Joseph Lyons (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was Prime Minister of Australia from 6 January 1932 to 7 April 1939, succeeding James Scullin and preceding Earle Page. He was a member of the United Australia Party.
Biography[]
Joseph Lyons was born in Stanley, Tasmania, Australia in 1879, and he became a teacher until he was elected to the Tasmanian state parliament in 1909. The Treasurer and Minister for Education from 1914, he was elected leader of the Australian Labor Party in 1916 because of his opposition to the introduction of compulsory military service. As Premier of Tasmania from 1923 to 1928, he became noted for his successful reform of the state's financial structure. In 1929, he was elected to the federal parliament, where as Postmaster-General he became a senior member of the cabinet under James Scullin. As acting Treasurer from 1930 to 1931, he became much-criticized among his colleagues and the parliamentary caucus for his orthodox financial policies, though he became well-respected for his principled policies outside Labor.
Agonized by the opposition from his own party, he left Labor and started to cultivate citizens' groups, thus creating grass-roots support for a new movement, the United Australia Party. He led the UAP to a landslide victory in December 1931, and won convincing victories in 1934 and 1937. His orthodox policies brought considerable financial and political stability during the years of the Great Depression, though the financial difficulties of these years precluded him from undertaking any striking reform initiatives, for which he was often criticized. The maina chievement underpinning his long tenure lay in his tireless organization and motivation of the loosely structured and relatively short-lived UAP. During the last months of his life he was increasingly criticized for his seemingly hands-off style of government, but he remained in office until his death.