List of oldest living Australian premiers

The following are lists of the politicians who were or are the longest living and oldest still living premiers of each Australian state. The current oldest living premier of an Australian state is Barrie Unsworth (born 16 April 1934), aged 90 years, 222 days, Premier of New South Wales from 1986 to 1988. The second oldest living premier of an Australian state is Tony Rundle (born 5 March 1939), aged 85 years, 264 days, Premier of Tasmania from 1996 to 1998. Jack Lang (1876–1975), the Premier of New South Wales from 1925 to 1927 and 1930 to 1932, lived the longest lifespan of any premier, having died at the age of 98 years, 280 days.

Territorial premiers are included in italics.

Longest living Australian premiers

Start date	End date	Premier	State	Birth date	Term(s) as premier	Party
30 November 1855	26 August 1856	William Haines	Victoria	10 January 1810	1856	No party
26 August 1856	26 February 1857	Charles Cowper	New South Wales	26 April 1807	1856, 1857–1859, 1861–1863, 1865–1866	No party
26 February 1857	4 January 1874	Thomas Gregson	Tasmania	7 February 1796	1857	No party
4 January 1874	21 February 1888	William Weston	Tasmania	28 November 1804	1857	No party
21 February 1888	24 December 1893	B. T. Finniss	South Australia	18 August 1807	1856–1857	No party
24 December 1893	15 November 1897	Alfred Kennerley	Tasmania	10 October 1810	1873–1876	No party
15 November 1897	10 April 1906	Adye Douglas	Tasmania	31 May 1815	1886–1888	No party
10 April 1906	17 January 1909	Francis Smith	Tasmania	13 February 1819	1857–1860	No party
17 January 1909	10 February 1912	Thomas Reibey	Tasmania	24 September 1821	1876–1877	No party
10 February 1912	1 February 1916	James Boucaut	South Australia	29 October 1831	1866–1867, 1875–1876, 1877–1878	No party
1 February 1916	10 February 1920	Henry Strangways	South Australia	14 November 1832	1868–1870	No party
10 February 1920	9 August 1920	Samuel Griffith	Queensland	21 June 1845	1883–1888, 1890–1893	No party
9 August 1920	10 August 1933	Alf Morgans	Western Australia	February 17, 1850	1901	No party
10 August 1933	25 October 1940	Thomas Waddell	New South Wales	1 January 1854	1904	Progressive
25 October 1940	2 October 1943	John Evans	Tasmania	1 December 1855	1904–1909	No party
2 October 1943	10 May 1944	Digby Denham	Queensland	25 January 1859	1911–1915	Ministerial
10 May 1944	26 July 1951	James Mitchell	Western Australia	27 April 1866	1919–1924	Nationalist
26 July 1951	12 July 1956	John Hayes	Tasmania	21 April 1868	1922–1923	Nationalist
12 July 1956	1 June 1963	Walter Lee	Tasmania	27 April 1874	1916–1922, 1923, 1934	Nationalist
1 June 1963	27 September 1975	Jack Lang	New South Wales	21 December 1876	1925–1927, 1930–1932	Labor
27 September 1975	27 July 1978	Bob Heffron	New South Wales	10 September 1890	1959–1964	Labor
27 July 1978	11 January 1985	William McKell	New South Wales	26 September 1891	1941–1947	Labor
11 January 1985	29 June 1986	Frank Wise	Western Australia	30 May 1897	1945–1947	Labor
29 June 1986	20 October 1995	John Tonkin	Western Australia	2 February 1902	1971–1974	Labor
20 October 1995	22 August 2004	Angus Bethune	Tasmania	10 September 1908	1969–1972	Liberal
22 August 2004	23 April 2005	Joh Bjelke-Pietersen	Queensland	13 January 1911	1968–1987	National
23 April 2005	22 December 2007	Charles Court	Western Australia	29 September 1911	1974–1982	Liberal
22 December 2007	25 April 2016	Tom Lewis	New South Wales	23 January 1922	1975–1976	Liberal
25 April 2016	10 June 2024	Steele Hall	South Australia	30 November 1928	1968–1970	Liberal
10 June 2024	present	Barrie Unsworth	New South Wales	16 April 1934	1986–1988	Labor

Oldest living Australian premiers

These are the 20 oldest living Australian premiers, current or former. The longevity in this table is calculated as of November 24, 2024. Territorial chief ministers are included but not ranked.

