The tables on this page show the former members of the House of Representatives 1949-72 who are still living.
As of November 28, 2024, there are 10 living former members from this period: 4 Liberals, 3 Country Party and 3 Labor.
Official records show only one of the forty-niners – men returned at the December 1949 election – is still alive. Bill Grayden is the only surviving member from the 1949 election and the only surviving member from the 1950s.
Eight of the ten former members all served in the 27th parliament between 1969 and 1972.
For some years, Henry George Pearce, one of the class of 1949, Liberal member for Capricornia, Qld (1949-61), was believed to be still living. However, in 2020 his death on May 23, 1992, aged 74, was established. William (Bill) Grayden, 104, is the only living member of the 19th Parliament, the last remaining ’49er.
As of November 28, 2024, two of the ten men are more than 100 years old. Two of the ten men are in their 90s, and six are in their 80s. The oldest (Grayden) is 104, the youngest (Keating) is 80.
The 1949-72 period is known as the Menzies era. Robert Menzies won office in 1949 as the leader of the Liberal Party. He governed in coalition with the Country Party, now known as The Nationals. He subsequently won six more elections (1951, 1954, 1955, 1958, 1961 and 1963) and retired in January 1966 after serving for 16 years as prime minister.
Between 1966 and 1972, the coalition was led by three prime ministers (Harold Holt, John Gorton and William McMahon) with a fourth (John McEwen) holding office for three weeks after Holt disappeared whilst swimming in December 1967.
Following a landslide re-election under Holt in 1966, Gorton suffered a 7% swing in 1969, in the face of a surging ALP led by Gough Whitlam. Gorton was overthrown in 1971 and Whitlam defeated McMahon in 1972.
The data on this page shows that the Menzies era is slowly receding into memory and history. Recollections of the lived experience will linger for some time but the ranks of the participants have thinned markedly.
| UPDATE: With the death of Dr Jim Forbes on August 10, 2019, all Liberal ministers from the Menzies’ governments are deceased. Just one Nationals minister from the Menzies’ ministries, Ian Sinclair, is still living. |
The first table below shows the surviving members of the House from the 1949-1972 period.
| House of Representatives 1949-72 – Surviving Members (10) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Liberal Party (4) | Country Party (3) | A.L.P. (3) |
| 1. William Grayden (1949-1954) 2. Dr Wylie Gibbs (1963-1969) 3. Donald Cameron (1966-1990) 4. Neil Brown (1969-1972, 1975-1983, 1984-1991) | 1. Peter Nixon (1961-1983) 2. Ian Sinclair (1963-1998) 3. Bruce Lloyd (1971-1996) |
1. David Kennedy (1969-1972) 2. Richie Gun (1969-1975) 3. Paul Keating (1969-1996) |
RECENT DEATHS:
– Nov 28, 2024: Tom Hughes, 101, Liberal, member for Parkes, NSW (1963-69) & Berowra, NSW (1969-72)
– Jun 14, 2024: Dr Robert Solomon, 92, Liberal, member for Denison, Tas (1969-72)
– Jan 30, 2024: Manfred Cross, 94, ALP, member for Brisbane, Qld (1961-75, 1980-90)
– Oct 21, 2023: Bill Hayden, 90, ALP, member for Oxley, Qld (1961-88)
– May 03, 2023: Tony Staley, 83, Liberal, member for Chisholm, Vic (1970-80)
– Oct 25, 2022: Tony Street, 96, Liberal, member for Corangamite, Vic (1966-84)
– Feb 26, 2022: Dr Moss Cass, 95, ALP, member for Maribyrnong, Vic (1969-83)
– Jan 01, 2022: Sir Ransley Victor Garland, 87, member for Curtin, WA (1969-81)
– Apr 16, 2021: Andrew Peacock, 82, member for Kooyong, Vic (1966-94)
– Dec 20, 2020: Doug Anthony, 90, member for Richmond, NSW (1957-84)
– Nov 15, 2020: Chris Hurford, 89, member for Adelaide, SA (1969-87)
– Aug 10, 2019: Dr Jim Forbes, 95, Liberal, member for Barker, SA (1956-75).
– Dec 09, 2018: Gordon Scholes, 87, ALP, member for Corio, Vic (1967-93).
– Jun 02, 2018: Joe Berinson, 86, ALP, member for Perth, WA (1969-75).
– May 21, 2018: Don Jessop, 90, Liberal, member for Grey, SA (1966-69); Senator, SA (1971-87).
– Dec 18, 2017: Barry Cohen, 82, ALP, member for Robertson, NSW (1969-90).
– Aug 24, 2017: Doug Everingham, 94, ALP, member for Capricornia, Qld (1967-75) and (1977-84).
– Mar 23, 2017: Ian Robinson, 91, Country and National Party, member for Cowper, NSW (1963-84) and Page, NSW (1984-90).
