Earle Page
FRCS | |
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11th Prime Minister of Australia | |
In office 7 April 1939 – 26 April 1939 | |
Monarch | George VI |
Governor‑General | Lord Gowrie |
Preceded by | Joseph Lyons |
Succeeded by | Robert Menzies |
Leader of the Country Party | |
In office 5 April 1921 – 13 September 1939 | |
Deputy | |
Preceded by | Minister for Health |
In office 19 December 1949 – 11 January 1956 | |
Prime Minister | Robert Menzies |
Preceded by | Nick McKenna |
Succeeded by | Donald Cameron |
In office 29 November 1937 – 7 November 1938 | |
Prime Minister | Joseph Lyons |
Preceded by | Billy Hughes |
Succeeded by | Harry Foll |
Minister for Commerce | |
In office 28 October 1940 – 7 October 1941 | |
Prime Minister | |
Preceded by | Archie Cameron |
Succeeded by | William Scully |
In office 9 November 1932 – 26 April 1939 | |
Prime Minister | Joseph Lyons |
Preceded by | Frederick Stewart |
Succeeded by | George McLeay |
Treasurer of Australia | |
In office 9 February 1923 – 21 October 1929 | |
Prime Minister | Stanley Bruce |
Preceded by | Stanley Bruce |
Succeeded by | Ted Theodore |
Father of the House | |
In office 28 October 1952 – 9 December 1961 | |
Preceded by | Billy Hughes |
Succeeded by | Eddie Ward |
Member of the Australian Parliament for Cowper | |
In office 13 December 1919 – 9 December 1961 | |
Preceded by | John Thomson |
Succeeded by | Frank McGuren |
Chancellor of the University of New England | |
In office 8 February 1955 – 1960 | |
Deputy | Phillip Wright |
Preceded by | Position established |
Succeeded by | Phillip Wright |
Personal details | |
Born | Earle Christmas Grafton Page 8 August 1880 Grafton, Colony of New South Wales |
Died | 20 December 1961 Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia | (aged 81)
Resting place | St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney |
Political party | Country |
Spouses | |
Children | 5 |
Relatives | |
Residence(s) | Grafton, New South Wales, Australia |
Education |
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Alma mater | University of Sydney |
Occupation |
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Country Party Leadership Elections
Term of government (April 1939)
Autobiography |
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Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page
Page was born in
Page returned to cabinet after the 1934 election, when the Country Party entered a new coalition with Joseph Lyons' United Australia Party (UAP). He was appointed Minister for Commerce, and concentrated on agricultural issues. When Lyons died in office in April 1939, Page was commissioned as his successor in a caretaker capacity while the UAP elected a new leader, Robert Menzies. Page subsequently denounced Menzies and refused to serve in his cabinet, withdrawing the Country Party from the coalition, but this proved unpopular and he resigned the party leadership after a few months. The coalition was eventually reconstituted, and Page served again as Minister for Commerce under Menzies and Arthur Fadden until the government's defeat in October 1941.
Page's last major role was as
Early life
Birth and family background
Earle Christmas Grafton Page was born in
Education
Page began his schooling at Grafton Public School, where he excelled academically. His family could not afford to send him to boarding school, as a result of financial difficulties caused by the
Medical career
Page's first professional posting came before he had even been registered as a medical practitioner. Due to a shortage of doctors, he was acting superintendent of the
Page was a keen adopter of new technologies. In 1904, he bought what he claimed was "the first
In February 1916, Page enlisted in the
Early political involvement
Page's medical career brought him considerable wealth, and he began investing in land. He bought several large farming properties in
Page visited a number of hydroelectric sites in North America in 1917, on his way back from military service in France. He was elected mayor of South Grafton in 1918, serving until 1920, and also became the inaugural president of the North Coast Development League. He developed more concrete plans for a hydroelectric project on the
Bruce–Page government
Government formation
Page was elected leader of the Country Party in 1921, replacing
Page then began negotiations with Hughes' successor as leader of the Nationalists,
Treasurer
As Treasurer, Page formed a close working relationship with Bruce.
