Page "Prime Minister of Australia" Paragraph 13

* Federation occurred on 1 January 1901, but elections for the first parliament were not scheduled until late March.

In the interim, a caretaker non-elected government was necessary.

In what is now known as the Hopetoun Blunder, the governor-general, Lord Hopetoun, invited Sir William Lyne, the premier of the most populous state, New South Wales, to form a government.

Lyne was unable to do so and returned his commission in favour of Edmund Barton, who became the first prime minister and led the inaugural government into and beyond the election.