Frank Wise, Australian politician, 16th Premier of Western Australia (d. 1986)
Frank Joseph Scott Wise AO (30 May 1897 – 29 June 1986) was a Labor Party politician who was the 16th Premier of Western Australia. He took office on 31 July 1945 in the closing stages of the Second World War, following the resignation of his predecessor due to ill health. He lost the following election two years later to the Liberal Party after Labor had held office for fourteen years previously.
Wise was a farmer for several years in Queensland before working in the Department of Agriculture in that state. He later moved to Western Australia as a technical adviser in the Western Australian Department of Agriculture and in 1928 was commissioned to report and advise on tropical agriculture in the Northern Territory and the North West of Western Australia.
In the 1933 state election which saw future Premiers Albert Hawke and John Tonkin also win seats, Wise successfully contested the seat of Gascoyne (now merged into Murchison-Eyre) in the state's lower house for the Labor Party. In 1936 he moved to the front bench as Minister for Agriculture and the North-West.
For reasons of ill health, John Willcock resigned his premiership on 31 July 1945 and Wise was elected into the position. Wise held the position for only two years until the 1947 election when his party lost to the Liberals headed by Sir Ross McLarty.
He was Leader of the Opposition for the next four years before taking up the position of Administrator of the Northern Territory and President of the Northern Territory Legislative Council (now replaced with the unicameral Northern Territory Legislative Assembly).
In 1942, botanist Charles Gardner named the Australian shrub Acacia wiseana in his honour.
In the 1979 Australia Day honours list, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his services to politics.
1897May, 30
Frank Wise
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Events on 1897
- 22Jun
Chapekar brothers
British colonial officers Charles Walter Rand and Lt. Charles Egerton Ayerst are assassinated in Pune, Maharashtra, India by the Chapekar brothers and Mahadeo Vinayak Ranade, who are later caught and hanged. - 26Jul
Siege of Malakand
Anglo-Afghan War: The Pashtun fakir Saidullah leads an army of more than 10,000 to begin a siege of the British garrison in the Malakand Agency of the North West Frontier Province of India. - 2Aug
Siege of Malakand
Anglo-Afghan War: The Siege of Malakand ends when a relief column is able to reach the British garrison in the Malakand states. - 31Aug
Kinetoscope
Thomas Edison patents the Kinetoscope, the first movie projector. - 12Sep
Battle of Saragarhi
Tirah Campaign: Battle of Saragarhi.