John McEwen

For other people with the same name, seeJohn McEwen (disambiguation).

Sir John McEwenGCMGCH(29 March 1900 – 20 November 1980) was an Australian politician and farmer who served as the 18thprime minister of Australiafrom 1967 to 1968, in acaretakercapacity following thedisappearance of prime minister Harold Holt.He was the leader of theCountry Partyfrom 1958 to 1971, serving as the inauguraldeputy prime minister of Australiafrom 1968 to 1971.

The Right Honourable Sir John McEwen GCMGCH
McEwen in 1957
18thPrime Minister of Australia
In office 17 December 1967 – 10 January 1968
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Governor‑General	Lord Casey
Preceded by	Harold Holt
Succeeded by	John Gorton
Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
In office 10 January 1968 – 5 February 1971
Prime Minister	John Gorton
Preceded by	Office established;Himself(de facto,1967)
Succeeded by	Doug Anthony
De facto 26 March 1958 – 17 December 1967
Prime Minister	Robert Menzies Harold Holt
Preceded by	Arthur Fadden
Succeeded by	Himself(1968)
5thLeader of the Country Party
In office 26 March 1958 – 5 February 1971
Deputy	Charles Davidson Charles Adermann Doug Anthony
Preceded by	Arthur Fadden
Succeeded by	Doug Anthony
Deputy Leader of the Country Party
In office 22 September 1943 – 26 March 1958
Leader	Arthur Fadden
Preceded by	Arthur Fadden
Succeeded by	Charles Davidson
Cabinet posts Minister for Trade and Industry In office 18 December 1963 – 5 February 1971 Prime Minister Robert Menzies Harold Holt Himself John Gorton Preceded by Himself(Trade) Succeeded by Doug Anthony Minister for Trade In office 11 January 1956 – 18 December 1963 Prime Minister Robert Menzies Preceded by Neil O'Sullivan(Trade and Customs) Succeeded by Himself(Trade and Industry) Minister for Commerce and Agriculture In office 19 December 1949 – 11 January 1956 Prime Minister Robert Menzies Preceded by Reg Pollard Succeeded by William McMahon Minister for Air In office 28 October 1940 – 7 October 1941 Prime Minister Robert Menzies Arthur Fadden Preceded by Arthur Fadden Succeeded by Arthur Drakeford Minister for Civil Aviation In office 28 October 1940 – 7 October 1941 Prime Minister Robert Menzies Arthur Fadden Preceded by Arthur Fadden Succeeded by Arthur Drakeford Minister for External Affairs In office 14 March 1940 – 28 October 1940 Prime Minister Robert Menzies Preceded by Henry Gullett Succeeded by Frederick Stewart Minister for the Interior In office 29 November 1937 – 26 April 1939 Prime Minister Joseph Lyons Earle Page Preceded by Thomas Paterson Succeeded by Harry Foll
Parliamentary roles Father of the House In office 30 September 1969 – 1 February 1971 Preceded by Joe Clark Succeeded by Arthur Calwell Member of the House of Representatives In office 10 December 1949 – 1 February 1971 Preceded by constituency established Succeeded by Bruce Lloyd Constituency Murray In office 23 October 1937 – 10 December 1949 Preceded by William Hutchinson Succeeded by William Bostock Constituency Indi In office 15 September 1934 – 23 October 1937 Preceded by William Hill Succeeded by constituency abolished Constituency Echuca
Personal details
Born	(1900-03-29)29 March 1900 Chiltern, Victoria,Australia
Died	20 November 1980(1980-11-20)(aged 80) Toorak, Victoria,Australia
Political party	Country
Spouses	Anne McLeod ​ ​ (m.1921; died 1967)​ Mary Byrne ​ (m.1968)​
Education	Wangaratta State School Dandenong State School
Occupation	Farmer, politician

McEwen was born inChiltern, Victoria.He was orphaned at the age of seven and raised by his grandmother, initially inWangarattaand then inDandenong.McEwen left school when he was 13 and joined theAustralian Armyat the age of 18, but the war ended before his unit was shipped out. He was nonetheless eligible for asoldier settlementscheme, and selected a property atStanhope.He established a dairy farm, but later bought a larger property and farmed beef cattle.

