Spouse of the Prime Minister of Australia

The spouse of the Prime Minister of Australia is a position that has been occupied only by women to date, thus the spouse is usually known as the Prime Minister's wife.

The Prime Minister's spouse has no official duties. In addition to assisting their partners in political campaigns, Prime Ministers’ wives are expected to participate in official duties that come with the position. These can include hosting foreign dignitaries, and, in particular, entertaining the spouses of dignitaries; accompanying their husbands on national and international trips; attending conferences and functions; launching ships; and speaking in public, particularly in their husbands' constituencies.cite web|url = http://www.oph.gov.au/mrspm/national_hostess.asp|title = National Hostess|work = Mrs Prime Minister—Public Image, Private Lives: Travelling exhibition|publisher = Old Parliament House (Commonwealth of Australia: Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts)| accessdate = 2008-07-30]

As the wife of the Prime Minister, the women in these roles have attended the opening of Parliament; hosted visitors at the Lodge and Kirribilli House; visited Buckingham Palace, the White House, or the Japanese Imperial Palace; and been present at royal coronations and conferences on war and women.

Some wives, notably Elizabeth Chifley, stayed mainly at home and took little part in their husband's public life. [cite web|url = http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/meetpm.asp?pmId=16&pageName=wife| title = Elizabeth Chifley |work = Australia's Prime Ministers|publisher = National Archives of Australia|accessdate = 2008-07-30] Others, notably Enid Lyons, were preoccupied with rearing children (11 in her case; another child had died in infancy). Most recent Prime Ministers' wives have been involved in charities or community organisations, working to raise public awareness, funds, and support for a range of causes. Tamie Fraser was the first prime ministerial wife to secure an official secretary for dealing with her correspondence. [cite web|url = http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/meetpm.asp?pmId=22&pageName=wife | title = Tamie Fraser |work = Australia's Prime Ministers|publisher = National Archives of Australia|accessdate = 2008-07-30]

Some wives have received official recognition for their services to the community. Five have been given damehoods: Dame Mary Cook, Dame Mary Hughes, Dame Enid Lyons, Dame Pattie Menzies and Dame Zara Holt. Margaret Whitlam was made an Officer of the Order of Australia.

Only one Prime Minister's wife has gone into politics in her own right: Dame Enid Lyons, who became the first woman to be elected to the House of Representatives in 1943, four years after her husband's death. She was a junior minister in the Menzies Government from 1949 to 1951. Other wives have been credited with significant behind-the-scenes political influence, but this has usually been impossible to verify.

Table

No.	Name	Prime Minister	Term start date	Term end date
1	Jane Barton (Lady Barton) [Jane Barton became Lady Barton when Edmund Barton was knighted in 1902, during his term as Prime Minister.]	(Sir) Edmund Barton [Edmund Barton was knighted in 1902, during his term as Prime Minister.]	1 January 1901	24 September 1903
2	Pattie Deakin	Alfred Deakin	24 September 1903 5 July 1905 2 June 1909	27 April 1904 13 November 1908 29 April 1910
3	Ada Watson	Chris Watson	27 April 1904	18 August 1904
4	Flora Reid	George Reid	18 August 1904	5 July 1905
5	Margaret Fisher	Andrew Fisher	13 November 1908 29 April 1910 17 September 1914	2 June 1909 24 June 1913 27 October 1915
6	Mary Cook [Mary Cook became a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1925.]	Joseph Cook	24 June 1913	17 September 1914
7	(Dame) Mary Hughes [Mary Hughes became a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in 1921, during Billy Hughes's term as Prime Minister. [http://www.itsanhonour.gov.au/honours/honour_roll/search.cfm?aus_award_id=1072318&search_type=advanced&showInd=true] ]	Billy Hughes	27 October 1915	9 February 1923
8	Ethel Bruce [In 1947, Stanley Bruce was elevated to the peerage as Viscount Bruce of Melbourne. Ethel Bruce thus became Viscountess Bruce of Melbourne.]	Stanley Bruce	9 February 1923	22 October 1929
9	Sarah Scullin	James Scullin	22 October 1929	6 January 1932
10	(Dame) Enid Lyons [Enid Lyons became a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in 1936, during Joseph Lyons's term as Prime Minister. She was also made a Dame of the Order of Australia (AD) in 1980.]	Joseph Lyons	6 January 1932	7 April 1939
11	Lady Page (Ethel Page) [Earle Page was the only Australian Prime Minister to have been a knight at the time of becoming Prime Minister.]	Sir Earle Page	7 April 1939	26 April 1939
12	(Dame) Pattie Menzies [Pattie Menzies was made a Dame Grand Cross of the Order of the British Empire (GBE) in 1954, during Robert Menzies's second term as Prime Minister. Although he was also knighted, this occurred after she had become a Dame in her own right.]	(Sir) Robert Menzies [ Robert Menzies was knighted in 1963, during his second term as Prime Minister.]	26 April 1939 19 December 1949	28 August 1941 26 January 1966
13	Ilma Fadden	Arthur Fadden	28 August 1941	7 October 1941
14	Elsie Curtin	John Curtin	7 October 1941	5 July 1945
15	Vera Forde	Frank Forde	6 July 1945	13 July 1945
16	Elizabeth Chifley	Ben Chifley	13 July 1945	19 December 1949
17	Zara Holt [Zara Holt became a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in 1968, after her husband's death. She later married Jeff Bate and was known as Dame Zara Bate.]	Harold Holt	26 January 1966	19 December 1967
18	None [John McEwen was a widower, the only Australian Prime Minister to be single during his term of office. His wife of 45 years, Dame Ann McEwen, had died in February 1967. In July 1968, he married Mary Byrne, who became Lady McEwen when he was knighted in 1971.]	John McEwen	19 December 1967	10 January 1968
19	Bettina Gorton	John Gorton	10 January 1968	10 March 1971
20	Sonia McMahon	William McMahon	10 March 1971	5 December 1972
21	Margaret Whitlam	Gough Whitlam	5 December 1972	11 November 1975
22	Tamie Fraser	Malcolm Fraser	11 November 1975	11 March 1983
23	Hazel Hawke	Bob Hawke	11 March 1983	20 December 1991
24	Annita Keating	Paul Keating	20 December 1991	11 March 1996
25	Janette Howard	John Howard	11 March 1996	3 December 2007
26	Thérèse Rein	Kevin Rudd	3 December 2007	"Incumbent"

Notes

See also

* First Lady of various other countries

Further reading

*cite book|last = Langmore|first = Diane| title = Prime Ministers’ Wives: The Public and Private Lives of Ten Australian Women| publisher = McPhee Gribble|location - Ringwood, VIC| date = 1992
*cite web|url = http://www.oph.gov.au/mrspm/|title = Mrs Prime Minister—Public Image, Private Lives| work = Travelling exhibition|publisher = Old Parliament House (Commonwealth of Australia: Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts)| accessdate = 2008-07-30