Page introduced a series of reforms to the Commonwealth Bank to enhance its central banking functions. In 1924, he announced that the government would place the Commonwealth Bank under an independent board, comprising a governor, the
In 1924, Bruce and Page established the
As Treasurer, Page continued his professional medical practice. On 22 October 1924, he had to tell his best friend, Thomas Shorten Cole (1870–1957), the news that his wife Mary Ann Crane had just died on the operating table from complications of intestinal or stomach cancer, reputed by their daughter Dorothy May Cole to be "the worst day of his life".[citation needed] Due to a shortage of surgeons in Canberra, in 1928 Page performed an appendectomy on fellow MP Parker Moloney.[31]
Opposition and Lyons government
The Bruce-Page government was heavily defeated by
Prime Minister and aftermath
When Lyons died suddenly in 1939, the Governor-General of Australia Lord Gowrie appointed Page as caretaker Prime Minister pending the UAP choosing a new leader. He held the office for three weeks until the UAP elected former deputy leader Robert Menzies as its new leader, and hence Prime Minister.[33] Page had been close to Lyons, but disliked Menzies, whom he charged publicly with having been disloyal to Lyons. Page contacted Stanley Bruce (now in London as Australian High Commissioner to the UK) and offered to resign his seat if Bruce would return to Australia to seek re-election to the parliament in a by-election for Page's old seat, and then seek election as UAP leader. Bruce said that he would only re-enter the parliament as an independent.[34]
When Menzies was elected UAP leader, Page refused to serve under him, and made an extraordinary personal attack on him in the House, accusing him not only of ministerial incompetence but of physical cowardice (for failing to enlist during World War I). His party soon rebelled, though, and Page was deposed as Country Party leader in favour of Archie Cameron.[33]
World War II
In March 1940, Archie Cameron led the Country Party back into coalition with the UAP. However, he resigned as party leader on 16 October, following the 1940 federal election. Page attempted to regain the party's leadership, but was deadlocked with John McEwen over multiple ballots. As a compromise, the party elected Arthur Fadden as acting leader; he was confirmed in the position a few months later. Page replaced Cameron as Minister for Commerce in the reconstituted ministry.[35]
Fadden replaced Menzies as prime minister in August 1941. A few weeks later, cabinet decided to send Page to London as
Page wrote to Curtin in April 1942 that since January he had been through "the worst period of acute mental distress of my whole life".
Page spent the remaining years of the Curtin and Chifley governments on the opposition backbench.[43] He served on the Advisory War Council and was a delegate to the constitutional convention in Canberra in late 1942, which included members of all major political parties. However, he was frustrated by the government's failure to offer him any formal role in developing post-war policy, which he believed was due to him given his past work.[44] Page's brother Harold and nephew Robert were killed by the Japanese during the war.[45][46]
Return to the ministry
Page was reappointed
Upon the death of Billy Hughes in October 1952, Page became the
Upon Arthur Fadden's retirement in 1958, Page became the only former Prime Minister returned at that year's election.
