Frank Wise

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.

The Honourable Frank Wise AO
16th Premier of Western Australia
In office 31 July 1945 – 1 April 1947
Governor	Sir James Mitchell
Preceded by	John Willcock
Succeeded by	Ross McLarty
Administrator of the Northern Territory
In office 1 July 1951 – 30 June 1956
Preceded by	Arthur Driver
Succeeded by	James Archer
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Western Australia
In office 8 April 1933 – 9 July 1951
Preceded by	Edward Angelo
Succeeded by	Noel Butcher
Constituency	Gascoyne
Member of the Legislative Council of Western Australia
In office 22 September 1956 – 21 May 1971
Preceded by	Don Barker
Succeeded by	Bill Withers
Constituency	North Province
Personal details
Born	30 May 1897 Ipswich, Queensland, Australia
Died	29 June 1986 (aged 89) Cottesloe, Western Australia, Australia
Political party	Labor

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.[1]

References

1. It's an Honour

• "Frank Joseph Scott Wise (Australian Labor Party)". Constitutional centre for Western Australia. Retrieved 23 February 2007.