Joseph Lyons

Joseph Aloysius Lyons, CH ( born September 15, 1879 in Stanley ( Tasmania ), † April 7, 1939 in Sydney, New South Wales) was an Australian politician and the 10th Prime Minister of the country. His term lasted from January 6, 1932 to April 7, 1939.

Life

Lyons was born in Circular Head, near Stanley in Tasmania, the son of Irish immigrants. His father, Michael Lyons, was a successful farmer, who also got in to the butcher and bakery business later. His successes were however by his poor state of health again worthless, so that from then on he had to work as laborers. His mother tried very hard for the family and for the total of eight children, but despite everything, Lyons had already left with nine years of school to work as a messenger and at a print shop. With the help of two aunts, he managed to make training as a teacher at Smith Teachers' Training College in Hobart. He was an active trade unionist and an early member of the Australian Labor Party (ALP ) in Tasmania.

State policy

In 1909 he was elected to the Tasmanian Parliament. From 1914 to 1916 he was Director of Finance and Minister of Education in John Earle's State Labor government. As Education Minister, he led a comprehensive reform. He was responsible for the abolition of fees for public school and better salaries and working conditions for teachers. He also founded the first public high school in his Tasmanian home.

In 1913 him a participant in the laboratory discussion, their 15 years old daughter, Enid Burnell were Eliza Burnell presented. Two years later they married. Together they had eleven children later.

When the ALP split over the conscription during the First World War in 1916 due to intra-party differences, followed Earle, a supporter of conscription, the Prime Minister of Australia Billy Hughes and left the Labor Party. Since Lyons thus however, was affected by an Irish Catholic background and an opponent of conscription in Australia, he remained in the party and was its chairman in Tasmania.

He led the Labor opposition in Tasmania until 1923 Premier of the State. He led a minority government and was up to his office the end of 1928 also Minister of the Treasury. While it was able to produce with his party's good relations with the economy and the Conservative government in the capital, but there have always been some criticism from the trade union circles of his party, so he 1928 election to the nationalists lost out.

Federal policy

During the federal election in 1929 Lyons went into the statewide politics and won a seat for the constituency Wilmot. He was Postmaster - General and labor and railway minister after the general election victory of James Scullin - his predecessor as prime minister.

When the world economic crisis in 1930 also reached Australia, the Scullin government had no answer. Lyons was Minister of Finance from August 1930 to January 1931, when Premier Scullin was because of the Imperial Conference in the United Kingdom to clarify the last questions on the independence of the country. However, companies with loans to a public spending and salaries should be reduced, on the other hand are supported: In October 1930, he served as Acting Secretary of the Treasury, Lyons announced as he wanted to get the economic situation under control.

From the business he got for this plan with great approval, while members of the party the whole faced skepticism and translated to higher government spending to get the economy moving again. From now on, he kept getting calls from economic circles and from the Melbourne establishment, to leave the government and take over the leadership of the conservative opposition.

Withdrawal from the Labor Party

When in January 1931 Scullin returned to Australia, its rival Theodore began again as Minister of the Treasury. This saw Lyons as rejecting his policy and, therefore, he left immediately, the Cabinet and in March the Labour Party. Now, together with James Fenton, another minister, and three other members of the right wing of the party, he took on the benches of the opposition space. The opposition Nationalist Party of Australia and the five former Labor MPs formed soon after a new party, the United Australia Party. Actually, however, it was the continuation of the Nationalist Party under another name.

Lyons broke John Latham from as party leader because it was assumed generally that Lyons could find a family man and an Irish Catholic rather members and voters for the new party. Especially from the right, conservative wing of the Labor Party was hoped that growth.

At about the same time as Lyons is also said five members of the left- wing Labor rid of their parent party and formed another opposition group. For Lyons they were too radical for their party members not radical enough. At the end of the year they voted with the United Australia Party in a vote of no confidence against the government, so that early elections were required.

The elections were held in December 1931 and ended with a clear victory for the UAP under the leadership of Lyons, as he understood it, over all classes to position his party away and generate a sense of unity among the people. He was assisted by his family background also from the working class and its past in the conservative laboratory Party. He was the third Prime Minister of the country, in the Labor Party, at its option, however, in another party, was at first.

Prime minister

In his first term, the UAP could govern independently thanks to a clear majority. After the 1934 election we teamed up with the National Party of Australia. By 1935, Lyons was both Premier and Minister of the Treasury. In his new office Lyons continued to follow its policy, in which he limited government spending to a minimum.

During his reign he initially benefited from the global economic stabilization and recovery period after 1932. His foreign policy was marked by great agreement with the United Kingdom and the League of Nations. While he sat in relations with the dictatorships in Germany, Italy and Japan on negotiations, but he had also upgrade the Australian army and build several armament factories.

In 1934, Robert Menzies was first elected to parliament. He has been considered a Lyons successor, although he denied this himself. The government won the elections in 1937, but with the deterioration of the political situation at the international level, it also went to the health of the pacifists Lyons downhill. On April 7, 1939, he died suddenly at the age of 59 years due to heart failure. He was the first Prime Minister of Australia, who died during his tenure.

Lyons was extremely popular throughout the country as a politician and his death sparked deep mourning. In cartoons, he was always portrayed as a quiet, relaxed Koala. After his direct predecessor Scullin he was the second Roman Catholic prime minister and the first Catholic who was not a member of the Labor Party.

As the only person in Australian history, he was Prime Minister, Premier of an Australian state and opposition leaders, both national and federal level. In addition, he is the only Tasmanian Premier of the country. The Division of Lyons is named after him. As the only Australian Premier, he experienced the terms of office of three British kings.

His widow, Enid Lyons, also went into politics and in 1943 was the first woman in the House of Representatives. Also she was the first woman who was Cabinet Minister, while Menzies Liberal government. Two of her sons were later active in the Tasmanian politics.