SIR EARLE PAGE DIES

Press, Volume C, Issue 29702, 21 December 1961, Page 5

SIR EARLE PAGE DIES

Former P.M. Of Australia (N.Z. Press Assn.— Copyright) BRISBANE, December 20. Sir Earle Page, a former Australian Prime Minister, died today, aged 81. Sir Earle Page became ill on November 24. and was flown to hospital in Brisbane He was operated on for an acute bowel condition. He appeared to be making good progress and was keenly following the Federal election results when he suffered a relapse on December 11. He was defeated in the election. Sir Earle Page was Prime Minister of Australia for 13 days in 1939 after the death of Mr J. A. Lyons. He was ■he„ leader of the Country Party, which was in coalition with the United Australia Party. He resigned when the

U.A.P. elected Mr Menzies its new leader. Sir Earle Page also held the posts of Treasurer, Minister for Repatriation, Minister for Commerce and Minister for Health He retired from Cabinet duty in 1956, when he was Minister for Health. He is survived by Lady Page, three sons and a daughter Apart from his Parliamentary duties. Sir Earle Page fend time to become an extremely successful pastoralist and a newspaper proprietor. In 1941, Sir Earle ’age was selected as Australia’s special wartime representative in London. He remained in London for 10 months and represented Australia at meetings of the British War Cabinet. On his , eturn he was coopted by the Prime Minister, Mr John Curtin, to membership of the Australian Advisory War Council and became the first non-Laibour member to be ad' itted to Labour’s war-time Cabinet discussions. Sir Earle Page was a champion of the “new state movement.'’ Probably his greates’ political monument is the national health scheme, which he formulated in 1949