A former Labor Premier of Tasmania (1916–19 and 1923–28) Joseph Lyons entered federal parliament in the 1929 elections, becoming Postmaster-General in the Scullin Government that was swept to power by that poll. Labor had not been in power federally since 1917, and it was only Lyons and former Queensland Premier ‘Ted’ Theodore who brought ministerial experience to the new government.
Resigning from the Government and the Labor Party in 1931, Lyons and a small group of supporters joined with the John Latham-led Nationalists to form the United Australia Party (UAP). Lyons became leader of the UAP, and subsequently Prime Minister and Treasurer when the Party won the election held in December 1931. A coalition formed with the Country Party in 1934 kept Lyons as Prime Minister, although he handed the Treasury portfolio to Richard Gardiner Casey the following year. Through a mixture of caution and sound financial management the Lyons government led Australia out of the depths of the Great Depression.
During his time in office, Lyons also covered the portfolios of Commerce (1932), Health (1935–36), Repatriation (1935–36) and Defence (1937). Joseph Lyons died in office on 7 April 1939.
The National Archives holds a collection of Lyons’ personal records, and many records about Lyons and the issues he was involved in during his years in government. Lyons’ personal records, and a selection of records about him, are listed below.
In the tables below, reference numbers direct you to the item or series in RecordSearch, the Archives database. There you can find more information. In many cases you can view entire digitised records. The information will appear in a new browser window.
 | Personal correspondence | 1919–39 | CP103/19 | ||
| Correspondence of Lyons as Prime Minister | 1920–56 | CP30/3 | ||
| Correspondence of Lyons as United Australia Party Leader and Federal Opposition Leader | 1922–56 | CP30/2 | ||
| Personal correspondence of Lyons as Prime Minister and as United Australia Party leader | 1931–39 | M2270 | ||
| Correspondence of Lyons as Postmaster-General | 1931 | CP30/1 | ||
| Correspondence series – Lyons and Menzies | 1931–39 | CP167/2 | ||
| Representations regarding employment | 1931–39 | CP167/3 | ||
| Cables to and from Lyons during his visit to London | 1935–38 | CP290/5 | ||
| General correspondence | 1937–39 | CP167/1 | ||
| Letters between King George VI and Lyons, regarding the presentation to HM of an oil painting of the coronation | 1938 | CP144/1 | ||
 | Lyons, JA (audio tape) | 1934 | C102, POL5 | ||
| Curtin, John – Speech on death of PM Lyons (audio tape) | 1939 | C102, POL10 | ||
| Lyons government | 1932–36 | MP124/6, 404/201/195 | ||
| Pamphlets – The Defence of Australia – What the Lyons Govt has done and Defence Aspects of the Imperial Conference | 1936–37 | MP1587/1, 218AO | ||
RecordSearch, the Archives database, will help you locate more records on this Prime Minister. You can also use it to identify the agencies that created the records. PhotoSearch may also contain photos pertaining to your subject. Both RecordSearch and PhotoSearch are available online and in all Archives reading rooms. Reference staff there can help you, or you can email ref@naa.gov.au.
The Archives has also published a series of research guides about prime ministers. You can download them as PDFs, or order the published versions from the Archives shop. See Prime Ministers Guides.
The National Archives of Australia has developed a new portal website on Australia's 25 prime ministers. It features short biographies of the prime ministers and their wives, a ready reference called Fast Facts, photographs, original documents and more.
The portal's research map enables you to find Australian and overseas collections with archives on Australia's prime ministers. Visit primeministers.naa.gov.au.
As part of this new portal website, we have made a suite of new webpages about prime ministerial records in the National Archives.
Comments or other feedback can be sent to archives@naa.gov.au
updated June 2003