Electoral history
Electorate | Election | Votes | Vote change[a] | Total time | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First-preference (%) | Two-party preference (%) | ||||||
Cowper (New South Wales) |
1919[53] | 11,372 | 52.4 | 15,543 | 71.6 | — | — |
1922[54] | 13,157 | 67.3 | — | 14.1% | 3 years, 3 days | ||
1925[55] | 24,571 | 70.0 | — | 5.1% | 5 years, 336 days | ||
1928[56] | 27,556 | 76.8 | — | 4.4% | 8 years, 340 days | ||
1929[57] | unopposed | 9 years, 303 days | |||||
1931[58] | 29,266 | 72.3 | 30,476 | 75.3 | 2.6%[b] | 12 years, 6 days | |
1934[59] | 30,924 | 64.2 | 33,935 | 70.4 | 8.0% | 14 years, 276 days | |
1937[60] | 32,000 | 63.2 | — | 0.5% | 17 years, 314 days | ||
1940[61] | 27,773 | 53.7 | 33,590 | 64.9 | 9.3% | 20 years, 283 days | |
1943[62] | 24,017 | 45.5 | 27,737 | 52.7 | 7.7% | 23 years, 251 days | |
1946[63] | 31,785 | 57.2 | 33,071 | 59.5 | 11.4% | 26 years, 289 days | |
1949[64] | 22,791 | 61.7 | — | 4.6% | 29 years, 362 days | ||
1951[65] | 22,632 | 61.0 | 23,001 | 62.0 | 0.7% | 31 years, 136 days | |
1954[66] | 21,767 | 58.8 | 21,805 | 58.9 | 2.0% | 34 years, 167 days | |
1955 | unopposed | 35 years, 362 days | |||||
1958[67] | 21,152 | 54.8 | 23,566 | 61.1 | 4.5%[c] | 38 years, 344 days | |
1961[68] | 15,259 | 39.9 | 18,442 | 48.2 | 14.6% | 41 years, 361 days |
Later life and death
Page sought a 17th term in parliament at the 1961 election, having joined Billy Hughes two years earlier as only the second person to serve over 40 years in federal parliament. Two weeks before the election, he experienced stomach pains while visiting the home of Ian Robinson near Coraki, New South Wales. His health then dramatically declined and he was admitted to the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney. He was diagnosed with bowel cancer and underwent immediate surgery.[69]
Page died in hospital on 20 December 1961, aged 81. He was granted a state funeral at St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney.[70] At his request, his ashes were scattered over the Clarence River near his home.[71] On the same date Page died, the election result in Cowper was declared and recorded his defeat by the Australian Labor Party (ALP) candidate Frank McGuren, as part of a nationwide swing against the Coalition.[70]
Page had represented Cowper for just four days short of 42 years, making him the longest-serving Australian federal parliamentarian who represented the same seat throughout his career. Only Billy Hughes and Philip Ruddock have served in Parliament longer than Page.[72] He was the last former Prime Minister to lose his seat until Tony Abbott lost his seat of Warringah in 2019, though John Howard would lose his seat of Bennelong as a sitting Prime Minister in 2007.
Page's defeat/death saw the Australian Federal Parliament having no former Prime Ministers among its members, for the first time since the period between Sir Joseph Cook's resignation from Parliament in 1921 to become Australia's High Commissioner to the United Kingdom and Billy Hughes' forced resignation as Prime Minister in 1923.
Personal life
Page married Ethel Blunt on 18 September 1906. They had met at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital while he was undertaking his medical residency; she was a senior nurse there. Page soon began courting her, and convinced her to become the matron of his new hospital in Grafton. She gave up nursing after their marriage, but was active in politics and community organisations. The couple had five children: Mary (b. 1909), Earle Jr. (b. 1910), Donald (b. 1912), Iven (b. 1914), and Douglas (b. 1916). Their grandchildren include Don Page, who was active in New South Wales state politics, and Geoff Page, a poet.[73]
Page was predeceased by his first wife and his oldest son. Earle Jr., a qualified veterinarian, was killed by a lightning strike in January 1933, aged 22.
Honours
- Decorations
- In 1929, Page was made a member of the
- In 1938, Page was made a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG).[32]
- In 1942, Page was made a member of the Order of the Companions of Honour (CH).[40]
- In 1942, Page was made an honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England (FRCS).[16]
- In 1952, Page was awarded the degree of honoris causa by the University of Sydney.[16]
- In 1955, Page was awarded the degree of Doctor of Science honoris causa by the University of New England (the first honorary degree awarded by the institution).[16][19]
- Namesakes
- Division of Page – division of the federal House of Representatives; established in 1984, includes the city of Grafton[77][78]
- Page, Australian Capital Territory – suburb of Canberra[78]
- The Sir Earle Page Library and Education Centre, in the city of Grafton[78]
- Earle Page College – residential college of the University of New England; opened in 1963[78][79]
- Page Chest Pavilion – building at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital; opened in 1957, demolished in 2010[78]
- Page Research Centre – think tank associated with the National Party of Australia; established in 2003[80]
References
Notes
Citations
- ^ Australia's PMs > Earle Page > Before office Archived 18 July 2010 at the Wayback Machine, National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
- ISBN 1863952748.
