Political families of Australia


A political family of Australia is a family in which multiple members are involved in Australian politics, particularly electoral politics. Members may be related by blood or marriage; often several generations or multiple siblings may be involved. Like comparable liberal democracies in the United States, Japan, Canada and The United Kingdom, Australia is susceptible to the phenomenon of political dynasties. There have been many instances where members of the same family have been elected to the same state or federal electoral district, sometimes immediately succeeding a family member.
The following families have had two or more members serve as premier of an Australian state:
  • Butler family -
  • Cain family -
  • Court family -
  • Hamer family -
  • Playford family -
The following families have had two or more members serve in the same federal cabinet position:
  • Beazley family -
  • Crean family -
  • Lyons family -
The following families have had two or more members serve in vice-regal positions:
The following families have had three or more members elected to the same district:
The following families have had two or more members serve as mayor of an Australian capital city:
  • Fong Lim family -
  • Leake family -
  • Shenton family -
  • Valentine family -
The following families had two members elected to the same district:
  • Adermann family -
  • Archer family -
  • Bacon family -
  • Basedow family -
  • Bell family -
  • Berry family -
  • Blyth family -
  • Booth family -
  • Brown/Hoare family -
  • Burdekin family -
  • Byrnes family -
  • Cameron family -
  • Camm family -
  • Chaffey family -
  • Clark family -
  • Clarke family -
  • Corrigan family -
  • Court family -
  • Cremean family -
  • Cribb family -
  • Evans family -
  • Fitzgibbon family -
  • Gilmore family -
  • Goldsworthy family -
  • Groom family -
  • Hanlon family -
  • Hodgman family -,,
  • Holland family -
  • Hunter family -
  • James family -
  • Jenkins family -
  • Katter family -
  • Knowles family -
  • Lang family -
  • Lawson family -
  • McColl family -
  • McIntyre/Fletcher family -
  • McKechnie family -
  • McLaurin family -
  • McLeod family -
  • McLeod family -
  • McVeigh family -
  • Morgan family -
  • Muller family -
  • Mutton family -
  • Palaszczuk family -
  • Pratten family -
  • Piesse family -,
  • Pitt family -
  • Rattray family -
  • Riordan family -
  • Row family -
  • Russell family -
  • Shannon family -
  • Solomon family -
  • Stephen family -
  • Stephens family -
  • Street family -
  • Sullivan family -
  • Tanner family -
  • Watkins family -
  • White family -
  • Willmott family -,
  • Wilson family -

A

Abbott

Abetz

Adermann

Ah Kit

Aldred

Allen

Anderson

Anthony

Archer ''(Queensland)''

Archer ''(Tasmania)''

Archer ''([Calder, Tasmania])''

Aston

Aylett

B

à Beckett

Bacon

Badgery

Baillieu

Baird

Baker ''(Queensland)''

Baker ''(South Australia)''

Barnard

Barnes

Basedow

Baume

Beale

Beazley

Beerworth

Bell ''(Queensland)''

Bell ''(New South Wales)''

Berry

Best

Birney

Blaxland

Blyth

Booth

Bowman

Braid

Brennan

Briskey

Brown/Hoare

Brown/Ritchie

Broughton

Broun

Bruxner

Bull

Burdekin

Burke

Bushby

Butler

Buzacott

Byrnes

C

Cain

Cameron ''(Queensland)''

Cameron ''(South Australia)''

Cameron ''(Tasmania)''

Camm

Campbell

Cann

Casey

Catania

Chaffey

Chaney

Chanter

Chapman

Chataway

Clark

Clarke

Corcoran

Corrigan

Corser

Court

Courtice

Cowan ''(South Australia)''

Cowan ''(Western Australia)''

Cowper

Crean

Cremean

Cribb

D

Darling

Dawkins

Davies

Delahunty

Dick

Dobson

Douglas

''Alex Douglas is also a nephew of Bob Katter and cousin of Rob Katter ''

Downer

Duncan

Dunn

Dutton

E

Emerson

Evans

Ewing

F

Fairbairn

Farrell ''(Tasmania)''

Farrell ''(Queensland)''

Ferguson

Fitzgerald

Fitzgibbon

Fisken/Ronaldson

Fong Lim

Foote

Fraser ''(ACT)''

Fraser ''(Victoria)''

G

Garran

Gibson

Gilmore

Goldsworthy

Grimwade

Groom ''(Queensland)''

Groom ''(Tasmania)''

Gullett

Guy

H

Hamer

Hanlon

Hannaford

Hargrave

Harrison/Walters

Hawke

Henderson

Henty

Heydon

Higham

Hiscutt

Hodgman

Holland

Hood

Horne

Hughes

The Hughes family has a long history in both New South Wales and Federal politics.

