Robert Menzies

Sir Robert Gordon Menzies (20 December 1894 – 14 May 1978), Australian politician, was the twelfth and longest-serving Prime Minister of Australia serving eighteen and a half years. He had a rapid rise to power, but his first term as Prime Minister was a failure. He spent eight years in the wilderness before playing a crucial role in reshaping the Liberal Party and making a successful comeback, and he dominated Australian politics in the 1950s and early 1960s.

Rise to power

In 1928, Menzies gave up his lucrative law practice to enter state parliament as a member of the Victorian Legislative Council. His candidacy was nearly defeated when a group of ex-servicemen attacked him in the press for not having enlisted, but he survived this crisis. The following year he shifted to the Legislative Assembly, and was a minister in the conservative Victorian government from 1932 to 1934, and became Deputy Premier of Victoria in 1932.

Related Topics:
1928 - 1932 - 1934

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He entered federal politics in 1934, representing the United Australia Party (UAP) in the upper-class Melbourne electorate of Kooyong. He was immediately appointed Attorney-General and Minister for Industry in the Lyons government, and soon became deputy leader of the UAP. He was seen as Lyons's natural successor and was accused of wanting to push Lyons out, a charge he denied. In 1938 he was given the nickname "Pig Iron Bob", the result of his industrial battle with waterside workers who refused to load scrap iron being sold to Japan. Under Menzies leadership Australia joined Britain and mobilised for war in Europe. In 1939, however, he resigned from the Cabinet in protest at what he saw as the government's inaction. Shortly afterwards, on 7 April 1939, Lyons died.

Related Topics:
United Australia Party - Lyons - 1939 - 7 April

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