- ^ Moorhouse (2001), p. 17.
- ^ Moorhouse (2001), p. 26.
- ^ Moorhouse (2001), p. 29.
- ^ Moorhouse (2001), p. 28.
- ^ Moorhouse (2001), pp. 35–36.
- ^ Moorhouse (2001), p. 40.
- ^ Moorhouse (2001), pp. 39–40.
- ^ Moorhouse (2001), pp. 42–43.
- ^ Earle Page > Ethel Page] "Ethel Page - Earle Page - Australia's PMS - Australia's Prime Ministers". Archived from the original on 13 March 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link), National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 29 January 2017. - ^ Moorhouse (2001), p. 43.
- ^ Moorhouse (2001), p. 51.
- ^ Moorhouse (2001), p. 53.
- ^ Bridge, Carl (1993). Earle Page: the politician and the man (PDF). Earle Page College Thirtieth Anniversary Series. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 29 January 2018. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
- ^ PMC 1970945.
- ^ "EARLE PAGE SAVES LIFE OF LABOR MEMBER" Archived 29 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine, Labor Daily, 18 September 1928.
- ^ "Pages Pinnacle". Gold Coast Stories. City of Gold Coast. 28 December 2017. Archived from the original on 27 January 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
- ^ ISSN 1833-7538.
- ^ Hawkins 2009, p. 57.
- ^ a b "Earle Page, Member for Cowper 1919". Australia's Prime Ministers. National Archives of Australia. Archived from the original on 18 July 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
- ^ National Archives of Australia, Australia's Prime Ministers: Timeline Archived 30 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 14 December 2015
- ^ "Cabinet meeting today". The Sydney Morning Herald. 30 January 1924. p. 13. Retrieved 14 December 2015 – via Trove.
- ^ Hawkins 2009, pp. 58–59.
- ^ Hawkins 2009, p. 59.
- ^ Hawkins 2009, p. 60.
- ^ "Earle Page, Deputy Prime Minister 1923–29". Australia's Prime Ministers. National Archives of Australia. Archived from the original on 18 July 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
- ^ a b Hawkins 2009, p. 61.
- ^ a b Hawkins 2009, p. 62.
- ^ Hawkins 2009, p. 63.
- ^ "Earle Page saves life of Labor member". Labor Daily. 18 September 1928.
- ^ a b "It's an Honour – GCMG". Itsanhonour.gov.au. 1 January 1938. Archived from the original on 22 February 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
- ^ a b "Earle Page, In office". Australia's Prime Ministers. National Archives of Australia. Archived from the original on 18 July 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
- ^ Black Inc, Earle Page, Prime Minister of Australia
- ^ Wilks 2017, p. 256.
- ^ Wilks 2017, p. 260.
- ^ a b c Wilks 2017, p. 261.
- ^ Wilks 2017, p. 262.
- ^ Wilks 2017, p. 263.
- ^ a b "It's an Honour – CH". Itsanhonour.gov.au. 26 June 1942. Archived from the original on 23 February 2019. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
- ^ Wilks 2017, p. 264.
- ^ Wilks 2017, p. 265.
- ^ "Earle Page, In Opposition 1941–49". Australia's Prime Ministers. National Archives of Australia. Archived from the original on 18 July 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
- ^ Wilks 2017, p. 271, 274.
- ^ Sweeting, A. J. (1988). "Page, Harold Hillis (1888–1942)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 11.
