1951 – Menzies government
The 1951 notebooks
Cabinet discussions in 1951 are recorded in seven Cabinet notebooks. Four of these notebooks record Cabinet meetings held only in 1951, while the remaining three notebooks record meetings held in 1951 and 1952.
A small amount of text on page 13 of Cabinet notebook 1/11 has been withheld from public access on the basis that its release may damage Australia's security and international relations. A statement setting out the reasons for this exemption is included with the digital copy of the record and with the original record. All other text of the 1951 Cabinet notebooks is available for full public access.
Digitised copies of the original Cabinet notebooks can be viewed online in our collection database RecordSearch. The links in the table below will take you to the item description page in RecordSearch for each notebook. Once there, click on the ‘View digital copy’ icon to browse the notebook.
Submissions, decisions and other records
Submissions
Cabinet considered more than 250 submissions in 1951. The submissions and related decisions for the fourth Menzies ministry are held in record series A4639, while those for the fifth Menzies ministry are held in series A4905.
Decisions
Cabinet made more than 100 decisions without submission in 1951. The decisions without submission are held in series A4931 for the fourth Menzies ministry and A4909 for the fifth Menzies ministry.
Cabinet committee papers
Various Cabinet Committees considered more routine matters, which relieved Cabinet of business of lesser importance and assisted Cabinet in making decisions more expeditiously.
Cabinet Committee papers from 1951 are not incorporated into the sequence of records of the full Cabinet as occurs later. Both the fourth and fifth Menzies ministry committee papers are held in series A4933.
Cabinet Secretariat files
Files created by the Cabinet Secretariat, known as 'C' files, are also available for access. These files contain the original submissions, briefing papers, decisions, and background papers such as departmental advice, and exchanges between officials and Ministers not included in the formal Cabinet papers. The 'C' files covering 1951 can be found in series A4940.
Fourth and fifth Menzies ministries
An election was held on 28 April 1951 after Menzies secured a double dissolution on the basis of the Senate, controlled by the Australian Labor Party (ALP), refusing the Government’s banking legislation. The 1951 election saw the Coalition returned in the House of Representatives and the ALP lose control of the Senate. The fifth Menzies Ministry was in place from 11 May 1951.
The fourth Menzies ministry (19 December 1949 to 11 May 1951) consisted of the following Ministers.
| Minister | Position |
|---|---|
| MENZIES, The Right Hon. Robert Gordon | Prime Minister |
| FADDEN, The Right Hon. Arthur | Treasurer |
| HARRISON, The Hon. Eric John | Minister for the Interior
Resident Minister in the UK |
| HOLT, The Hon. Harold | Minister for Labour and National Service
Minister for Immigration |
| McEWEN, The Hon. John | Minister for Commerce and Agriculture |
| SPENDER, The Hon. Percy Claude | Minister for External Affairs and External Territories |
| CASEY, The Right Hon. Richard Gardiner | Minister for National Development
Minister for Works and Housing |
| McBRIDE, The Hon. Philip Albert | Minister for Defence |
| PAGE, The Right Hon. Earle Christmas | Minister for Health |
| O’SULLIVAN, The Hon. Neil | Minister for Trade and Customs |
| McLEAY, The Hon. George | Minister for Fuel, Shipping and Transport |
| WHITE, The Hon. Thomas Walter | Minister for Air and Civil Aviation |
| ANTHONY, The Hon. Hubert Lawrence | Postmaster-General
Acting Minister for the Interior |
| FRANCIS, The Hon. Josiah | Minister for the Army
Minister for the Navy |
| SPICER, The Hon. John Armstrong | Attorney-General |
| LYONS, The Hon. Dame Enid | Vice President of the Executive Council |
| SPOONER, The Hon. William Henry | Minister for Social Services |
| COOPER, The Hon. Walter Jackson | Minister for Repatriation |
| BEALE, The Hon. Oliver Howard | Minister for Supply |
The fifth Menzies ministry (11 May 1951 to 11 January 1956) consisted of the following Ministers.
| Minister | Position |
|---|---|
| MENZIES, The Right Hon. Robert Gordon | Prime Minister |
| FADDEN, The Right Hon. Arthur | Treasurer |
| HARRISON, The Hon. Eric John | Vice-President of Executive Council
Minister for Defence Production |
| HOLT, The Hon. Harold | Minister for Labour and National Service Minister for Immigration |
| McEWEN, The Hon. John | Minister for Commerce and Agriculture |
| CASEY, The Right Hon. Richard Gardiner | Minister for External Affairs
Minister in charge of Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research |
| McBRIDE, The Hon. Philip Albert | Minister for Defence
Minister for the Navy and Minister for Air to 17 July 1951) |
| McMAHON, The Hon. William | Minister for the Navy
Minister for Air (from 17 July 1951) |
| PAGE, The Right Hon. Earle Christmas Grafton | Minister for Health |
| O’SULLIVAN, The Hon. Neil | Minister for Trade and Customs |
| McLEAY, The Hon. George | Minister for Shipping and Transport |
| ANTHONY, The Hon. Hubert Lawrence | Postmaster-General
Minister for Civil Aviation |
| FRANCIS, The Hon. Josiah | Minister for the Army |
| SPICER, The Hon. John Armstrong | Attorney-General |
| SPOONER, The Hon. William Henry | Minister for National Development |
| COOPER, The Hon. Walter Jackson | Minister for Repatriation |
| BEALE, The Hon. Oliver Howard | Minister for Supply |
| KENT HUGHES, The Hon. Wilfred Selwyn | Minister for the Interior
Minister for Works and Housing |
| TOWNLEY, The Hon. Athol Gordon | Minister for Social Services |
| HASLUCK, The Hon. Paul Meernaa | Minister for Territories |
Read about the events and issues that made the news in 1951.
