Fadden, Sir Arthur (1895-1973), was prime minister of Australia from late August to early October 1941. Fadden, who led the Country Party, became prime minister after the resignation of Robert Gordon Menzies. Australia at that time was involved in World War II (1939-1945), and Fadden was unable to maintain support for his government. John Joseph Curtin of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) became prime minister after Fadden’s resignation. Fadden remained the leader of the Country Party, which represented the interests of rural Australians, until 1958.
Early life and family.
Arthur William Fadden was born in Ingham, Queensland, on April 13, 1895. He was the oldest of 10 children. His parents—Richard John Fadden, a police officer, and Annie Fadden—were Irish immigrants. Arthur attended Walkerson State School in Mackay. In 1909, he began to work as a helper to sugar cane harvesters. He later worked at a sugar mill. 
In early 1913, Fadden became assistant town clerk for the Mackay Town Council. In 1916, he became town clerk. On Dec. 27, 1916, he married Ilma Nita Thornber (1895?-1987), a hatmaker. The couple had four children: Gordon, John, Mavis, and Betty.
Business and entry into politics.
Fadden had studied accountancy by correspondence courses (lessons delivered through the mail). In 1918, he established himself as a public accountant in Townsville, Queensland. His business flourished, and he established an additional office in Brisbane, Queensland’s capital.
In 1930, Fadden was elected to Townsville’s City Council, where he served as an alderman (city official) from 1930 to 1932. Around this time, he joined Queensland’s Country and Progressive National Party, a forerunner of today’s Nationals. In 1932, he was elected to Queensland’s Legislative Assembly. In 1934, he became treasurer in Queensland’s shadow ministry. A shadow ministry consists of the leading members of the official opposition party. He lost his Assembly seat in a 1935 election.
House of Representatives.
In 1936, Fadden joined rural members of Queensland’s Country and Progressive National Party in forming a separate party, the Queensland Country Party. That year, he won an election to fill a vacant seat in the House of Representatives, the lower house of Australia’s Parliament. He held the seat, representing the Queensland region of Darling Downs, until 1949. He then was elected to represent the neighboring district of McPherson. He held the McPherson seat until he retired from politics in 1958.
Cabinet member.
In March 1940, Prime Minister Menzies, of the United Australia Party (UAP), formed a new coalition (partnership) Cabinet that included members of the Country Party. Menzies chose Fadden to serve as minister without portfolio (official area of responsibility). In this position, Fadden assisted the treasurer and the minister for supply and development. In August, several Cabinet members died in an airplane crash. Fadden then was chosen to serve as minister for air and minister for civil aviation. In October, he became treasurer. He also became a member of Menzies’s Advisory War Council, a government body that discussed policy during World War II.
In October 1940, the Country Party held leadership elections, and two candidates received the same number of votes. Fadden, who was the party’s deputy leader, became acting leader.
Prime minister.
In early 1941, Menzies traveled overseas to visit with leaders of other Allied nations, and he left Fadden as acting prime minister. On March 12, Fadden was confirmed as leader of the Country Party.
Menzies returned to Australia in May 1941 to discover that his support within his coalition had shrunk. The UAP and the Country Party pressured him to resign, and they backed Fadden to succeed him. Menzies stepped down as prime minister on August 28, and Fadden was sworn in the same day.
Fadden quickly lost support, however. On Oct. 3, 1941, the House of Representatives voted on Fadden’s budget. Two independent House members who had previously supported Fadden’s government voted with the opposition Labor party to reject the budget. Fadden resigned as prime minister, and Labor leader John Joseph Curtin replaced him on October 7. Fadden led the opposition in Parliament until 1943. Menzies, who was again leading the UAP, replaced Fadden as leader of the opposition.
Later political career.
In the December 1949 general election, the UAP returned to power. Menzies again became prime minister, and he formed a coalition government with the Country Party. On December 19, Fadden was sworn in as treasurer and deputy prime minister.
In December 1951, Fadden met with other Commonwealth finance officials in London. While there, Fadden became a member of the Privy Council, a private group of advisers to the British monarch. King George VI of the United Kingdom made Fadden a Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George. In 1958, he was elevated to the rank of Knight Grand Cross of the same order.
In 1957, Fadden introduced legislation to restructure the government-backed Commonwealth Bank of Australia. The Commonwealth Bank had performed two different functions. First, it operated as the government’s central bank, controlling credit and currency. Second, it operated as a commercial trading and savings bank. Fadden’s reforms split these duties. The reforms created the Reserve Bank of Australia, to serve as the central bank, and the Commonwealth Banking Corporation, to provide commercial banking. The legislation easily passed the house, but it was initially rejected by the Senate. Fadden’s reforms became law in 1959.
Retirement.
On March 26, 1958, Fadden stepped down as leader of the Country Party in Parliament. He did not run for reelection that year, and he retired from Parliament in December.
After his retirement, Fadden worked as a director for several companies. His memoirs, They Called Me Artie, were published in 1969. Fadden died in Brisbane on April 21, 1973.
