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A leadership election was held on 13 September 1939 to select Earle Page's replacement as leader of the Country Party of Australia and de facto-Deputy Prime Minister. Archie Cameron was elected party leader in preference to John McEwen seven votes to five. [1]
When Joseph Lyons died in office in April 1939, Country Party leader Earl Page was commissioned as caretaker Prime Minister capacity while the United Australia Party (UAP) could elect a new leader. When Robert Menzies was elected as the new UAP leader, Page refused to work under him, and made an extraordinary personal attack on him in the House, accusing him of ministerial incompetence and cowardice for refusing to enlist during World War I. Subsequently, Page refused to serve in Menzies' cabinet and withdrew the Country Party from the coalition. However, this proved unpopular and his party soon rebelled and caused him to resign as party leader. This left the field open for a new leader. [2]
The following table gives the ballot results: [1]
| Name | Votes | Percentage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Archie Cameron | 7 | 58.33 | |
| John McEwen | 5 | 41.66 | |
According to McEwen, the result had been skewed due to the absence of four Country Party MPs who had refused to sit in the party room whilst Page was leader. A motion to re-admit them as members was defeated by seven votes to six. McEwen later claimed in his memoirs that the dissentient MPs were "all strong supporters of mine and, had they been allowed to vote, I would have won the election". All were subsequently re-admitted to the party several months later. [3]
Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page was an Australian politician and surgeon who was the 11th prime minister of Australia, holding office for 19 days after the death of Joseph Lyons in 1939. He was the leader of the Country Party from 1921 to 1939, and was the most influential figure in its early years.
The National Party of Australia, also known as The Nationals or The Nats, is a centre-right Australian political party. Traditionally representing graziers, farmers, and regional voters generally, it began as the Australian Country Party in 1920 at a federal level.
The United Australia Party (UAP) was an Australian political party that was founded in 1931 and dissolved in 1945. The party won four federal elections in that time, usually governing in coalition with the Country Party. It provided two prime ministers: Joseph Lyons (1932–1939) and Robert Menzies (1939–1941).
Joseph Aloysius Lyons was an Australian politician who was the tenth prime minister of Australia, in office from 1932 until his death in 1939. He began his career in the Australian Labor Party (ALP), but became the founding leader of the United Australia Party (UAP) after the Australian Labor Party split of 1931. He had earlier been 26th premier of Tasmania from 1923 to 1928.
Sir John McEwen was an Australian politician and farmer who served as the 18th prime minister of Australia from 1967 to 1968. He was the leader of the Country Party from 1958 to 1971, serving as prime minister in a caretaker capacity following the disappearance of prime minister Harold Holt. He subsequently served as the inaugural deputy prime minister of Australia from 1968 to 1971.
Sir Arthur William Fadden was an Australian politician and accountant who served as the 13th prime minister of Australia from 29 August to 7 October 1941. He was the leader of the Country Party from 1940 to 1958 and served as treasurer of Australia from 1940 to 1941 and 1949 to 1958.
Archie Galbraith Cameron was an Australian politician. He was a government minister under Joseph Lyons and Robert Menzies, leader of the Country Party from 1939 to 1940, and finally Speaker of the House of Representatives from 1950 until his death.
The Liberal–National Coalition, commonly known simply as the Coalition or the LNP, is an alliance of centre-right political parties that forms one of the two major groupings in Australian federal politics. The two partners in the Coalition are the Liberal Party of Australia and the National Party of Australia. Its main opponent is the Australian Labor Party (ALP); the two forces are often regarded as operating in a two-party system. The Coalition was last in government from 2013 to 2022. The group is led by Peter Dutton, who succeeded Scott Morrison after the 2022 federal election.
The Page ministry was the 24th ministry of the Government of Australia. It was led by the country's 11th Prime Minister, Sir Earle Page. The Page ministry succeeded the Fourth Lyons ministry, which dissolved on 7 April 1939 following the death of former Prime Minister Joseph Lyons - the first of three occasions where a sitting Prime Minister died in office. Since Page was the head of the Country Party, it was a caretaker ministry until the senior partner in the Coalition, the United Australia Party, could elect a new leader. Former Attorney-General Robert Menzies was ultimately elected on 18 April 1939. However, due to the Country Party withdrawing from the Coalition after relations between Page and Menzies broke down, Menzies along with his ministry was not sworn in until 26 April 1939.