Rank	Premier	Date of birth	Term(s) as premier	State	Party	Lifespan
1	Barrie Unsworth	(1934-04-16)16 April 1934	1986–1988	New South Wales	Labor	90 years, 222 days
2	Tony Rundle	(1939-03-05)5 March 1939	1996–1998	Tasmania	Liberal	85 years, 264 days
3	Robin Gray	(1940-03-01)1 March 1940	1982–1989	Tasmania	Liberal	84 years, 268 days
4	Russell Cooper	(1941-02-04)4 February 1941	1989	Queensland	National	83 years, 294 days
N/A	Marshall Perron	(1942-02-05)5 February 1942	1988–1995	Northern Territory	Country Liberal Party	81 years, 294 days
5	Doug Lowe	(1942-05-15)15 May 1942	1977–1981	Tasmania	Labor	82 years, 193 days
N/A	Paul Everingham	(1943-02-04)4 February 1943	1988–1995	Northern Territory	Country Liberal Party	82 years, 293 days
6	Dean Brown	(1943-04-05)5 April 1943	1993–1996	South Australia	Liberal	81 years, 233 days
7	Peter Dowding	(1943-10-06)6 October 1943	1988–1990	Western Australia	Labor	81 years, 49 days
8	Ray Groom	(1944-09-03)3 September 1944	1992–1996	Tasmania	Liberal	80 years, 82 days
9	John Olsen	(1945-06-07)7 June 1945	1996–2001	South Australia	Liberal	79 years, 170 days
10	Brian Burke	(1947-02-25)25 February 1947	1983–1988	Western Australia	Labor	77 years, 273 days
11	Nick Greiner	(1947-04-27)27 April 1947	1988–1992	New South Wales	Liberal	77 years, 211 days
12	Richard Court	(1947-09-27)27 September 1947	1993–2001	Western Australia	Liberal	77 years, 58 days
13	Bob Carr	(1947-09-28)28 September 1947	1995–2005	New South Wales	Labor	77 years, 57 days
14	Jeff Kennett	(1948-03-02)2 March 1948	1992–1999	Victoria	Liberal	76 years, 267 days
15	Carmen Lawrence	(1948-03-02)2 March 1948	1990–1993	Western Australia	Labor	76 years, 267 days
N/A	Rosemary Follett	(1948-03-27)27 March 1948	1989, 1991–1995	Australian Capital Territory	Labor	76 years, 242 days
16	Michael Field	(1948-05-28)28 May 1948	1989–1992	Tasmania	Labor	76 years, 180 days
N/A	Denis Burke	(1948-09-22)22 September 1948	1999–2001	Northern Territory	Country Liberal Party	76 years, 63 days
17	Lynn Arnold	(1949-01-27)27 January 1949	1992–1993	South Australia	Labor	75 years, 302 days
18	Colin Barnett	(1950-07-15)15 July 1950	2008–2007	Western Australia	Liberal	74 years, 132 days
N/A	Shane Stone	(1950-09-25)25 September 1950	1995–1999	Northern Territory	Country Liberal Party	74 years, 60 days
19	Geoff Gallop	(1951-09-27)27 September 1951	2001–2006	Western Australia	Labor	73 years, 58 days
20	Denis Napthine	(1952-03-06)6 March 1952	2013–2014	Victoria	Liberal	72 years, 263 days

See also

• List of premiers of New South Wales by age
• List of premiers of Queensland by age
• List of premiers of South Australia by age
• List of premiers of Tasmania by age
• List of premiers of Victoria by age
• List of premiers of Western Australia by age

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