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The Right
Honourable Sir Arthur Fadden GCMG |
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In office 29 August – 7 October 1941 |
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| Preceded by | Robert Menzies |
| Succeeded by | John Curtin |
| Constituency | Darling Downs (Queensland) |
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| Born | 13 April 1894 Ingham, Queensland, Australia |
| Died | 21 April 1973 (aged 79) |
| Political party | Country |
| Religion | Presbyterian |
Sir Arthur William Fadden, GCMG (13 April 1894 – 21 April 1973) was an Australian politician and, briefly, 13th Prime Minister of Australia.
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Fadden was born in Ingham, Queensland, the son of a Presbyterian police officer. He was educated at state schools, and later studied accountancy while working as a clerk. Once he had qualified he became assistant Town Clerk of Mackay, then Town Clerk. In 1919 Fadden helped form the North Queensland Rugby League, and served as its founding secretary.[1] In the 1920s he established a successful accountancy firm with offices in Brisbane and Townsville. He was active in the Country Party from its foundation.
In 1932 Fadden was elected for one term to the Queensland Legislative Assembly. He was defeated in 1935. The following year, though, he won a by-election in the federal seat of Darling Downs. He was a blunt, effective debater and soon made an impression. When Archie Cameron resigned suddenly as Country Party leader in 1940, there was a deadlock between Sir Earle Page and Sir John McEwen in the ballot to select a new leader, and Fadden was chosen as a compromise candidate. He was appointed Minister for Supply and Development, then Minister for Air, then Treasurer (finance minister).
In August 1941 Robert Menzies resigned as Prime Minister. So bereft of leadership had the United Australia Party (UAP) become by this time that Fadden was invited to become Prime Minister, although the Country Party was the smaller of the two anti-Labor parties.
He did not last long in the top office. On 3 October, the two independent parliamentarians (Arthur Coles and Alex Wilson) who were keeping the government in office were so disgusted at the way Menzies had been treated that they voted against Fadden's budget. As a consequence of that, Fadden submitted his government's resignation to the Governor-General Lord Gowrie later the same day. This was the last occasion to date on which defeat on the floor of the House of Representatives obliged a government to resign.[2] Fadden joked that he was like the Flood: he had "reigned for 40 days and 40 nights".
Gowrie then commissioned the Labor leader John Curtin to form a government, but only after sending for Coles and Wilson and demanding a guarantee from them that, if he commissioned Curtin, they would support him and end the instability in government. Coles and Wilson agreed to this, so Curtin's Labor ministry was sworn in on 7 October.
Fadden continued as Opposition Leader, leading the conservatives to a crushing defeat in the 1943 election. He then handed the Opposition leadership back to Menzies and his new Liberal Party, while remaining Country Party leader.
Always an outspoken conservative, in the late 1940s he became a strong anti-communist, urging Menzies to ban the Communist Party. After the 1946 election, Fadden resumed his political partnership with Robert Menzies, though still keen to assert the independence of his party. Indeed, in the lead up to the 1949 federal election, Fadden played a key role in the defeat of the Chifley Labor government, frequently making inflammatory claims about the "socialist" nature of the Labor Party which Menzies could then "clarify" or repudiate as he saw fit, thus appearing more "moderate". His often-extreme political views were concealed behind a jolly public manner and he enjoyed his nickname "Artie."
In 1949 Arthur Fadden became Treasurer in the second Menzies government. Although inflation was very high in the early 1950s, forcing him to impose several "horror budgets," he generally presided over a booming economy, with times especially good for farmers. He retired before the 1958 election and lived quietly until his death in Brisbane in 1973.
Fadden was made a Knight Commander of the Order of St Michael and St George (KCMG) in 1951,[3] and in 1958 was raised to Knight Grand Cross (GCMG) of the order.[4] The Canberra suburb of Fadden and the Division of Fadden are named after him.
In 1975 he was honoured on a postage stamp bearing his portrait issued by Australia Post.[5]
29 August 1941 to 7 October 1941
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by James Fairbairn |
Minister for the
Air Minister for Civil Aviation 1940 |
Succeeded by John McEwen |
| Preceded by Robert Menzies |
Treasurer of
Australia 1940 – 1941 |
Succeeded by Ben Chifley |
| Prime Minister of
Australia 1941 |
Succeeded by John Curtin |
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| Preceded by John Curtin |
Leader of the
Opposition 1941 – 1943 |
Succeeded by Robert Menzies |
| Preceded by Ben Chifley |
Treasurer of
Australia 1949 – 1958 |
Succeeded by Harold Holt |
| Parliament of Australia | ||
| Preceded by Littleton Groom |
Member for Darling Downs 1936 – 1949 |
Succeeded by Reginald Swartz |
| New division |
Member for McPherson 1949 – 1958 |
Succeeded by Charles Barnes |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by Archie Cameron |
Leader of the Country
Party 1940 – 1958 |
Succeeded by John McEwen |
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Rt Hon Sir Arthur Fadden
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| In office 29 August – 7 October, 1941 | |
| Preceded by | Robert Menzies |
| Succeeded by | John Curtin |
| Born | 13 April 1895 Ingham, Queensland |
| Died | 21 April 1973 |
| Political party | Country |
Sir Arthur William Fadden (13 April 1895 – 21 April 1973) was the 13th Prime Minister of Australia. He was leader of the Country Party when Robert Menzies resigned in 1941. He became Prime Minister but lost to John Curtin in an election held only one month after he became Prime Minister. When Menzies became Prime Minister again in 1949, Fadden was the Treasurer for eight years.
| Prime Ministers of Australia | |
|---|---|
| Barton | Deakin | Watson | Reid | Fisher | Cook | Hughes | Bruce | Scullin | Lyons | Page | Menzies | Fadden | Curtin | Forde | Chifley | Holt | McEwen | Gorton | McMahon | Whitlam | Fraser | Hawke | Keating | Howard | Rudd | Gillard | |
   | Arthur Fadden - Australia's Prime Ministers - Meet a PM - Fadden |
| | It's an Honour - Fadden KCMG - It's an Honour - Honours - Search Australian Honours |
| | It's an Honour - Fadden GCMG - It's an Honour - Honours - Search Australian Honours |
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