The First Menzies ministry was the 25th ministry of the Government of Australia. It was led by the country's 12th Prime Minister, Robert Menzies. The First Menzies ministry succeeded the Page ministry, which dissolved on 26 April 1939 following the election of Menzies as UAP leader after the death of former Prime Minister Joseph Lyons. However, due to the Country Party withdrawing from the Coalition after relations between caretaker Prime Minister Sir Earle Page and Menzies broke down, the First Menzies ministry was composed solely of UAP ministers, and was effectively a minority government. The ministry was replaced by the Second Menzies ministry on 14 March 1940 after Menzies took the Country Party back into his government - now led by Archie Cameron.
The 1940 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 21 September 1940. All 74 seats in the House of Representatives and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Coalition, consisting of the United Australia Party led by Prime Minister Robert Menzies and the Country Party led by Archie Cameron, defeated the opposition Labor Party under John Curtin despite losing the overall popular vote.
Thomas Joseph Collins was an Australian politician and businessman. He was a member of the Country Party and served in the House of Representatives from 1931 to 1943. He briefly served as Postmaster-General of Australia in 1941.
Bernard Henry Corser was a politician in Queensland, Australia. He was a member of the Queensland Legislative Assembly from 1912 to 1928 and a member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1928 to 1954.
This is a list of the members of the Australian House of Representatives in the 16th Australian Parliament, which was elected at the 1940 election on 21 September 1940. The incumbent United Australia Party led by Prime Minister of Australia Robert Menzies with coalition partner the Country Party led by Archie Cameron narrowly defeated the opposition Australian Labor Party led by John Curtin and continued to hold power with the support of two independents. In October 1941 the two independents switched their support to Curtin, bringing him to power.
The Menzies government (1939–1941) refers to the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Robert Menzies. Menzies led the United Australia Party in the Australian Parliament from 1939 to 1941. Menzies served a later and longer term as prime minister as leader of a successor party, the Liberal Party of Australia from 1949 to 1966.
The Lyons government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Joseph Lyons. It was made up of members of the United Australia Party in the Australian Parliament from January 1932 until the death of Joseph Lyons in 1939. Lyons negotiated a coalition with the Country Party after the 1934 Australian federal election. The Lyons government stewarded Australia's recovery from the Great Depression and established the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
The Fadden government was the federal executive government of Australia led by Prime Minister Arthur Fadden, as leader of the Country Party. He was appointed prime minister on 29 August 1941, during World War II, following the resignation of Robert Menzies of the United Australia Party (UAP). Fadden continued the coalition government between the Country Party and the UAP, but after just over one month in office the government was defeated on a confidence motion. Fadden was succeeded as prime minister on 7 October 1941 by John Curtin of the Australian Labor Party (ALP).
The United Australia Party held a leadership election on 18 April 1939, following the death in office of Prime Minister Joseph Lyons on 7 April. Robert Menzies narrowly defeated Billy Hughes – a former Nationalist prime minister – on the third ballot, following the earlier elimination of Treasurer Richard Casey and Trade Minister Thomas White. Another former prime minister, Stanley Bruce, had also been considered a leadership contender, but for various reasons he was never nominated. Menzies was not sworn in as prime minister until 26 April.
The United Australia Party (UAP) held a leadership election on 9 October 1941, following the resignation of Robert Menzies on the same day. Billy Hughes was elected as his replacement.
The leader of the National Party of Australia is elected by majority vote of the federal parliamentary party. A deputy leader is elected in the same fashion. The party's longest-serving leader is Earle Page, who held the office from 1921 to 1939. The party's current leader is David Littleproud, who has held this office since 2022. It is historically rare for the incumbent leader and deputy leader to be opposed in a bid for re-election.
