First Menzies ministry

First Menzies ministry
25th Ministry of Australia
Robert Menzies Billy Hughes
Date formed	26 April 1939
Date dissolved	14 March 1940
People and organisations
Monarch	George VI
Governor-General	Lord Gowrie
Prime Minister	Robert Menzies
No. of ministers	16
Member party	United Australia
Status in legislature	Minority government
Opposition party	Labor
Opposition leader	John Curtin
History
Legislature term	15th
Predecessor	Page ministry
Successor	Second Menzies ministry

This article is part of a series about Robert Menzies
Early life State politics Member for Kooyong (1934–1966) 1938 Dalfram dispute United Australia Party spills 1939 1943 Prime Minister of Australia First term of government (1939–1941) Entry into WW2 Advisory War Council Liberal Party foundation Second term of government (1949–1966) ANZUS Communist Party ban 1951 Communist Party ban referendum Petrov Affair Royal Commission on Espionage Entry into Vietnam War Ministries First Second Third Fourth Fifth Sixth Seventh Eighth Ninth Tenth Elections 1940 1946 1949 1951 1953 (Half-Senate) 1954 1955 1958 1961 1963 1964 (Half-Senate) The Forgotten People
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The First Menzies ministry (United Australia) was the 25th ministry of the Government of Australia. It was led by the country's 12th Prime Minister, Robert Menzies. The First Menzies ministry succeeded the Page ministry, which dissolved on 26 April 1939 following the election of Menzies as UAP leader after the death of former Prime Minister Joseph Lyons. However, due to the Country Party withdrawing from the Coalition after relations between caretaker Prime Minister Sir Earle Page and Menzies broke down, the First Menzies ministry was composed solely of UAP ministers, and was effectively a minority government. The ministry was replaced by the Second Menzies ministry on 14 March 1940 after Menzies took the Country Party back into his government - now led by Archie Cameron.^[1]

Percy Spender, who died in 1985, was the last surviving member of the First Menzies ministry; Spender was also the last surviving minister of the Second Menzies ministry, Third Menzies ministry, Fadden ministry, and the Fourth Menzies ministry.