After several previous unsuccessful candidacies, McEwen was elected to theHouse of Representativesat the1934 federal election.He was first elevated to cabinet byJoseph Lyonsin 1937. McEwen became deputy leader of the Country Party in 1943, underArthur Fadden.He replaced Fadden as leader in 1958, and remained in the position until his retirement from politics in 1971. He served in parliament for 36 years in total, spending a record 25 years as a government minister.

TheLiberal-Country Coalitionreturned to powerin 1949,initially underRobert Menziesand then underHarold Holt.McEwen came to have a major influence on economic policy, particularly in the areas of agriculture, manufacturing, and trade. As soon as McEwen became the leader of the Country Party, he became thede factodeputy prime minister.

In December 1967, Harold Holt disappeared and was presumed dead while in office. As the de facto deputy prime minister, McEwen was commissioned as caretaker prime minister while theLiberal Partyelected a new leader. He was 67 at the time, the oldest person to become prime minister and only the third from the Country Party. McEwen ceded power toJohn Gortonafter 23 days in office in January 1968, and in recognition of his service was appointed deputy prime minister, the first time that position had been formally created. He was Australia's third shortest serving prime minister, afterEarle PageandFrank Forde.He remained as deputy prime minister until his retirement from politics in 1971.

Early life

McEwen's birthplace, located at 73 Main Street,Chiltern, Victoria

Birth and family background

McEwen was born on 29 March 1900, at his parents' home inChiltern, Victoria.He was the son of Amy Ellen (née Porter) and David James McEwen. His mother was born in Victoria, and had English and Irish ancestry. His father was ofUlster Scotsorigin, born inMountnorris,County Armagh(in present-dayNorthern Ireland).He worked as a chemist, and also served a term on theChiltern Shire Council.The family surname was originally spelled "MacEwen",but was altered upon David McEwen's arrival in Australia in 1889.

Childhood

In his memoirs, McEwen recounted that he had almost no memories of his parents.His mother died of lung disease in March 1902, just before his second birthday; she had given birth to a daughter, Amy, a few months earlier. She was the second of his father's three wives, and McEwen had three half-siblings – Gladys, Evelyn, and George.After their mother's death, McEwen and his sister were raised by their father, living in the rooms behind his chemist's shop. He died frommeningitisin September 1907, when his son was seven. John and Amy were sent to live with their widowed grandmother, Nellie Porter (née Cook), while their younger half-brother went to live with his mother inMelbourne.They had never lived with their older half-sisters, who had been sent to live in a children's home upon their mother's death in 1893.

McEwen's grandmother ran a boardinghouse inWangaratta.He grew up in what he described as "pretty frugal circumstances", and in 1912 his grandmother moved the family toDandenong,on the outskirts of Melbourne.McEwen attended state schools in Wangaratta and Dandenong until the age of thirteen, when he began working for Rocke, Tompsitt & Co., a drug manufacturer in central Melbourne. He initially worked as aswitchboard operator,for which he was paid 15shillingsper week.McEwen began attending night school inPrahran,and in 1915 passed an examination for theCommonwealth Public Serviceand began working as a junior clerk at the office of theCommonwealth Crown Solicitor.His immediate superior there wasFred Whitlam,the father of another future prime minister,Gough Whitlam.

Soldier-settler

With World War I ongoing, McEwen resolved to enter the military when he turned 18. He joined theAustralian Army Cadetsand completed aRoyal Australian Navycourse in radiotelegraphy, hoping to qualify for the newly openedRoyal Military College, Duntroon.He passed the entrance exam, but instead chose to enlist as a private in theAustralian Imperial Force,in order to be posted overseas sooner. The war ended before his unit shipped out. Despite the briefness of his service, McEwen was eligible for the Victorian government'ssoldier settlementscheme. He selected an 86-acre (35 ha) lot atStanhope,on land that previously been asheep station.As with many other soldier-settlers, McEwen initially did not have the money or the expertise needed to run a farm. He spent several months working as a farm labourer and later did the same as astevedoreat thePort of Melbourne,eventually saving enough money to return to Stanhope and establish his dairy farm.

