Lyons, Joseph Aloysius

Lyons, Joseph Aloysius (lī'unz) [key], 1879–1939, Australian statesman, b. Tasmania. He left schoolteaching in 1909 to enter political life, was a Labour member of the Tasmanian House of Assembly until 1929, and was premier of Tasmania. He became a member of the commonwealth Parliament in 1929 and held cabinet posts, but in 1931 he repudiated the Labour government's proposals of inflation to solve the depression and helped form a coalition United Australia party. As prime minister of Australia for three terms (1932–39), he reduced the national debt and restored the country to solvency.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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