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 29 members of the House and 9 senators 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 |
| 1. |
William Morris Hughes |
ALP
ALP
Nat
Nat/Ind/UAP
Liberal |
MLA Syd-Lang (NSW)
West Sydney (NSW)
Bendigo (Vic)
North Sydney (NSW)
Bradfield (NSW) |
17.07.1894
29.03.1901
05.05.1917
16.12.1922
10.12.1949 |
11.06.1901
05.05.1917
16.12.1922
10.12.1949
28.10.1952 |
51y, 7m |
25.09.1862 |
28.10.1952 |
90 |
| 2. |
Philip Ruddock |
Liberal |
Parramatta (NSW)
Dundas (NSW)
Berowra (NSW) |
22.09.1973
10.12.1977
13.03.1993 |
10.12.1977
13.03.1993
09.05.2016 |
42y, 7m, 17d |
12.03.1943 |
– |
81 |
| 3. |
(Sir) Earle Page |
Country |
Cowper (NSW) |
13.12.1919 |
09.12.1961 |
41y, 11m, 26d |
08.08.1880 |
20.12.1961 |
81 |
| 4. |
Dr William Maloney |
ALP |
MLA West Melbourne
Melbourne (Vic) |
01.04.1889
30.03.1904 |
01.11.1903
27.08.1940 |
14y, 7m
36y, 4m, 28d |
12.04.1854 |
29.08.1940 |
86 |
| 5. |
Norman Makin |
ALP |
Hindmarsh (SA)
Sturt (SA)
Bonython (SA) |
13.12.1919
29.05.1954
10.12.1955 |
14.08.1946
10.12.1955
01.11.1963 |
36y, 1m, 4d * |
31.03.1889 |
20.07.1982 |
93 |
| 6. |
Frank Brennan |
ALP |
Batman (Vic) |
08.02.1911
15.09.1934 |
19.12.1931
31.10.1949 |
35y, 11m, 27d * |
xx.xx.1873 |
06.11.1950 |
76-77 |
| 7. |
James Joseph (“Joe”) Clark |
Lang/ALP |
Darling (NSW) |
15.09.1934 |
29.09.1969 |
35y, 1m, 14d |
29.07.1897 |
09.12.1992 |
95 |
| 8. |
Ian Sinclair |
Country |
MLC (NSW)
New England (NSW) |
23.04.1961
30.11.1963 |
24.10.1963
31.08.1998 |
34y, 9m, 1d |
10.06.1929 |
– |
95 |
| 9. |
David Watkins |
ALP |
Newcastle (NSW) |
29.03.1901 |
08.04.1935 |
34y, 10d |
05.05.1865 |
08.04.1935 |
69 |
| 10. |
John Howard |
Liberal |
Bennelong (NSW) |
18.05.1974 |
24.11.2007 |
33y, 6m, 6d |
26.07.1939 |
– |
85 |
| 11. |
Alan Cadman |
Liberal |
Mitchell (NSW) |
18.05.1974 |
17.10.2007 |
33y, 5m |
26.07.1937 |
– |
87 |
| 12. |
(Sir) John McEwen |
Country |
Indi (Vic)
Murray (Vic) |
23.10.1937
10.12.1949 |
10.12.1949
20.03.1971 |
33y, 4m, 25d |
29.03.1900 |
20.11.1980 |
80 |
| 13. |
(Sir) Littleton Groom |
Prot/Lib
Nat |
Darling Downs (Qld) |
14.09.1901
19.12.1931 |
12.10.1929
06.11.1936 |
32y, 11m, 15d * |
22.04.1867 |
06.11.1936 |
69 |
| 14. |
(Sir) Josiah Francis |
Nat/UAP/Lib |
Moreton (Qld) |
16.12.1922 |
04.11.1955 |
32y, 10m, 19d |
28.03.1890 |
22.02.1964 |
73 |
| 15. |
Harold Holt |
UAP
Liberal |
Fawkner (Vic)
Higgins (Vic) |
17.08.1935
10.12.1949 |
10.12.1949
17.12.1967 |
32y, 4m |
05.08.1908 |
17.12.1967 |
59 |
| 16. |
Kim Beazley |
ALP |
Fremantle (WA) |
18.07.1945 |
10.12.1977 |
32y, 3m, 22d |
30.09.1917 |
12.10.2007 |
90 |
| 17. |
Eddie Ward |
Lang (31-36)
ALP (36-63) |
East Sydney (NSW) |
07.03.1931
06.02.1932 |
19.12.1931
31.07.1963 |
32y, 3m, 6d * |
07.03.1899 |
31.07.1963 |
64 |
| 18. |
(Sir) William McMahon |
Liberal |
Lowe (NSW) |
10.12.1949 |
13.03.1982 |
32y, 3m, 3d |
23.02.1908 |
31.03.1988 |
80 |
| 19. |
Fred Daly |