McEwen's new property was virtually undeveloped, with only a single existing building (a small shack) and no fences, irrigation, or paddocks. He and the other soldier-settlers in the Stanhope district suffered a number of hardships in the early 1920s, including droughts, rabbit plagues, and low milk prices. Many of them were forced off their properties, allowing those who survived to expand their holdings relatively cheaply.In 1926, McEwen sold his property and bought a larger farm nearby, which he namedChilgala(a portmanteau of Chiltern andTongala,the birthplaces of himself and his wife). He switched from dairy to beef cattle, and was able to expand his property by buying abandoned farms from the government. At its peak,Chilgalacovered 3,000 acres (1,200 ha) and carried 1,800 head of cattle.McEwen had a reputation as one of the best farmers in the district, and came to be seen by the other soldier-settlers as a spokesman and leader. He represented them in meetings with government officials, and was secretary of the local Water Users' League, which protected the interests of irrigators.In 1923, he co-founded the Stanhope Dairy Co-operative, and was elected as the company's inaugural chairman.

Early years in politics

McEwen in the 1930s

McEwen joined theVictorian Farmers' Unionin 1919 at the age of 19 and was soon active in theCountry Party,its political wing.He first stood for parliament at the1932 Victorian state election,contesting theLegislative Assemblyseat ofWaranga.While unsuccessful, he more than doubled the Country Party's vote from the previous election. His campaigning efforts brought him to the attention of party leaders and he soon joined the state executive.

In 1934, the Victorian Country Party's central council mandated that its federal MPs and senators sign a pledge requiring strictparty disciplineand giving the central council a veto over the terms of anycoalition government.The party's three MPs and two senators in Victoria refused to sign the pledge, receiving support from their parliamentary colleagues and the party's federal executive. Country MPWilliam Hilldecided to quit politics altogether in protest, with McEwen endorsed by the Victorian party as its replacement for Hill in the seat ofEchuca.At the1934 electionhe faced two "Independent Country" opponents supported by the federal party, with the party's federal leaderEarle Pageactively campaigning in their favour. McEwen nonetheless retained Echuca with the aid of favourable preference flows fromAustralian Labor Party(ALP) voters.

Despite McEwen's acceptance of the Victorian Country Party's pledge, after his election to parliament he "immediately associated himself with the federal party and incurred the hostility of his Victorian colleagues for urging that the breach be healed".In his first term he successfully lobbied theLyons governmentto introduce a variable excise duty on flour, linking the duty paid by farmers to the international spot rate. He regarded this as "the first step towards a wheat industry stabilisation plan".In April 1935 he announced his support for aroyal commissioninto the Australian banking system, which the government convened later in the year.In 1936, following thePrivy Council's ruling inJames v Commonwealth,McEwen moved in parliament that the constitution be amended to allow for the federal government to legislate on the marketing of agricultural products. The government ultimately put forwarda referendum proposalin 1937 which was defeated by voters.

Interior minister, 1937–1939

McEwen's seat was abolished in a redistribution during his first term and he transferred to the seat ofIndiat the1937 election.He rose rapidly within the parliamentary Country Party and narrowly failed to win the deputy leadership after the 1937 election, losing toHarold Thorbyby a single vote on the second ballot.He was subsequently appointedMinister for the Interiorin thethird Lyons ministry,acoalition governmentbetween the Country Party and theUnited Australia Party(UAP) led by Prime MinisterJoseph Lyons.His new portfolio was "spacious in its command of broad policy issues and diversity of administrative functions" and included "Commonwealth public works, railways, immigration, the Northern and Australian Capital territories, Aborigines, electoral administration, mining, and oil exploration".

As interior minister, McEwen instituted theNew Deal for Aborigines,a landmark policy statement onIndigenous Australianswhich described its aim as "the raising of their status so as to entitle them by right and by qualification to the ordinary rights of citizenship and enable them and help them to share with us the opportunities that are available in their own native land". The policy specifiedcultural assimilationas the basis on which civil rights would be extended to the Indigenous population. The policy was drafted by McEwen in conjunction with his adviserA. P. Elkin.

Following Lyons' death in April 1939, Country Party leaderEarle Pagewithdrew his party from the coalition with the UAP and McEwen's first stint as a minister came to an end. Page's decision – largely due to his personal disdain for the new UAP prime ministerRobert Menzies– proved controversial within his own party and four Country MPs left the parliamentary party.

