Joseph Lyons

The Right Honourable Joseph Lyons CH
Lyons in the 1930s
10th Prime Minister of Australia
In office 6 January 1932 – 7 April 1939
Monarchs	George V Edward VIII George VI
Governors‑General	Sir Isaac Isaacs Lord Gowrie
Deputy	John Latham Earle Page
Preceded by	James Scullin
Succeeded by	Earle Page
Leader of the Opposition
In office 7 May 1931 – 6 January 1932
Prime Minister	James Scullin
Deputy	John Latham
Preceded by	John Latham
Succeeded by	James Scullin
26th Premier of Tasmania
In office 25 October 1923 – 15 June 1928
Governor	Sir James O'Grady
Preceded by	Sir Walter Lee
Succeeded by	Sir John McPhee
Leader of the United Australia Party
In office 7 May 1931 – 7 April 1939
Deputy	John Latham Robert Menzies
Preceded by	Position Established
Succeeded by	Robert Menzies
Leader of the Labor Party in Tasmania
In office 2 November 1916 – 16 September 1929
Preceded by	John Earle
Succeeded by	Albert Ogilvie
Treasurer of Australia
In office 6 January 1932 – 2 October 1935
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Ted Theodore
Succeeded by	Richard Casey
Minister for Commerce
In office 6 January 1932 – 2 October 1935
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Charles Hawker
Succeeded by	Frederick Stewart
Postmaster-General
In office 22 October 1929 – 4 February 1931
Prime Minister	James Scullin
Preceded by	William Gibson
Succeeded by	Albert Green
Minister for Works and Railways
In office 22 October 1929 – 4 February 1931
Prime Minister	James Scullin
Preceded by	William Gibson
Succeeded by	Albert Green
Treasurer of Tasmania
In office 25 October 1923 – 15 June 1928
Premier	Himself
Preceded by	Walter Lee
Succeeded by	John McPhee
In office 6 April 1914 – 15 April 1916
Premier	John Earle
Preceded by	Herbert Payne
Succeeded by	Elliott Lewis
Minister for Education
In office 6 April 1914 – 15 April 1916
Premier	John Earle
Preceded by	Albert Solomon
Succeeded by	Walter Lee
Member of the Australian House of Representatives
In office 12 October 1929 – 7 April 1939
Preceded by	Llewellyn Atkinson
Succeeded by	Lancelot Spurr
Constituency	Wilmot
Member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly
In office 30 April 1909 – 13 September 1929
Constituency	Wilmot
Preceded by	New division
Succeeded by	William Shoobridge
Personal details
Born	Joseph Aloysius Lyons (1879-09-15)15 September 1879 Stanley, Colony of Tasmania
Died	7 April 1939(1939-04-07) (aged 59) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Cause of death	Heart attack
Resting place	Mersey Vale Memorial Park, Quoiba
Political party	Labor (to 1931) Independent (1931) UAP (after 1931)
Spouse	Enid Burnell ​ (m. 1917)​
Relations	Libby Lyons (granddaughter) Kevin Lyons Jr. (grandson)
Children	12; including Kevin and Brendan
Education	Hobart Teachers' College
Occupation	Schoolteacher

Joseph Aloysius Lyons CH (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who was the tenth prime minister of Australia, in office from 1932 until his death in 1939. He began his career in the Australian Labor Party (ALP), but became the founding leader of the United Australia Party (UAP) after the Australian Labor Party split of 1931. He had earlier been 26th premier of Tasmania from 1923 to 1928.

Lyons was born in Stanley, Tasmania, and before entering politics worked as a schoolteacher. He was active in the Labor Party from a young age and won election to the Tasmanian House of Assembly in 1909. He was Treasurer of Tasmania (1912–1914) under John Earle, before replacing Earle as party leader in 1916. After two elections that ended in hung parliaments, Lyons was appointed premier in 1923 at the head of a minority government. He pursued moderate reforms and successfully negotiated a constitutional crisis over the powers of the Legislative Council. At the 1925 election he led Labor to its first majority government in Tasmania, but the party lost office three years later.

In 1929, Lyons resigned from state parliament to enter federal politics, winning an Australian House of Representatives seat in Labor's landslide victory at the 1929 election. He was immediately appointed to cabinet by the new prime minister James Scullin, becoming Postmaster-General of Australia and Minister for Works and Railways. In 1930, he was acting treasurer while Scullin was overseas, and came into conflict with the Labor caucus over the government's response to the Great Depression; he preferred orthodox financial policies. In early 1931, Lyons and his followers left Labor to sit as independents. His exact motivations for leaving the party have been subject to debate. A few months later his group merged with other opposition parties to form the United Australia Party; he was elected Leader of the Opposition.

Lyons led the UAP to a landslide victory at the 1931 election. Nicknamed "Honest Joe", he was known as a masterful political campaigner and became popular with the general public. His personal popularity was a major factor in the government's re-election in 1934 and 1937; he was the first prime minister to win three federal elections. The UAP initially governed alone but after 1934 formed a coalition with the Country Party. Lyons was his own treasurer until 1935 and oversaw Australia's recovery from the Great Depression. He faced a number of foreign-policy challenges, but accelerated Australia's transition towards an independent foreign policy. In the lead-up to World War II his government pursued a policy of appeasement and rearmament.

Lyons died of a heart attack in April 1939, becoming the first Australian prime minister to die in office. He is the only prime minister from Tasmania and one of two state premiers who have become prime minister, along with George Reid. Several years after his death, his widow Enid Lyons became the first woman elected to the House of Representatives.