Living Former Prime Ministers
There are currently six living former prime ministers of Australia:
| Name | Term of office | Date of birth |
|---|---|---|
| Gough Whitlam | 1972–1975 | (1916-07-11) 11 July 1916 (age 96) |
| Malcolm Fraser | 1975–1983 | (1930-05-21) 21 May 1930 (age 82) |
| Bob Hawke | 1983–1991 | (1929-12-09) 9 December 1929 (age 82) |
| Paul Keating | 1991–1996 | (1944-01-18) 18 January 1944 (age 68) |
| John Howard | 1996–2007 | (1939-07-26) 26 July 1939 (age 73) |
| Kevin Rudd | 2007–2010 | (1957-09-21) 21 September 1957 (age 55) |
The greatest number of living former prime ministers at any one time was eight. This has occurred twice:
- Between 7 October 1941 (when John Curtin succeeded Arthur Fadden) and 18 November 1941 (when Chris Watson died), the eight living former prime ministers were Bruce, Cook, Fadden, Hughes, Menzies, Page, Scullin and Watson
- Between 13 July 1945 (when Ben Chifley succeeded Frank Forde) and 30 July 1947 (when Sir Joseph Cook died), the eight living former prime ministers were Bruce, Cook, Fadden, Forde, Hughes, Menzies, Page and Scullin.
Seven former prime ministers were alive between 18 November 1941 and 13 July 1945, and between 30 July 1947 and 13 June 1951.
Gough Whitlam has lived in the lifetime of every prime minister of Australia and has achieved a greater age than any other prime minister. The most recently deceased prime minister was John Gorton (1968–1971), who died on 19 May 2002.
Read more about this topic: Prime Minister Of Australia
Famous quotes containing the words living, prime and/or ministers:
“To coöperate in the highest as well as the lowest sense, means to get our living together. I heard it proposed lately that two young men should travel together over the world, the one without money, earning his means as he went, before the mast and behind the plow, the other carrying a bill of exchange in his pocket. It was easy to see that they could not long be companions or coöperate, since one would not operate at all. They would part at the first interesting crisis in their adventures.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Ye elms that wave on Malvern Hill
In prime of morn and May,
Recall ye how McClellan’s men
Here stood at bay?”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“... the black girls didn’t get these pills because their black ministers were up on the pulpit saying that birth control pills were black genocide. What I’m saying is that black men have exploited black women.... They didn’t want them to have any choice about their reproductive health. And if you can’t control your reproduction, you can’t control your life.”
—Joycelyn Elders (b. 1933)