Country Party conflict

McEwen's decision to accept a ministerial post after the 1937 election placed him into conflict with the central council of the Victorian Country Party, which had previously called on its federal MPs to withdraw from the federal coalition with the UAP. At the time, the central council was under the control of a left-wing faction and the party's state leaderAlbert Dunstanwas governing in Victoria with the support of the Labor Party.In December 1937, McEwen was formally expelled from the Victorian Country Party, while remaining a member of the federal parliamentary Country Party. In response, he issued a statement denying the legitimacy of his expulsion and stating it was instead because he had been "too powerful in opposing the ambitions of the radical element in control of the Victorian central council".McEwen's supporters subsequently formed an alternative organisation, theLiberal Country Party(LCP), to support his election campaigns. His parliamentary colleagueThomas Patersonresigned from the Victorian Country Party in solidarity, with he and McEwen re-elected with the support of the LCP at the1940 election.The LCP eventually merged back into the Victorian Country Party in 1943.

World War II and aftermath

Upon the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, Page resigned as Country Party leader in order to facilitate the resumption of a coalition government with the UAP.McEwen contested the resulting leadership ballot against South Australian MPArchie Cameron,losing by seven votes to five. Prior to the ballot, the Country Party voted against allowing the four dissident MPs to rejoin the parliamentary party, although this decision was reversed a few months later. According to McEwen, the four MPs were his supporters and their presence would have meant he won the leadership ballot over Cameron.

In 1939, McEwen was appointedMinister for External Affairsand (simultaneously)Minister for AirandMinister for Civil Aviation.In 1940, whenArchie Cameronresigned as Country Party leader, McEwen contested the leadership ballot againstSir Earle Page:the ballot was tied andArthur Faddenwas chosen as a compromise. McEwen became his deputy.

Air minister, 1940–1941

McEwen in 1940

In October 1940, McEwen was appointedMinister for AirandMinister for Civil Aviationin a cabinet reshuffle that followed the1940 federal election.Fadden had been acting in the portfolios for several months following the death ofJames Fairbairn,who had been one of three government ministers killed in theCanberra air disasterin August 1940.McEwen remained as air and civil aviation minister until the defeat of theFadden governmentin October 1941, with Fadden having succeeded as prime minister upon Menzies' resignation in August 1941.

As air minister, McEwen oversaw the continued expansion of theRoyal Australian Air Force(RAAF). He secured war cabinet approval for volunteers to be recruited from theCitizen Military Forcesand also authorised steps to expand RAAFauxiliaries,announcing the creation of theAustralian Air Force Cadetsand theWomen's Auxiliary Australian Air Forcein early 1941. According to an official RAAF history, he "made it clear that he did not favour the enlistment of women in the air force unless it was unavoidable, but unavoidable it became".He had a strained relationship with RAAF chiefCharles Burnett,frequently clashing over expenditure matters.

McEwen oversaw the acceleration of Australia's involvement in theEmpire Air Training Scheme,which saw RAAF personnel receive training in Canada before being seconded to theRoyal Air Force(RAF) for combat in theEuropean theatre.In May 1941, McEwen announced that 1,000 RAAF ground staff would be seconded to the RAF.He faced criticisms that RAAF personnel in the UK were being assigned to RAF units rather than theArticle XV squadronsrequired by the scheme, and that Australian officers were being denied senior leadership opportunities in RAF commands. In August 1941 he despatchedRichard Williamsto London to establishRAAF Overseas Headquarters,with the aim of securing greater Australian input in decision-making.

Opposition, 1941–1949

McEwen continued to serve on the Advisory War Council following the Fadden government's defeat, remaining as a member for the duration of the war.On the council he advocated for "independent and first-hand reports of theNew Guinea situation,and was critical of the northern air defence strategy ".McEwen was elected deputy leader of the Country Party in September 1943, with the position having been vacant since Fadden's elevation to the leadership.He opposed suggestions that the Country Party should merge into the newLiberal Party of Australia,created by Menzies as a replacement for the UAP, and remained defensive of the Country Party's independence throughout his political career.