Note: For some years, Mervyn Lee, the Liberal member for Lalor (1966-69), was listed on this page as a surviving member. On January 16, 2019, I was alerted to a notice of his death on December 13, 2009. Unfortunately, his death has never been acknowledged by the House of Representatives.
The tables below order the members by the numbered parliaments (19th-27th) they served in. The data is accurate as of November 28, 2024. The current ages update automatically.
| 19th Parliament 1949-1951 – Members Still Living | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Name | Party | Seat | Term | Date of Birth | Current Age |
| William Grayden | ||||||
| Grayden was a “forty-niner”, one of the MPs elected in 1949 when the Menzies government came to office, beginning a period of 23 years of coalition government. Previously a member of the Western Australian Legislative Assembly (1947-49), Grayden served two terms until he was defeated at the 1954 election. He again served in the WA Legislative Assembly (1956-93) and was a minister in the Court government (1974-82). | ||||||
| 20th Parliament 1951-1954 – Members Still Living | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Name | Party | Seat | Term | Date of Birth | Current Age |
| William Grayden | ||||||
| 24th Parliament 1961-1963 – Members Still Living | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Name | Party | Seat | Term | Date of Birth | Current Age |
| Peter Nixon | ||||||
| A minister in the Holt, McEwen, Gorton, McMahon and Fraser governments. Minister for the Interior 1967-71. Minister for Shipping and Transport 1971-72 & 1975-79. Minister for Primary Industry 1979-83. Retired 1983. | ||||||
| 25th Parliament 1963-1966 – Members Still Living | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Name | Party | Seat | Term | Date of Birth | Current Age |
| Peter Nixon | ||||||
| Dr Wylie Gibbs | ||||||
| Gibbs held Bowman for two terms, until he was defeated by the ALP’s Len Keogh in 1969. A doctor and surgeon, he became Executive Director of the Australian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers’ Association after he left parliament. | ||||||
| Ian Sinclair | ||||||
| Sinclair is the sole surviving minister from the final Menzies government. Minister for Social Services 1965-68. Minister for Primary Industry 1971-72, 1975-79. Minister for Communications 1980-82. Minister for Defence 1982-83. National Party Leader from 1984, Sinclair was overthrown in 1989 at the same time as the Liberal Party replaced John Howard with Andrew Peacock. Speaker 1998. Retired 1998. | ||||||
| 26th Parliament 1966-1969 – Members Still Living | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Name | Party | Seat | Term | Date of Birth | Current Age |
| Peter Nixon | ||||||
| Dr Wylie Gibbs | ||||||
| Ian Sinclair | ||||||
| Donald Cameron | Fadden (Qld) Moreton (Qld) |
1977-1983 1983-1990 |
||||
| Cameron is one of a small number of members to represent more than two electorates. MHR Griffith 1966-77. MHR Fadden (Qld) 1977-83. MHR Moreton (Qld) 1983-1990. He never held ministerial office. Retired 1990. | ||||||
| David Kennedy | ||||||
| Elected at by-election 1969. Kennedy was re-elected at the 1969 general election. He was one of four ALP members to lose their seats in 1972, attributable in part to an anti-abortion campaign against him. He subsequently served in the Victorian Legislative Assembly, representing Bendigo and Bendigo West 1982-92. | ||||||
| 27th Parliament 1969-1972 – Members Still Living | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Name | Party | Seat | Term | Date of Birth | Current Age |
| Peter Nixon | ||||||
| Ian Sinclair | ||||||
| Donald Cameron | Fadden (Qld) Moreton (Qld) |
1977-1983 1983-1990 |
||||
| David Kennedy | ||||||
| Neil Brown | Diamond Valley (Vic) Menzies (Vic) |
1975-1983 1984-1991 |
||||
| Brown served in the Fraser government as Minister for Employment and Youth Affairs 1981-82, Minister for Business and Consumer Affairs 1982 and Minister for Communications 1982-83. He was Deputy Leader to John Howard 1985-87. Retired 1991. | ||||||
| Richie Gun | ||||||
| A former doctor and backbencher in the Whitlam government, Gun lost his seat in 1975, unsuccessfully contesting it again in 1977 and 1980. | ||||||
| Paul Keating | ||||||
| Keating was 25 when he was elected to Blaxland. Served as Minister for Northern Australia in the final three weeks of the Whitlam government in 1975, one of just two surviving ministers from that period. Treasurer in the Hawke government 1983-91. Overthrew Prime Minister Bob Hawke in December 1991 and served as prime minister for four years 1991-1996, winning the 1993 election but losing to John Howard in 1996. Retired 1996. | ||||||
| Bruce Lloyd | ||||||
| Elected at a by-election in March 1971 to replace the retiring leader of the Country Party, John McEwen. Deputy Leader of the National Party 1987-93. Retired 1996. | ||||||
