Global InformationList of prime ministers of Australia by military service information
Of the 31 individuals who have served as prime minister of Australia, 8 have had prior or concurrent military service, while 23 have had no prior military service. Despite the fact that the democratically accountable Australian Cabinet (chaired by the prime minister) de facto controls the Australian Defence Force, prior military service is not a prerequisite for prime ministers of Australia. They are as follows:
| No. | Portrait | Name
(birth–death) |
Military service | Notes | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Branch/service | Years of service | Allegiance | Unit | Battles/wars | ||||
| 1 | 
|
Edmund Barton(1849–1920)MP for Hunter, NSW | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| 2 | 
|
Alfred Deakin(1856–1919)MP for Ballaarat, Vic[a] | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| 3 | 
|
Chris Watson(1867–1941)MP for Bland, NSW | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| 4 | 
|
George Reid(1845–1918)MP for East Sydney, NSW | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| (2) | 
|
Alfred Deakin(1856–1919)MP for Ballaarat, Vic[a] | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| 5 | 
|
Andrew Fisher(1862–1928)MP for Wide Bay, Qld | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| (2) | 
|
Alfred Deakin(1856–1919)MP for Ballaarat, Vic[a] | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| (5) | 
|
Andrew Fisher(1862–1928)MP for Wide Bay, Qld | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| 6 | 
|
Joseph Cook(1860–1947)
MP for Parramatta, NSW |
Has no prior military service | ||||||
| (5) | 
|
Andrew Fisher(1862–1928)MP for Wide Bay, Qld | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| 7 | 
|
Billy Hughes(1862–1952)MP for West Sydney, NSW (until 1917)MP for Bendigo, Vic (1917–22)MP for North Sydney, NSW (from 1922) | British Army | 1874–1884 | United Kingdom | Royal Fusiliers (volunteer battalion) | *None | Joined a volunteer battalion of the Royal Fusiliers while a teenager in London.[1] Claimed to have served briefly in both the Queensland Defence Force and the Queensland Maritime Defence Force, but biographers have not been able to verify this.[1] | |
| Unknown | Queensland Defence Force | Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
| Queensland Maritime Defence Force | |||||||||
| 8 | 
|
Stanley Bruce(1883–1967)MP for Flinders, Vic | Captain | British Army | 1914–1917 | United Kingdom | 2nd Battalion, Royal Fusiliers | World War 1 | Was severely wounded at Gallipoli;[2][3] awarded the Military Cross and the Croix de Guerre avec Palme.[4][5] |
| 9 | 
|
James Scullin(1876–1953)MP for Yarra, Vic | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| 10 | 
|
Joseph Lyons(1879–1939)
MP for Wilmot, Tas |
Has no prior military service | ||||||
| 11 | 
|
Earle Page(1880–1961)MP for Cowper, NSW | Lieutenant commander | Australian Army | 1916–1917 | Australia | Australian Army Medical Corps | World War 1 | Officer in the Australian Army Medical Corps, stationed in Egypt and France during World War I[6] |
| 12 | 
|
Robert Menzies(1894–1978)MP for Kooyong, Vic | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| 13 | 
|
Arthur Fadden(1894–1973)MP for Darling Downs, Qld | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| 14 | 
|
John Curtin(1885–1945)MP for Fremantle, WA | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| 15 | 
|
Frank Forde(1890–1983)MP for Capricornia, Qld | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| 16 | 
|
Ben Chifley(1885–1951)MP for Macquarie, NSW | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| (12) | 
|
Robert Menzies(1894–1978)MP for Kooyong, Vic | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| 17 | 
|
Harold Holt(1908–1967)MP for Higgins, Vic | Gunner | Second Australian Imperial Force, Australian Army | 1939–1940 | Australia | 2/4th Field Regiment | World War II | Enlisted in the Army in 1939 while a Member of Parliament and was a gunner for 5 months before being recalled after the death of three senior ministers in the Canberra air disaster in 1940.[7] |
| 18 | 
|
John McEwen(1900–1980)MP for Murray, Vic | Private | Australian Army | 1918 | Australia | World War 1 (did not see conflict) | Enlisted in the Army in 1918, and was in camp awaiting embarkation for France when the armistice was declared.[8] | |