ALP |
Martin (NSW)
Grayndler (NSW) |
21.08.1943
10.12.1949 |
10.12.1949
11.11.1975 |
32y, 2m, 21d |
13.06.1912 |
02.08.1995 |
83 |
| 20. |
Arthur Calwell |
ALP |
Melbourne (Vic) |
21.09.1940 |
02.11.1972 |
32y, 1m, 12d |
28.08.1896 |
08.07.1973 |
76 |
| 21. |
Warren Snowdon |
ALP |
Northern Territory
Northern Territory
Lingiari (NT) |
11.07.1987
03.10.1998
10.11.2001 |
02.03.1996
10.11.2001
11.04.2022 |
8y, 7m, 20d
3y, 1m, 7d
20y, 5m, 1d
Total:
32y, 1m, 28d |
30.03.1950 |
– |
74 |
| 22. |
(Sir) Robert Gordon Menzies |
Nationalist
Nationalist
UAP/Liberal |
MLC East Yarra (Vic)
MLA Nunawading (Vic)
Kooyong (Vic) |
02.06.1928
30.11.1929
15.09.1934 |
11.11.1929
31.08.1934
16.02.1966 |
31y, 5m, 1d |
20.12.1894 |
15.05.1978 |
83 |
| 23. |
Tom Uren |
ALP |
Reid (NSW) |
22.11.1958 |
16.02.1990 |
31y, 2m, 25d |
28.05.1921 |
26.01.2015 |
93 |
| 24. |
James Scullin |
ALP |
Corangamite (Vic)
Yarra (Vic) |
13.04.1910
18.02.1922 |
31.05.1913
10.12.1949 |
30y, 11m, 8d |
18.09.1876 |
28.01.1953 |
76 |
| 25. |
Kevin Andrews |
Liberal |
Menzies (Vic) |
11.05.1991 |
11.04.2022 |
30y, 11m |
09.11.1955 |
13.12.2024 |
69 |
| 26. |
Bob Katter |
Country
Nats/Ind/KAP |
MLA Flinders (Qld)
Kennedy (Qld) |
07.12.1974
13.03.1993 |
25.08.1992
– |
as of 2024
30y, 10m, 1d |
22.05.1945 |
– |
79 |
| 27. |
Clyde Cameron |
ALP |
Hindmarsh (SA) |
10.12.1949 |
19.09.1980 |
30y, 9m, 9d |
11.02.1913 |
14.03.2008 |
95 |
| 28. |
David Jull |
Liberal |
Bowman (Qld)
Fadden (Qld) |
13.12.1975
01.12.1984 |
05.03.1983
17.10.2007 |
30y, 1m, 5d * |
04.10.1944 |
13.09.2011 |
66 |
| 29. |
Hubert (“Bert”) Lazzarini |
ALP
Lang (31-36) |
Werriwa (NSW) |
13.12.1919
15.09.1934 |
19.12.1931
01.10.1952 |
30y, 22d * |
08.09.1884 |
02.10.1952 |
68 |
| Longest Serving Members of the Senate |
| No. |
Name |
Party |
State |
Term Began |
Term Ended |
Term Served
(*=broken term) |
Birth |
Death |
Age |
| 1. |
(Sir) George Foster Pearce |
ALP, Nat/UAP |
WA |
29.03.1901 |
30.06.1938 |
37y, 3m, 1d |
14.01.1870 |
24.06.1952 |
82 |
| 2. |
(Sir) Walter Jackson Cooper |
Nat, Country |
Qld |
17.11.1928
01.07.1935 |
30.06.1932
30.06.1968 |
36y, 7m, 13d * |
23.04.1888 |
22.07.1973 |
85 |
| 3. |
Justin O’Byrne |
ALP |
Tas |
01.07.1947 |
30.06.1981 |
34 years |
01.06.1912 |
10.11.1993 |
81 |
| 4. |
Gordon Brown |
ALP |
Qld |
01.07.1932 |
30.06.1965 |
33 years |
11.02.1885 |
12.01.1967 |
81 |
| 5. |
Patrick Joseph Lynch |
ALP, Nat/UAP |
WA |
01.07.1907 |
30.06.1938 |
31 years |
24.05.1867 |
15.01.1944 |
76 |
| 6. |
Ronald Boswell |
Nationals |
Qld |
05.03.1983 |
30.06.2014 |
31y, 3m, 25d |
09.12.1940 |
– |
84 |
| 7. |
Thomas William Crawford |
Nat/UAP, Ind |
Qld |
01.07.1917 |
30.06.1947 |
30 years |
31.01.1865 |
08.06.1948 |
83 |
| 8. |
Hattil Spencer Foll |
Nat/UAP/Lib |
Qld |
01.07.1917 |
30.06.1947 |
30 years |
30.05.1890 |
07.07.1977 |
87 |
| 9. |
John Odin Watson |
Liberal |
Tas |
01.07.1978 |
30.06.2008 |
30 years |
25.01.1937 |
– |
87 |
