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Prime Minister Joseph Lyons, 11 December 1936

Parliament

In 1931, Joseph Lyons and the United Australia Party contested the federal election in coalition with Earle Page's Country Party. Though newly formed, the UAP achieved a landslide victory, winning 34 seats in the House of Representatives compared with 16 for the Country Party, 14 for the Labor Party and 4 for Lang Labor. The UAP secured 15 seats in the Senate, while Labor returned just three. Lyons’ position was such that when he was sworn in on 6 January 1932, as head of a minority government, he was still able to work with an entirely UAP cabinet. In 1934, Lyons’ position was not as strong and, owing to an eight seat swing, he was compelled to include the Country Party in a genuine Coalition government, as was the case in 1937. Lyons was able to deliver on his promises of economic stability. His government too, was generally stable, until the last few months before his death.    

Party

Lyons was, by nature, gentle and honest and possessed a pacifying style of leadership. As prime minister he had significant public appeal, but within the UAP he had the task of managing a 'nest of impatient egos'. Australia made a slow recovery from the Great Depression but, as the nation got back on its feet, Lyons’ own health deteriorated. There were pressures associated with the tension within the as the UAP, from a revitalized ALP, and the growing likelihood of another world war. By late 1938, Lyons began to lose control of his party, as several challenges to his leadership emerged. Lyons attempted to persuade former Nationalist prime minister Stanley Melbourne Bruce to return to parliament as leader of the UAP without success. Even Menzies, who had been a proponent of Lyons, resigned his positions as Attorney-General and Minister for Industry on 20 March 1939, in protest at the government’s failure to implement a national insurance scheme. On Lyons’ death, he was leader of a fractured party and a strained coalition.

Partnerships

Joseph Lyons and stockbroker Staniforth Ricketson met as young men, but neither could have foreseen the consequences of this acquaintance. In 1930, the Scullin government was grappling with the Great Depression. Ricketson, who had achieved significant personal financial success, was deeply concerned by the financial policies emerging from the government. In late 1930, Ricketson took action by encouraging then acting Treasurer Lyons to defy the Labor caucus and set about raising a £28 million conversion loan to deal with national debt. Ricketson formed and headed a committee to advise Lyons and promote the loan. Ricketson, along with four other businessmen and his friend Robert Menzies, became known as ‘The Group’. The Group slowly made moves to convince Lyons to leave the Labor Party, and in March 1931 he did just that. Ricketson and Menzies worked together with Lyons to unite non-labor parties in a single United Australia Party.

People

In March 1933, Joseph Lyons headed a Federal delegation to campaign against the secession of Western Australia from the Commonwealth in an upcoming state referendum. The campaign opened at the crowded Theatre Royal in Perth. Even before Lyons spoke, coins were hurled from the crowd hitting, among others, Enid Lyons who was forced to leave. Lyons' speech lasted well over an hour, but the vociferous crowd meant his words reached only those closest to him. With the exception of a few lulls, the Theatre was ‘a storm of interjection’. As Lyons pressed on, he was finally drowned out by cries of ‘Poor Old Joe’. Many Western Australians believed their needs were placed second to those of the more populated states, and Lyons’ ‘coat-of-many-colours’ reputation did little to underpin his advocacy.