| 19 | 
|
Sir John Gorton(1911–2002)MP for Higgins, Vic | Flight Lieutenant | Royal Australian Air Force | 1940–1944 | Australia |
|
World War II | Enlisted in the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) in 1940.[9] A fighter pilot in World War II, flying Hurricanes out of Singapore and later Kittyhawks out of Milne Bay,[9][10] Flight Lieutenant Gorton had three serious crashes, one of which gave him serious facial injuries. He also survived being torpedoed by a Japanese submarine while evacuating from Singapore aboard an ammunition ship, spending 24 hours in the water before rescue.[10] |
| 20 | 
|
William McMahon(1908–1988)MP for Lowe, NSW | Major | Second Australian Imperial Force ,Australian Army | 1940–1945 | Australia | 6th Division | World War II | Enlisted in the Army in 1939/40. Reached rank of Major, but due to a hearing impediment was deemed unfit for overseas service and was confined to work in Australia, where he was a quartermaster for the II Corps and the Second Army.[11] |
| 21 | 
|
Gough Whitlam(1916–2014)MP for Werriwa, NSW | Flight Lieutenant | Royal Australian Air Force | 1941–1945 | Australia | No. 13 Squadron | World War II | Served in World War II in the RAAF as a navigator, reached the rank of Flight Lieutenant. Stationed in northern Australia, protecting convoys and conducting bombing raids on islands to the north.[12] |
| 22 | 
|
Malcolm Fraser(1930–2015)MP for Wannon, Vic | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| 23 | 
|
Bob Hawke(1929–2019)MP for Wills, Vic | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| 24 | 
|
Paul Keating(b. 1944)MP for Blaxland, NSW | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| 25 | 
|
John Howard(b. 1939)MP for Bennelong, NSW | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| 26 | 
|
Kevin Rudd(b. 1957)MP for Griffith, Qld | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| 27 | 
|
Julia Gillard(b. 1961)MP for Lalor, Vic | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| (26) | 
|
Kevin Rudd(b. 1957)MP for Griffith, Qld | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| 28 | 
|
Tony Abbott(b. 1957)MP for Warringah, NSW | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| 29 | 
|
Malcolm Turnbull(b. 1954)MP for Wentworth, NSW | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| 30 | 
|
Scott Morrison(b. 1968)MP for Cook, NSW | Has no prior military service | ||||||
| 31 | 
|
Anthony Albanese(b. 1963)MP for Grayndler, NSW | Has no prior military service | ||||||
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ a b Fitzhardinge, L. F. (1964). William Morris Hughes: A Political Biography. Vol. 1: That Fiery Particle, 1862–1914. Angus & Robertson. p. 17. ISBN 0207137463.
- ^ Lee, David K. C. (2010). Stanley Melbourne Bruce: Australian Internationalist. London: Continuum Press. p. 13. ISBN 978-0-8264-4566-7.
- ^ Stirling, Alfred (1974). Lord Bruce: The London Years. Melbourne: Hawthorn Press. p. 485. ISBN 0-7256-0125-6.
- ^ "Second Supplement". London Gazette (29460): 1337. 1 February 1916. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- ^ "Second Supplement". London Gazette (29486): 2068. 22 February 1916. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- ^ "Obituary: Sir EARLE PAGE, P.C., G.C.M.G., C.H., Hon.D.Sc. M.B., Ch.M., Hon.F.R.C.S., F.R.A.C.S". British Medical Journal. 2 (5269): 1787. 1961. doi:10.1136/bmj.2.5269.1787. PMC 1970945.
- ^ Frame, Tom (2005). The Life and Death of Harold Holt. Allen & Unwin / National Archives of Australia. pp. 16–22. ISBN 978-1-74114-672-1.
- ^ Golding, Peter S. (1996). Black Jack McEwen: Political Gladiator. Carlton, Victoria: Melbourne University Press. pp. 40–41. ISBN 0522847188.
- ^ a b Hancock, Ian (2002). John Gorton: He Did It His Way. Hodder. p. 33. ISBN 0-7336-1439-6.
- ^ a b Trengove, Alan (1969). John Grey Gorton: An Informal Biography. Melbourne: Cassell Australia. pp. 73–80. ISBN 0304939641.
- ^ Commonwealth Members of Parliament who have served in war: the Second World War Archived 10 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Australian Parliamentary Library, 9 September 2016. Retrieved 12 March 2023.
- ^ Lloyd, Clem (2008). Grattan, Michelle (ed.). Australian Prime Ministers (revised ed.). Sydney: New Holland Publishers Pty Ltd. pp. 324–354.