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
Party leadership positions Leader of the United Australia Party Elections: 1931, 1934, 1937 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 Elections: 1919, 1922, 1925, 1928 In office 2 November 1916 – 16 September 1929 Preceded by John Earle Succeeded by Albert Ogilvie
Federal cabinet posts 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
State cabinet posts 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
Constituencies 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 (15 September 1879 – 7 April 1939) was an Australian politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Australia, from 1932 until his death in 1939. He held office as the inaugural leader of the United Australia Party (UAP), having previously led the Tasmanian branch of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) before the Australian Labor Party split of 1931. He served as the 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 (1914–1916) 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 the seat of Wilmot 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.