A former clerk in the Crown Solicitor's Office, Melbourne, John McEwen enlisted in the First AIF in the last year of World War I (1918). He later became active in the Victorian Farmers' Union and the Victorian Country Party. McEwen was elected to the House of Representatives in 1934 as a Victorian Country Party representative, but he soon shifted his allegiance to the federal Country Party, which was the junior partner in the coalition government led by Joseph Lyons.
McEwen was promoted to the ministry in 1937 as Minister for the Interior. He ceased to be a minister when the Country Party dropped out of the governing coalition when Robert Menzies first became leader of the United Australia Party. But he became Minister for External Affairs and, later, Minister for Air and Minister for Civil Aviation when the Country Party, by then led by Arthur Fadden, re-joined the government.
In Opposition for most of the 1940s, McEwen again became a minister in the Menzies government, which was formed in December 1949. He was Minister for Commerce and Agriculture (1949–56), Minister for Trade (1956–63) and Minister for Trade and Industry (1963–71). He remained in the ministry of the Liberal–Country party coalition until his retirement from politics in 1971.
McEwen was narrowly beaten for the Country Party leadership in 1939, losing to Arthur Fadden. But he was successful in 1958, when he succeeded Fadden as both Party leader and Deputy Prime Minister. McEwen became Prime Minister on 19 December 1967, replacing Harold Holt, who had disappeared while swimming off the Victorian coast. His period in office was short, ending on 10 January 1968 when the Liberal Party chose John Gorton to be its leader.
John McEwen died in 1980.
The National Archives holds a collection of McEwen's personal records, as well as many records about John McEwen and the issues he was involved in during his years in government.
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.
 | Papers relating to redistribution from Press Secretary (WR Carew) | 1932–68 | AA1971/180 | ||
| Miscellaneous filing | 1933–70 | AA1971/178 | ||
| Folders of ‘Alphabetical electorate and general filing' (including departmental and subject files) | 1951–74 | M58 | ||
| Photographs assembled by Rt Hon. Sir John McEwen | 1951–70 | M60 | ||
| Papers relating to the Brigalow lands | 1961–62 | AA1972/206 | ||
| Portrait of McEwen painted from a photograph by Mr J Dainer | 1962 | M59 | ||
 | First AIF dossier – McEwen, John – Service number V79136 | 1918–34 | B2455, McEwen J | ||
| Press file. Statements by Mr John McEwen | 1943–48 | A5954, 2215/3 | ||
| Personal correspondence (Australia) The Hon. J McEwen | 1945–70 | A5954, 64/1 | ||
| GATT review. Statement by the Rt Hon. J McEwen, leader of the Australian delegation | 1950 | A10455, 119 | ||
| Correspondence with John McEwen [Menzies papers] | 1954–65 | M2576, 1 | ||
| Press file. Statements by Mr McEwen, Minister for Trade. | 1956 | A5954, 1623/6 | ||
| Copies of speeches in the name of Sir John McEwen as Minister | 1956–71 | A4115 | ||
| European Economic Conference – Mr McEwen's discussions | 1962–70 | A1838, 727/4/2/5 | ||
| Senate election campaign 1964 – Speeches by Sir Robert Menzies, Hon AA Calwell, J McEwen, Senator GR Cole | 1964 | A5954, 1118/6 | ||
| McEwen, J – report on talks with British ministers | 1966 | A6706, 43 | ||
| McEwen, Rt Hon. J (audio tape) | 1966 | C102, POL104 Part 1 | ||
Fact Sheet 144 – Harold Holt's disappearance – also refers to records of John McEwen's period as Prime Minister.
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