Interesting Facts about Australian Prime Ministers Quiz

Answer: Harold Holt

Harold Holt (1908-1967) was the 17th Prime Minister and served from January 26, 1966 - December 17, 1967. He disappeared while swimming at Cheviot Beach near Portsea, Victoria and was presumed drowned. He was last seen swimming in the ocean, then being dragged under a wave and was never seen again.

His body was never found. A memorial service was held in Melbourne on December 22, 1967 and was attended by US President, Lyndon Johnson, British Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, Charles, Prince of Wales and a number of dignitaries from Asia.

Answer: Bob Hawke

Bob Hawke was the 23rd Prime Minister and held office from March 11, 1983- December 20, 1991. As a Rhodes Scholar attending Oxford University he set a new world record by drinking 2½ pints of beer from a scone pot in 11 seconds. The feat was immortalised by the Guinness Book of Records in 1954.

In later life, Bob was known to suggest that his political career was enhanced by that single feat, particularly in a country that has a strong beer drinking culture among the voting public.

Answer: Joseph Lyons

Joseph Lyons (1879-1939) was the 10th Prime Minister and held office from January 6, 1932-April 7, 1939. He was the Premier of Tasmania from 1923-1928 and the first Australian Prime Minister who was born in Tasmania. He died of a heart attack in April, 1939 aged 59 years.

He wife Enid Lyons (with whom he had 12 children) entered politics after his death and became the first female to be elected to the Australian House of Representatives in 1943.

Answer: Gough Whitlam

Gough Whitlam (1916-2010) was the 21st Prime Minister from December 5, 1972-November 11, 1975. He was controversially dismissed by the Governor General of Australia, Sir John Kerr. The Governor General is appointed by the British Monarch (in this instance Queen Elizabeth II) on the advice of the Prime Minister and is the monarchs representative in Australia. Whitlam's dismissal was during the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis.

Although the Whitlam government had introduced programs and policies it had also been riddled with scandal and miscalculations.

The crisis escalated due to the fact that the Opposition had control of the Senate and refused to pass appropriation bills which contributed to the poor state of the economy. Due to deadlock, the Governor General dismissed Whitlam as Prime Minister and asked Malcolm Fraser of the Opposition to form a caretaker government.

This move was unprecedented in Australian political history.

Answer: Frank Forde

Frank Forde (1890-1983) was the 15th Prime Minister who held office for only eight days from July 6, 1945-July 13, 1945. Frank Forde was the Deputy Party Leader of Labor when Prime Minister John Curtin died on July 5, 1945. On July 6, 1945 Frank Forde was sworn in as Prime Minister, however, his party had a leadership ballot on July 13 and his opponent Ben Chifley won with Forde being elected the Deputy Leader. Chifley was sworn in as the 16th Prime Minister on that same day.

Answer: Stanley Bruce

Stanley Bruce (1883-1967) was the 8th Prime Minister from February 9, 1923-October 22, 1929. Bruce served in the Gallipoli campaign (WWI) and returned to Australia as a wounded veteran in 1917. He entered politics in 1918 and as Prime Minister at the 1929 Election, not only did his party lose the election but he also lost his seat.

In 1933 he became the High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and was elevated to the peerage in 1947. He then became the first Australian to sit in the House of Lords.

Answer: Chris Watson

Chris Watson (1867-1941) was the 3rd Prime Minister and served from April 27, 1904-August 18, 1904. His father was a Chilean citizen of German decent named Johan Cristian Tanck and his mother was a New Zealander, Martha Minchin. His mother remarried in 1869 to George Watson, in which young Chris took the surname.

Chris Watson grew up in New Zealand and moved to Australia in 1886. In 1904 he became the first Prime Minister from the Australian Labour Party and the world's first Labour government at a national level. Unfortunately, his party did not have a majority in either the House of Representatives or the Senate and in "despair" Watson resigned. He held the position of PM for less than four months.

Answer: John Gorton

John Gorton (1911-2002) was the 19th Prime Minister from January 10, 1968-March 10, 1971. During WWII he was involved in a dogfight with Japanese planes over the South China Sea. His plane was damaged and he crash landed on Bintan island. He suffered very bad facial injuries and was sent back to hospital in Singapore. Three days before Japan captured Singapore he was sent on a ship to Batavia (Indonesia) but the ship was torpedoed and he was sent adrift in a crowded life raft before being picked up by an Australia corvette and eventually returned to Australia.

He entered Federal politics in 1950 and held may ministerial positions before becoming the leader of the Liberal Party in 1968. He resigned as Prime Minister in 1971 after a party power struggle with the next Prime Minister William McMahon.

Note: RAAF (Royal Australian Air Force).

Answer: Andrew Fisher

Andrew Fisher (1862-1928) was the 5th Prime Minister, however, he was PM on three occasions November 13, 1908-June 2, 1909, April 29, 1910-June 24, 1913 and September 17, 1914-October 27, 1915. It was during his second government that he was responsible for issuing Australia's first paper currency and also forming the Royal Australian Navy. The first bank note printed in 1913 was a 10-shilling note and in 2008 it was purchased for $A 1.9 million. The note was printed in Flinders Lane, Melbourne on May 1, 1913 in the presence of Fisher and the Governor General, Lord Denman.

Answer: Billy Hughes

Billy Hughes (1862-1952) was the 7th Prime Minister from October 27, 1915 -February 9, 1923. During that period he headed three parties; Labor, National Labor and Nationalist. He was originally a Labor Party Member but was also a member of the Australia Party, then United Australia, then Liberal.

In a 51 year federal parliamentary career he was expelled from three parties and represented four different electorates in two states. He died in 1952 at the age of 90 and was still serving in parliament.

He signed the Treaty of Versailles on behalf of Australia and was welcomed back in Australia as "the little digger".