	Free Trade	18 August 1904	5 July 1905
-	Alfred Deakin (2nd time)	Comwlth. Liberal	5 July 1905	13 November 1908
5	Andrew Fisher	Labor	13 November 1908	2 June 1909
-	Alfred Deakin (3rd time)	Comwlth. Liberal	2 June 1909	29 April 1910
-	Andrew Fisher (2nd time)	Labor	29 April 1910	24 June 1913
6	Joseph Cook	Comwlth. Liberal	24 June 1913	17 September 1914
-	Andrew Fisher (3rd time)	Labor	17 September 1914	27 October 1915
7	Billy Hughes	Labor	27 October 1915	14 November 1916
-	Billy Hughes (2nd time)	National Labor	14 November 1916	17 February 1917
-	Billy Hughes (3rd time)	Nationalist	17 February 1917	9 February 1923
8	Stanley Bruce	Nationalist	9 February 1923	22 October 1929
9	James Scullin	Labor	22 October 1929	6 January 1932
10	Joseph Lyons	United Australia	6 January 1932	7 April 1939
11	Sir Earle Page	Country	7 April 1939	26 April 1939
12	Robert Menzies	United Australia	26 April 1939	28 August 1941
13	Arthur Fadden	Country	28 August 1941	7 October 1941
14	John Curtin	Labor	7 October 1941	5 July 1945
15	Frank Forde	Labor	6 July 1945	13 July 1945
16	Ben Chifley	Labor	13 July 1945	19 December 1949
-	Sir Robert Menzies (2nd time)	Liberal	19 December 1949	26 January 1966
17	Harold Holt	Liberal	26 January 1966	19 December 1967
18	John McEwen	Country	19 December 1967	10 January 1968
19	John Gorton	Liberal	10 January 1968	10 March 1971
20	William McMahon	Liberal	10 March 1971	5 December 1972
21	Gough Whitlam	Labor	5 December 1972	11 November 1975
22	Malcolm Fraser	Liberal	11 November 1975	11 March 1983
23	Bob Hawke	Labor	11 March 1983	20 December 1991
24	Paul Keating	Labor	20 December 1991	11 March 1996
25	John Howard	Liberal	11 March 1996	3 December 2007
26	Kevin Rudd	Labor	3 December 2007	24 June 2010
27	Julia Gillard	Labor	24 June 2010	In office

Other Websites

• 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