Untitled

Press, 18 October 1978, Page 10

Sir Robert Menzies, whose first term as Prime Minister of Australia occurred between 1939 and 1941, held that office ! again, continuously, since the General Election of 1949. Congratulations and celebrations marked the date November 30, 1954, when he completed a period as Prime ! Minister of Australia which was longer than that of any of his I predecessors (seven years and 106 days).

i Robert Gordon Menzies was ; born on December 20. 1894, at ;the little Victorian town of Jepartit. He inherited an interest in politics, for his father, a country store-keeper, was for 10 years a member of the Victoria Legislative Assembly. He was educated at state schools and Grenville College, Ballarat, where he won a fouryear scholarship to Wesley College, Melbourne, and from there went to the University of Melbourne with a government exhibition. He read law, took his degree with first-class honours throughout and won an impressive number of prizes and scholarships. He wa s called to the Victorian Bar in 1918, and was soon arguing important cases before the High Court. As a young man of 27. he represented the State of Tasmania before the High Court on a matter of high constitu-i tional importance, and won; his case. He gained a nation-wide reputation as a barrister, and [took silk at the early age of 34, becoming Australia’s youngest King’s Counsel. He 1 visited England more than once to plead before the Privy Council. i By the time that happened ' he was a member of Parlia- 1 ment. and attorney-general for ' In 1928 he entered the Vic-i torian Legislative Council, representing East Yarra, but i I resigned the year following , I in order to stand for the more i I lively Lower House, the Legislative Assembly, to which j he was elected for the con- j stituency of Nunawading. From 1932 to 1934 he held < the offices of attorney-general, , minister of railways and deputy premier in Victoria; in the latter year he resigned in order to stand for the federal parliament, to which he was elected as member for Koo- ’ yong, his present seat, in 1934. In 1935 he became attorney- J general in Mr Lyons’ Govern- : ment and deputy leader of the United Australia Party. He travelled to London for 1 the jubilee celebrations of ! 1935, argued a case before the ( Privy Council and also repre- ‘ sented Australia in trade l negotiations with Britain. The next year he was back 1 again pleading before the 1 Privy Council in a case involv- ! ing the interpretation of a section of the Australian const!-I tution. He was created a Privy I Councillor the following year. In 1939 he resigned from 1 the Cabinet rather than com- J promise on the Australian i National Insurance Bill, but 1

after the death of Mr Lyons, I he was recalled a month later, elected leader of the United! 1 Australia Party in succession! 1 to Mr Lyons, and invited to! form a government. At 44 he was prime Minister i of the Commonwealth of 1 Australia. His first months of office saw the outbreak of the Sec i ond World War, into which he I led Australia with the words: 1 "Australia’s frontiers are on ' the. Rhine and on the east 11 coast of England.” In 1940 he formed an advisory war council, consisting I • of four members each from I' Government and Opposition.. 1 In January, 1941, he visitedH Britain, where he made at number of notable speeches. 1’ One newspaper commented:! "Commonwealth Prime Minis-r ters have a knack of making us all feel better the moment ‘ they set foot in this country.” ‘ Sir Robert Menzies’s Party ‘ was defeated at the Federal , elections of 1943. Two years earlier, after ( party dissensions, he had re-, signed as prime minister, in ’ the hope that a coalition government with Labour might, be formed under his successor. ] He also resigned the leader- < ship of the United Australia ] Party. s After a general election he resumed its leadership and!] became leader of the Oppo- 1 sition. t He remained a member of ] the advisory war council until i 1944. After the formation of the i Liberal Party, with which he 1 had much to do. he became I its leader, and led it to vic- r tory in 1949, once more be- a

coming prime minister, this time leading a coalition government of the Liberal and Country parties. During the years that followed, Sir Robert Menzies played an important part in the counsels of the Commonwealth and in deliberations between the Commonwealth and the United States. He visited America and Britain many times, for meetings of Commonwealth Prime Ministers and for consultations at other times. During the Suez crisis in 1956 Sir Robert Menzies visited Cairo as head of the fivenation Suez Canal committee which, acting on behalf of the user countries, held discussions with the Egyptian Government in an attempt to negotiate an agreement for operation and development of the canal by an international body. He made world tours in 11950 and 1959 and in 1960 ! attended the General Assembly of the United Nations Throughout his career Sir Robert Menzies enjoyed an immense reputation as an orator, both at the bar and in Parliament. Long before he was prime minister the Australian House, when it was known that he was “up”, would fill with both supporters and opponents. j He had another parliament- ! He wrote several bookt injcluding “The Rule Of Ijw i During War.” was a joint author of studies in the Australian Constitution, and pubjlished a collection of his war(time speeches in Britain. I He contributed also to contemporary art and law journals. He was keenly interested in art and originated the idea of the Australian Academy of Art. He was a keen follower of sport, and member of the M.C.C. and had friends among cricket test players on both sides of the world. Chief among his recreations. however, was good conversation. Sir Robert Menzies married, in 1920, Pattie Leckie, daughter of Senator J. W. Leckie; and they had two sons and one daughter. Dame Pattie was created D.B.E. in 1954 for services to the Commonwealth of Australia and accompanied her husband on many of his journeys overseas. In 1951 Sir Robert Menzies was created a Companion of Honour. In 1963 Queen Elizabeth, during her Commonwealth tour, created him a Knight of the Thistle.