Remaining inoppositionafter the ALP won majority government at the1943and1946 elections,McEwen was "closely involved with Fadden in rebuilding the Country Party, developing its policies, and preparing it for office in partnership with Menzies' rejuvenated Liberal Party".He was a prominent campaigner for the "No" vote in theCurtin government's1944 post-war reconstruction referendum.He was also a leading opponent of theChifley government's attempts to nationalise the private banking sector in 1947 and 1948.

Menzies and Holt governments

McEwen in 1950

When the conservatives returned to office in 1949 underRobert Menziesafter eight years in opposition, McEwen becameMinister for Commerce and Agriculture,switching toMinister for Tradein 1956. Menzies nicknamed him "Black Jack", due to his dark eyebrows, grim nature, and occasional temper.In theMenzies government,McEwen pursued what became known as "McEwenism" – a policy of high tariff protection for the manufacturing industry, so that industry would not challenge the continuing high tariffs on imported raw materials, which benefitted farmers but pushed up industry's costs. This policy was a part (some argue the foundation) of what became known as the "Australian settlement"which promoted high wages, industrial development, government intervention in industry (Australian governments traditionally owned banks and insurance companies and the railways and through policies designed to assist particular industries) and decentralisation.

Trade negotiations

Beginning in the early 1950s, McEwen and his departmental secretaryJohn Crawfordplayed a key role in the normalisation and acceleration of the Australia–Japan trade relationship. Prior to World War II, Japan had been one of the largest destinations for Australian exports.The resumption of trade after the war was politically sensitive, due both to lingeringanti-Japanese sentiment– including from several of McEwen's parliamentary colleagues who had been prisoners-of-war – and concerns from Australian manufacturers over the cheaper cost of labour in Japan.McEwen came to see the resumption of trade with Japan as important for Australian producers, as Australia sought new markets outside the existing framework ofImperial Preference.

McEwen first put forward a cabinet proposal to enter into trade negotiations with Japan in July 1953, which was rejected although an accompanying recommendation to liberalise restrictions on Japanese imports was accepted. He eventually secured cabinet approval for trade talks with Japan in November 1954, on his third attempt.In February 1955, he also persuaded cabinet to agree to Japan's accession to theGeneral Agreement on Tariffs and Trade(GATT),although Australia and many other former Allied powers invoked an exception under Article 35 of the GATT treaty allowing them to continue to discriminate against Japan.After years of negotiations, McEwen and his Japanese counterpartKishi Nobusukesigned the Japan–Australia Commerce Agreement in July 1957, with each country conferringmost favoured nationstatus on the other and Australia providing a commitment to revoke its Article 35 exception.This eventually occurred in 1960 after McEwen secured Japanese concessions on imports of Australian beef. The final discriminatory trade provisions were removed in a new agreement signed in 1963.

The trade agreement with Japan "ushered in a new era of Australian trade which would make Japan immeasurably Australia's biggest trading partner".Its signing was regarded as a personal triumph for McEwen, who was its main advocate in the government and bore much of the political risk. According toMalcolm Fraser,Menzies only authorised McEwen to negotiate in his own name, not on behalf of the government, and "if it had gone wrong Menzies could have disowned him up to the moment the government accepted the agreement".In 1973, the Japanese government awarded McEwen theGrand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun,making him only the second Australian politician afterEdmund Bartonto receive the honour.

Relationship with the Liberal Party

In 1958, following Fadden's retirement, McEwen was elected unopposed as leader of the Country Party. Under the Coalition agreement, he thus became thede factodeputy prime minister,and was afforded a free choice of portfolio.Fadden had been Treasurer, but McEwen somewhat unexpectedly chose to continue on as trade minister. This allowedHarold Holtto become the first Liberal MP to serve as Treasurer; since then every Treasurer in a Coalition government has been a Liberal. McEwen nonetheless had considerable influence in cabinet. He and his party favoured interventionist economic policies and were opposed to foreign ownership of industrial assets, which placed him frequently at odds with his Liberal colleagues.In 1962, a dispute between McEwen and Assistant TreasurerLes Buryended with Bury being sacked from cabinet.His stature eventually grew to the point where he was considered a potential successor to Menzies as prime minister. An opinion poll in December 1963 showed that 19 percent of Coalition voters favoured McEwen as Menzies' successor, only two points behind the poll leader Holt.By December 1965, this number had risen to 27 percent, compared with Holt's 22 percent.McEwen's cause was championed by a number of media outlets, includingThe SunandThe Australian.Nonetheless, he had few supporters within the Liberal Party, and it was generally held that he would have to become a Liberal if he were to lead the Coalition, which he was unwilling to do.

