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Edmund Barton – 1901–03 Alfred Deakin – 1903–04, 1905–08, 1909–10 Chris Watson – 1904 George Reid – 1904–05 Andrew Fisher – 1908–09, 1910–13, 1914–15 Joseph Cook – 1913–14 William Morris Hughes – 1915–23 Stanley Melbourne Bruce – 1923–29 James Scullin – 1929–32 Joseph Lyons – 1932–39 Earle Page – 1939 Robert Menzies – 1939–41, 1949–66 Arthur Fadden – 1941 John Curtin – 1941–45 Francis Forde – 1945 Ben Chifley – 1945–49 Harold Holt – 1966–67 John McEwen – 1967–68 John Gorton – 1968–71 William McMahon – 1971–72 Gough Whitlam – 1972–75 Malcolm Fraser – 1975–83 Robert Hawke – 1983–91 Paul Keating – 1991–96 John Howard – 1996–2007 Kevin Rudd – 2007–
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Chris Watson

Australia’s first Labor Prime Minister held office for only four months in 1904, but his imprint on legislation extended through the first decade of the Australian parliament.

Portrait of John Watson

'His Vandyke beard was exquisitely groomed, his abundant brown hair smoothly brushed. His morning coat and vest set off by dark striped trousers, beautifully creased ... He was the perfect picture of the statesman, the leader'. So the new Prime Minister was described (by WM Hughes) at the first meeting of his Cabinet in 1904.

NAA: A1200, L11176A

John Christian Watson was a founder and one of the principal shapers of the Australian Labor Party.

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