The tables on this page show the longest-serving members of the House of Representatives and Senate since 1901.
To be included on a list, a member needs to have served at least 30 years in either chamber.
Since 1901, there have been 27 members of the House and 9 members of the Senate who have served for at least 30 years, either in single or non-consecutive-terms.
The longest-serving member of either house was William Morris Hughes, a member of the First Parliament (1901-1903) who served continuously for 51 years, 7 months, until his death, aged 90, on October 28, 1952. Hughes represented four electorates in two states during his time in the House and was elected to each of the first twenty parliaments.
| Longest Serving Members of the House of Representatives | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Name | Party | Seat | Term Began | Term Ended | Term Served (*=broken term) |
Birth | Death | Age |
| William Morris Hughes | ALP Nat Nat/Ind/UAP Liberal |
West Sydney (NSW) Bendigo (Vic) North Sydney (NSW) Bradfield (NSW) |
29.03.1901 05.05.1917 16.12.1922 10.12.1949 |
05.05.1917 16.12.1922 10.12.1949 28.10.1952 |
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| Philip Ruddock | Dundas (NSW) Berowra (NSW) |
10.12.1977 13.03.1993 |
13.03.1993 09.05.2016 |
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| (Sir) Earle Page | |||||||||
| Dr William Maloney | Melbourne (Vic) |
30.03.1904 |
27.08.1940 |
36y, 4m, 28d |
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| Norman Makin | Sturt (SA) Bonython (SA) |
29.05.1954 10.12.1955 |
10.12.1955 01.11.1963 |
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| Frank Brennan | 15.09.1934 |
31.10.1949 |
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| James Joseph (“Joe”) Clark | |||||||||
| Ian Sinclair | New England (NSW) |
30.11.1963 |
31.08.1998 |
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| David Watkins | |||||||||
| John Howard | |||||||||
| Alan Cadman | |||||||||
| (Sir) John McEwen | Murray (Vic) |
10.12.1949 |
20.03.1971 |
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| (Sir) Littleton Groom | Nat |
19.12.1931 |
06.11.1936 |
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| (Sir) Josiah Francis | |||||||||
| Harold Holt | Liberal |
Higgins (Vic) |
10.12.1949 |
17.12.1967 |
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| Kim Beazley | |||||||||
| Eddie Ward | ALP (36-63) |
06.02.1932 |
31.07.1963 |
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| (Sir) William McMahon | |||||||||
| Fred Daly | Grayndler (NSW) |
10.12.1949 |
11.11.1975 |
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| Arthur Calwell | |||||||||
| (Sir) Robert Gordon Menzies | Nationalist UAP/Liberal |
MLA Nunawading (Vic) Kooyong (Vic) |
30.11.1929 15.09.1934 |
31.08.1934 16.02.1966 |
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| Tom Uren | |||||||||
| James Scullin | Yarra (Vic) |
18.02.1922 |
10.12.1949 |
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| Clyde Cameron | |||||||||
| Warren Snowdon | Northern Territory Lingiari (NT) |
03.10.1998 10.11.2001 |
10.11.2001 – |
3y, 1m, 7d 7876 days |
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| David Jull | Fadden (Qld) |
01.12.1984 |
17.10.2007 |
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| Hubert (“Bert”) Lazzarini | Lang (31-36) |
15.09.1934 |
01.10.1952 |
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| Longest Serving Members of the Senate | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Name | Party | State | Term Began | Term Ended | Term Served (*=broken term) |
Birth | Death | Age |
| (Sir) George Foster Pearce | |||||||||
| (Sir) Walter Jackson Cooper | 01.07.1935 |
30.06.1968 |
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| Justin O’Byrne | |||||||||
| Gordon Brown | |||||||||
| Patrick Joseph Lynch | |||||||||
| Ronald Boswell | |||||||||
| Thomas William Crawford | |||||||||
| Hattil Spencer Foll | |||||||||
| John Odin Watson | |||||||||