Holt replaced Menzies as prime minister in January 1966, with McEwen continuing on his previous position. His portfolio had been expanded after the1963 election,with his department now called theDepartment of Trade and Industry.McEwen enjoyed a "sound working relationship" with Holt, but without the same rapport he had had with Menzies.However, he had a poor relationship withWilliam McMahon,Holt's replacement as Treasurer. They had philosophical differences over free trade and foreign investment, both of which McEwen opposed. McMahon was also suspected to be undermining McEwen through his connections in the media.

McEwen's most serious disagreement with Holt came in November 1967, when it was announced that Australia – which had converted todecimal currencythe previous year – would not follow the recent devaluation of thepound sterling.This effectively marked Australia's withdrawal from thesterling area.McEwen issued a public statement criticising the decision, which he feared would damage primary industry. Holt considered this a breach ofcabinet solidarity,and made preparations for the Liberal Party to govern in its own right in case the Country Party withdrew from the government. The situation was eventually resolved In Holt's favour.

Prime minister

McEwen being sworn in as Prime Minister on 19 December 1967

Harold Holtdisappeared while swimmingatPortsea, Victoria,on 17 December 1967, and was officially presumed dead two days later. TheGovernor-General,Lord Casey,sent for McEwen and commissioned him as interim prime minister, on the understanding that his commission would continue only so long as it took for the Liberals to elect a new leader. McEwen contended that if Casey commissioned a Liberal as interim prime minister, it would give that person an undue advantage in the upcoming ballot for a full-time leader.

McEwen retained all of Holt's ministers, and had them sworn in as the McEwen Ministry. Approaching 68, McEwen was the oldest person ever to be appointed Prime Minister of Australia, although not the oldest to serve; Menzies left office one month and six days after his 71st birthday. McEwen had been encouraged to remain prime minister on a more permanent basis but to do so would have required him to defect to the Liberals, an option he had never contemplated.

It had long been presumed that McMahon, who was both Treasurer and deputy Liberal leader, would succeed Holt as Liberal leader and hence prime minister. However, McEwen sparked a leadership crisis when he announced that he and his Country Party colleagues would not serve under McMahon. McEwen is reported to have despised McMahon personally.More importantly, McEwen was bitterly opposed to McMahon on political grounds, because McMahon was allied withfree tradeadvocates in the conservative parties and favoured sweeping tariff reforms, a position that was vehemently opposed by McEwen, his Country Party colleagues and their rural constituents.

McEwen withJohn Gortonfollowing the latter's election as Liberal leader on 9 January 1968

Another key factor in McEwen's antipathy towards McMahon was hinted at soon after the crisis by the veteran political journalistAlan Reid.According to Reid, McEwen was aware that McMahon was habitually breaching Cabinet confidentiality and regularly leaking information to favoured journalists and lobbyists, includingMaxwell Newton,who had been hired as a "consultant" by Japanese trade interests.

Even in the wake of their landslide victory in 1966, the Liberals were still four seats short of an outright majority. With only the Country Party as a realistic coalition partner, McEwen's opposition forced McMahon to withdraw from the leadership ballot.This opened the door for the successful campaign to promote theMinister for Education and Science,SenatorJohn Gorton,to the Prime Ministership with the support of a group led byDefence MinisterMalcolm Fraser.Gorton was elected as leader of the Liberal Party on9 January 1968,and succeeded McEwen as prime minister the following day. It was the second time the Country Party had effectively vetoed its senior partner's choice for the leadership; in 1923Earle Pagehad demanded that theNationalist Party,one of the forerunners of the Liberals, removeBilly Hughesas leader before he would even consider coalition talks.

