Special Sub-Topic: Australian Prime Ministers Click Here To Play: Australian Prime Ministers

Australia's first Prime Minister was Edmund Barton. What job did he do after he resigned in 1903?

High Court Judge. Barton coined the phrase 'for the first time in the world's history there will be a nation for a continent, and a continent for a nation'.

William 'Billy' Hughes was the PM during the First World War. For what issue is he perhaps most famous?

Introducing referendums on conscription. Hughes was an enthusiastic supporter of Australia's involvement in WW1 but his stand on conscription split the Labor Party and the referendum was lost on both occasions.

Which Prime Minister was the only one, during the 20th century, to lose his electoral seat at a federal election?

Stanley Bruce. During his time as PM, Bruce oversaw the transfer of parliament from Melbourne to Canberra.

Becoming Prime Minister in October of 1941, John Curtin turned to which country for help with the war against Japan?

United States of America. A pacifist by nature, Curtin died from strain six weeks before the end of WW2.

With just eight days in office, which Labor Prime Minister held that office for the shortest term during the 20th Century?

Francis Forde. Forde filled in the gap between Curtin's death and Ben Chifley's election in 1945.

Ben Chifley is arguably one of Australia's best loved Prime Ministers. What was his real name?

Joseph Benedict Chifley. Chifley presided over many post-war contructions including the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme and he introduced mass immigration to boost the population.

Harold Holt declared, during his term, that Australia was 'All the way with ______ '?

L.B.J.. This was to show the U.S.A. that Australia would help them with the Vietnam War. Holt went missing while swimming in 1967 and there are still some conspiracy theories surrounding his death.

Which political party was Harold Holt the head of?

Liberal Party. Harold Holt's name is preserved in Australian rhyming slang ... 'pass the Harold Holt' equals 'salt'.

Coining the phrase 'life wasn't meant to be easy', Malcolm Fraser became Prime Minister in what year?

1975. As the Prime Minister for three terms of government (he won the elections of 1975, 1977 and 1980), John Malcolm Fraser passed legislation on Aboriginal Lands Rights. After leaving politics he became involved in International charity work through CARE Australia.

Bob Hawke DID NOT do one of the following during his tenure as Prime Minister: which one?

Give Aborigines the right to vote. Robert James Lee Hawke won four elections (1983, 1984, 1987 and 1990) to become the longest serving PM during the 20th century for the Labor Party.