Hunt

Hunter

J

James

Jamison

Jenkins

Jones

Jones

K

Katter

Kennedy

King

Kingston

Kneebone

Knowles

Knox

Knuth

L

Lamb

Laming

Lang

Lawlor/France

Lawrie

Lawson

Lazzarini

Leake

Lee Steere

Lefroy

Lemmon

Lewis

Brothers
their grandfather

Littleproud

Lyne

Lyons

M

Macarthur

Macleay

Macrossan

Mann

Marmion

Marwick

McClelland

McColl

McGirr

McIntyre/Fletcher

McKechnie

McLachlan

McLarty

  • John McLarty, MLA in Western Australia 1904–1909; brother of Edward
  • Edward McLarty, MLC in Western Australia 1894–1916; brother of John
  • Ross McLarty, MLA in Western Australia 1930–1962, Premier 1947–1953; son of Edward

McLaurin

McLeod ''([Daylesford, Victoria])''

McLeod ''([Portland, Victoria])''

McMahon/Walder

McVeigh

Melloy/Darling

Menzies/Leckie

Miles/Vallentine/Fisher

Morgan

Morrison

Morris

Morris/Wilson

Muller

Murphy

Murray

Murray-Prior

Mutton

N

Nalder

Newman

Nicholls

Nott

O

O'Byrne

O'Connell

''Sir Maurice Charles O'Connell's maternal grandfather was William Bligh, Governor of New South Wales.''

Ogilvie

Oldfield

O'Sullivan/MacGroarty

Osborne

P

Page

  • Sir Earle Page was Prime Minister of Australia in 1939 and a Country Party Member of the House of Representatives from 1919 to 1961. His grandson
  • *Donald Page was a member of the NSW Legislative Assembly from 1988 to 2015 and a minister in the NSW Government from 2011 to 2014.

Palaszczuk

Palmer

Parker

Pearsall

Perrett

Pickard

Piesse

Pitt

Playfair

Playford

Plunkett

Porter

Polley

Pratten

Price/Hampton

Prowse/Herbert

Purich/Purick

R

Rankin

Rattray

Reynolds

Riley

Riordan

Row

Ruddock

Rusden

Russell

S

Sargood

Shakespeare

Shannon

Shenton

Smith ''(Victoria)''

Snodgrass

Solomon

Spender

Stephen

Stephens

Strangways

Street

Sullivan

Suttor

T

Tanner

Teague

Tehan

  • Marie Tehan was a Liberal member of the Victorian Legislative Council from 1987 to 1992 and of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1992 to 1999. She was a minister in the Victorian Government. Her son
  • *Dan Tehan has been a Liberal member of the Australian House of Representatives since 2010.

Theodore

Theophanous

Thompson

  • Lindsay Thompson was a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Council from 1955 to 1970 and of the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1970 to 1982. He was the 40th Premier of Victoria. His son
  • *Murray Thompson has been a Liberal Party member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 1992.

Thorn/Harris/Hill/Casey

Toohey

Townley

Tozer

Turnbull

V

Vale

Valentine

Vardon

Venning

Veryard

W

Walker

Want

Watkins

Weatherill

Webster

Wentworth/Hill/Griffiths/Scott/Cooper

Whan

White

Whitlam

Wienholt

Willesee

Willmott

  • F. E. S. Willmott, MLA in Western Australia 1914–1921, MLC in Western Australia 1921–1926; father of F. D.
  • Edmund Brockman, MLA in Western Australia 1933–1934; brother-in-law of F. E. S.
  • William Willmott, MLA in Western Australia 1938–1947; nephew of F. E. S.
  • F. D. Willmott, MLA in Western Australia 1955–1974; son of F. E. S.

Wills

Wilshire

Wilson

Windeyer

Wise

Wood

Woolcott

Wooldridge

Wordsworth

Wriedt

Wright

Wyatt

Spouses

There have been several instances of married couples being individually elected or appointed to office in Australian federal and state politics. In some cases, male politicians have died in office and were succeeded by their wives. and Fanny Brownbill succeeded her husband William Brownbill in the Electoral district of Geelong following his death.
In other cases the couples represented the same geographic areas but in different electoral districts, or similar geographic areas but at different times.

Anthony Albanese and Carmel Tebbutt

Florence and Joh Bjelke-Petersen

Steele Hall and Joan Bullock

Bob and Brenda Gibbs

Linda and Michael Lavarch

Mary and Michael Easson

Joseph and Enid Lyons

Jocelyn and Kevin Newman

Alexander and Millie Peacock

Jane and Ian Prentice

Carryn and Jon Sullivan

Kelvin and Marsha Thomson

  • Kelvin Thomson was an MP in the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1988–1995 and was MHR for Wills in the Australian Parliament from 1996 until his retirement in 2016. His ex-wife Marsha Thomson was a member of the Victorian Legislative Council and has represented Footscray in the Victorian Legislative Assembly since 2006. She was the first Jewish woman to be a minister in any Australian Government serving in the Bracks and Brumby cabinets.

Malcolm and Lucy Turnbull

William and Fanny Brownbill

Sophie and Greg Mirabella

Maurice and Doris Blackburn

Susan Ryan and Richard Butler

Belinda Neal and John Della Bosca

Dana and Russell Wortley

Alison Byrnes and Paul Scully

Jim McKiernan and Jackie Watkins

Trish Worth and Michael Cobb

Helen and Joe Bullock

Sally Talbot and Jon Ford

John Graham and Jenny McAllister

Steve Hutchins, Diane Beamer, Natalie Hutchins

His first wife:
His second wife: