Statistics on the surviving members of the House of Representatives since 1949 are shown below. There are links to detailed information on each parliament since 1949.
All members who served in the first 18 parliaments from 1901 until the end of 1949 are now deceased.
Official records show two surviving members of the 19th Parliament that was elected on December 10, 1949. Both “forty-niners” are Liberals: Henry George Pearce (Capricornia-Qld), 105, and Bill Grayden (Swan-WA), 102. However, it is not known if Pearce is actually still living. I am advised that his whereabouts cannot be established and he is likely deceased.
Two, and possibly three, members of the House during the 1950s are still living: Grayden, Pearce and Doug Anthony.
For the entire Menzies era (1949-1972), there are 22 surviving members. All but three of them (Pearce, Grayden, Gibbs) served together in the 27th Parliament between 1969 and 1972.
Currently, if he is still living, Henry George Pearce is the oldest surviving member of all five parliaments between 1949 and 1961: the 19th, 20th, 21st, 22nd and 23rd.
Tony Street is the oldest surviving member of the six parliaments between 1974 and 1984: the 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st, 32nd and 33rd.
Steele Hall is the oldest surviving member of the four parliaments between 1984 and 1996: the 34th, 35th, 36th and 37th.
This page was last updated on January 23, 2021. It takes account of the most recent deaths:
- Jan 17, 2021: Jon Sullivan, ALP (Longman-Qld), 70
- Sep 12, 2020: John Fahey, ALP (Macarthur-NSW), 75
- Aug 22, 2020: Edward “Ted” Grace, ALP (Fowler-NSW), 89
- Jun 24, 2020: Roger Johnston, Liberal (Hotham-Vic), 90
- May 24, 2020: Bruce Reid, Liberal (Bendigo-Vic), 84
- Apr 27, 2020: Ian Causley, Nationals (Page-NSW), 79
- Mar 06, 2020: Silvia Smith, ALP (Bass-Tas), 80
- Nov 19, 2019: John Abel, Liberal (Evans-NSW), 80
- Nov 17, 2019: Ben Humphreys, ALP (Griffith-Qld), 85
- Aug 30, 2019: Elaine Darling, ALP (Lilley-Qld), 83
- Aug 22, 2019: Tim Fischer, Nationals (Farrer-NSW), 73
- Aug 10, 2019: Dr Jim Forbes, Liberal (Barker-SA), 95. At his death, Forbes was oldest former member of three parliaments: the 24th (1961-63), 28th (1972-74) and 29th (1974-75).
- May 16, 2019: Bob Hawke, ALP (Wills-Vic), 89
- Mar 31, 2019: Peter Coleman, Liberal (Wentworth-NSW), 90
- Jan 01, 2019: Paul Neville, Nationals (Hinkler-Qld), 78
- Dec 09, 2018: Gordon Scholes, ALP (Corio-Vic), 87
- Nov 06, 2018: Ted Mack, Independent (North Sydney-NSW), 84
- Sep 12, 2018: Barry Cunningham, ALP (McMillan-Vic), 78
- Jun 02, 2018: Joe Berinson, ALP (Perth-WA), 86
- May 21, 2018: Don Jessop, Liberal (Grey-SA and Senate-SA), 90.
- Jan 02, 2018: Bryan Conquest, National Country (Hinkler-Qld), 87
- Dec 18, 2017: Barry Cohen, ALP (Robertson-NSW), 82.
- Nov 28, 2017: Clarrie Millar, National Country (Wide Bay-Qld), 92. At his death, Millar was the oldest former member of the six parliaments between 1975 and 1990: the 30th, 31st, 32nd, 33rd, 34th and 35th parliaments.
- Nov 16, 2017: Wal Fife, Liberal (Farrer-NSW), 88
- Aug 31, 2017: John Bourchier, Liberal (Bendigo-Vic), 87
- Aug 24, 2017: Doug Everingham, ALP (Capricornia-Qld), 94. At his death, Everingham was the oldest former member of the 27th, 28th, 29th, 31st, 32nd and 33rd parliaments.
- Jun 21, 2017: Con Sciacca, ALP (Bowman-Qld), 70
- Mar 23, 2017: Ian Robinson, Country (Cowper/Page-NSW), 91
- Jan 03, 2017: Russ Gorman, ALP (Greenway-NSW), 90
The table below provides a summary of how many members have served in the 19th to 45th parliaments. It shows how many are still living and what parties they belong to. There are links to more detailed information on each parliament since 1972.
Note: The data is structured around the parliaments since 1949. The numbers cannot be aggregated. Most surviving members served in more than one parliament.
Disclaimer: I am confident that the data shown here is correct. However, I rely on media reports and announcements in parliament for information on deaths of former members. I sincerely hope I haven’t killed or resurrected anyone. I am happy to receive corrections from readers.
| House of Representatives – Members Still Living Since 1949 (Listed by Parliament No. and Years) |
|||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Years | Total | Members Still Living |
% | ALP | Lib | CP/ Nat |
Oth | Oldest Surviving Member |
| Henry George Pearce (105) William Grayden (102)? |
|||||||||
| Henry George Pearce (105) William Grayden (102)? |
|||||||||
| Henry George Pearce (105)? | |||||||||
| Henry George Pearce (105) Doug Anthony (93)? |
|||||||||
| Henry George Pearce (105) Doug Anthony (93)? |
|||||||||
| Peter Nixon (95) | |||||||||
| Wylie Gibbs (100) | |||||||||
| Wylie Gibbs (100) | |||||||||
| Tom Hughes (99) | |||||||||
| Tony Street (97) | |||||||||
| Tony Street (97) | |||||||||
| Tony Street (97) | |||||||||
| Tony Street (97) | |||||||||
| Tony Street (97) | |||||||||
| Tony Street (97) | |||||||||
| Steele Hall (94) | |||||||||
| Steele Hall (94) | |||||||||
| Steele Hall (94) | |||||||||
| Steele Hall (94) | |||||||||
| Ian Sinclair (93) | |||||||||
| Garry Nehl (89) | |||||||||
| Frank Mossfield (87) | |||||||||
| Wilson Tuckey (87) | |||||||||
| Wilson Tuckey (87) | |||||||||
| Bronwyn Bishop (80) | |||||||||
| Bronwyn Bishop (80) | |||||||||
| Bob Katter (78) | |||||||||
| Bob Katter (78) | |||||||||
