Earle Page

The Right Honourable Sir Earle Page GCMG CH PC FRCS
Page c. 1939
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	Henry Gregory William Fleming William Gibson Thomas Paterson Harold Thorby
Preceded by	William McWilliams
Succeeded by	Archie Cameron
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	Robert Menzies Arthur Fadden
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 (1880-08-08)8 August 1880 Grafton, Colony of New South Wales
Died	20 December 1961(1961-12-20) (aged 81) Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia
Resting place	St Andrew's Cathedral, Sydney
Political party	Country
Spouses	Ethel Blunt ​ ​ (m. 1906; died 1958)​ Jean Thomas ​ (m. 1959)​
Children	5
Relatives	Harold (brother) Rodger (brother) Robert (nephew) Geoff (grandson) Don (grandson)
Residence(s)	Grafton, New South Wales, Australia
Education	Grafton Public School Sydney Boys High School
Alma mater	University of Sydney
Occupation	Doctor Surgeon Politician
Signature

This article is part of a series about Earle Page
Early life Education Medical career Early political career Mayor of Grafton Member for Cowper (1919–1961) Country Party Leadership Elections 1921, 1932 Prime Minister of Australia Term of government (April 1939) Caretaker government Minister for Health Treasurer Minister for Commerce Autobiography Truant Surgeon
v t e

Sir Earle Christmas Grafton Page GCMG CH PC FRCS (8 August 1880 – 20 December 1961) was an Australian politician and surgeon who served as the 11th prime minister of Australia from 7 to 26 April 1939, holding office in a caretaker capacity following the death of Joseph Lyons. He was the leader of the Country Party from 1921 to 1939, and was the most influential figure in its later years.

Page was born in Grafton, New South Wales. He entered the University of Sydney at the age of 15, and completed a degree in medicine at the age of 21. After completing his medical residency at Sydney's Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, he moved back to Grafton and opened a private hospital. He soon became involved in local politics, and in 1915 purchased a part-share in The Daily Examiner, a local newspaper. He also briefly was a military surgeon during World War I. Page gained prominence as an advocate of various development schemes for the Northern Rivers region, especially those involving hydroelectricity. He also helped found a movement for New England statehood.

In 1919, Page was elected to Federal Parliament representing the Division of Cowper. He joined the new Country Party the following year as its inaugural whip, and then replaced William McWilliams as party leader in 1921. Page opposed the economic policies of Prime Minister Billy Hughes, and when the Country Party gained the balance of power at the 1922 election, he demanded Hughes' resignation as the price for a coalition with the Nationalist Party. He was subsequently made Treasurer of Australia under the new prime minister, Stanley Bruce, serving in that role from 1923 to 1929. He had a significant degree of influence on domestic policy, with Bruce concentrating on international issues.

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 Minister for Health (1949–1956) in the post-war Menzies Government. He retired from cabinet at the age of 76, and died a short time after losing his seat at the 1961 election. Page served in parliament for almost 42 years, the third longest-serving Australian parliamentarian of all time; only Menzies lasted longer as the leader of a major Australian political party. He secured his party's independence by refusing overtures to merge with the Nationalists and the UAP, and the policies that he favoured – decentralisation, agrarianism, and government support of primary industry – have remained the basis of its platform up to the present day. The coalitions that he established and maintained with Bruce and Lyons have served as a model for all subsequent coalition governments.