Gorton government and final years

McEwen in the 1960s

Gorton created the formal titledeputy prime ministerfor McEwen, confirming his status as the second-ranking member of the government. Prior to then, the title had been used informally for whoever was recognised as the second-ranking member of the government – the leader of the Country Party when the Coalition was in government, and Labor's deputy leader when Labor was in government. Even before being formally named Deputy Prime Minister, McEwen had exercised an effective veto over government policy since 1966 by virtue of being the most senior member of the government, having been a member of the Coalition frontbench without interruption since 1937.

McEwen retired from politics in 1971. In his memoir, he recalls his career as being "long and very, very hard", and turned back to managing 1,800 head of cattle on his property inGoulburn Valley.In the same year,Clifton Pughwon theArchibald Prizefor a portrait of McEwen.While he had softened in his "unequivocal support for protection" by the time of his retirement he had given way to free-traders with regards to agriculture.However, he felt differently about manufacturing, as it was essential toNational power:

"My own view has always been that it would be ridiculous to think that Australia was safe in the long term unless we built up our population and built up our industries. So I have always wanted to make Australia a powerful industrialised country as well as a major agricultural and mining country. This basic attitude meant that I was bound to favour broadly protectionist policies aimed at developing our manufacturing sector."

At the time of his resignation, he had served in parliament for 36 years and 5 months, including 34 years as either a minister (1937–1941 and 1949–1971) or opposition frontbencher (1941–1949). He was the last serving parliamentarian fromthe Great Depressionera, and hence the last parliamentary survivor of theLyonsgovernment. By the time of his death,Malcolm Fraser's government was abandoning McEwenite trade policies.

Honours

Bust of John McEwen by sculptor Victor Greenhalgh located in thePrime Minister's Avenuein the Ballarat Botanical Gardens

McEwen was appointed aMember of the Order of the Companions of Honour(CH) in 1969. He was knighted in 1971 after his retirement from politics, becoming aKnight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George(GCMG). The Japanese government conferred on him theGrand Cordon, Order of the Rising Sunin 1973.

Personal life and death

On 21 September 1921, he marriedAnne Mills McLeod,known as Annie; they had no children. In 1966, she was made a Dame Commander of theOrder of the British Empire(DBE). After a long illness Dame Anne McEwen died on 10 February 1967.

At the time of becoming prime minister in December of that year, McEwen was a widower, being the first Australian prime minister unmarried during his term of office. (The next such case wasJulia Gillard,prime minister 2010–13, who had a domestic partner although unwed.)

On 26 July 1968, McEwen married Mary Eileen Byrne, his personal secretary for 15 years, atWesley Church, Melbourne;he was aged 68, she was 46.In retirement he distanced himself from politics, undertook some consulting work, and travelled to Japan and South Africa. He had no children by any of his marriages.

McEwen had severedermatitisfor most of his adult life. He recounted that "for literally months at a time, I would be walking about Parliament House with my feet bleeding and damaged." The pain became unbearable in later years, and he began refusing food in order to hasten his death; he died of self-imposed starvation on 20 November 1980, aged 80.McEwen was cremated, and his estate was sworn for probate at $2,180,479.

See also

• McEwen ministry

Further reading

• Golding, Peter S. (1996).Black Jack McEwen: Political Gladiator.Melbourne University Press.ISBN0522847188.
• McEwen, John; Veitch, Don; Seale, John (1996).McEwen's Way.David Syme College.ISBN9781876207229.
• McKenzie, Bridget(2020).John McEwen: The Right Man, Right Place, Right Time.Connor Court Publishing.ISBN9781922449412.

External links

• "John McEwen".Australia's Prime Ministers.National Archives of Australia.Retrieved14 February2022.
• "Prime Ministers of Australia: John McEwen".National Museum of Australia.Archived fromthe originalon 4 October 2018.Retrieved29 June2010.
• Lloyd, C. J. (2000)."McEwen, Sir John (1900–1980)]".Australian Dictionary of Biography.Vol. 15. Canberra: National Centre of Biography,Australian National University.ISBN978-0-522-84459-7.ISSN1833-7538.OCLC70677943.
• John McEwen at the National Film and Sound Archive
• "First World War Service Record – John McEwen".National Archives of Australia.Retrieved14 February2022.