- ^ Lithgow, Shirley (2000). "Page, Robert Charles (1920–1945)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 15.
- ^ a b Wilks 2017, p. 304.
- ^ Wilks 2017, p. 309.
- ^ "BROWN, Gordon (1885–1967) Senator for Queensland, 1932–65". The Biographical Dictionary of the Australian Senate. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
- ^ "Sir Earle Now Father of House – The Manning River Times and Advocate for the Northern Coast Districts of New South Wales (Taree, NSW : 1898 – 1954) – 3 Nov 1952". Manning River Times and Advocate for the Northern Coast Districts of New South Wales. 3 November 1952. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 15 January 2017.
- ^ Wilks 2017, p. 316.
- ^ "Earle Page, Minister for Health 1949–56". Australia's Prime Ministers. National Archives of Australia. Archived from the original on 18 July 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
- Government of Australia. 31 March 1920.
- Government of Australia. 13 June 1923.
- Government of Australia. 25 June 1926.
- Government of Australia. 28 February 1929.
- Government of Australia. 10 April 1930.
- Government of Australia. 17 May 1932.
- Government of Australia. 9 April 1935.
- Government of Australia. 22 June 1938.
- Government of Australia. 3 April 1941.
- Government of Australia. 23 March 1944.
- Government of Australia. 7 September 1948.
- Government of Australia. 21 February 1951.
- Government of Australia. 19 February 1953.
- Government of Australia. 9 April 1954.
- Government of Australia. 22 October 1959.
- Government of Australia. 30 August 1962.
- ISBN 978-1742231662.
- ^ a b Davey 2010, p. 3.
- ^ "Earle Page". Australia's Prime Ministers. National Archives of Australia. Archived from the original on 11 March 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
- ^ "Hon Philip Ruddock MP". Senators and Members of the Parliament of Australia. Retrieved 6 November 2021.
- ^ Australia's PMs > Earle Page > Ethel Page Archived 13 March 2018 at the Wayback Machine, National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
- ^ STRUCK BY LIGHTNING Archived 30 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine, The Daily Examiner, 16 January 1933.
- ^ Death Of Lady Page After Long Illness Archived 23 January 2018 at the Wayback Machine, The Canberra Times, 27 May 1958.
- ^ The Sydney Morning Herald, 9 July 2011 [page needed]
- ^ "Profile of the electoral division of Page (NSW)". Australian Electoral Commission. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
- ^ a b c d e North, Bill (14 February 2017). "Historic home goes under the hammer". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
- ^ "EPC Past and Present". www.une.edu.au. University of New England. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
- ^ "Sir Earle Page". Page Research Centre. Retrieved 7 August 2020.
Further reading
- ISBN 0-19-550471-2
- Hawkins, John (2009). "Earle Page: an active treasurer" (PDF). Economic Roundup (4). Department of the Treasury: 55–68.
- Wilks, Stephen (2020). 'Now is the Psychological Moment': Earle Page and the Imagining of Australia (PDF). ANU Press. ISBN 9781760463687.
- Wilks, Stephen (2017). 'Now is the Psychological Moment': Earle Page and the Imagining of Australia (PDF) (PhD thesis). Australian National University.
- In their autobiographies Ann Moyal and Ulrich Ellis wrote of their experience of working with Page.
- Moyal, Ann. Breakfast with Beaverbrook: memoirs of an independent woman (Hale & Iremonger, 1995)
- Ulrich Ellis A Pen in Politics (Gininderra Press, 2007).
- Both had helped Page with his autobiography Truant Surgeon: The Inside Story of Forty Years of Australian Political Life (Angus & Robertson, 1963).
External links
- "Earle Page". Australia's Prime Ministers. National Archives of Australia. Retrieved 17 February 2022.
- "Earle Page". National Museum of Australia. Archived from the original on 13 November 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
- Bridge, Carl (1988). "Page, Sir Earle Christmas Grafton (1880–1961)". ISSN 1833-7538. Retrieved 19 March 2010.