Billy Hughes increasingly dominant in public affairs with the rise of Fascism in Europe and militant Japan in Asia. From 1938, Prime Minister Joseph Lyons had Hughes head a recruitment drive for the Australian Defence Force. On 7 April 1939, Lyons died in office. The United Australia Party selected Robert Menzies as his successor to lead a minority government on the eve of World War Two. Australia entered the Second World War on 3 September 1939 and a special War Cabinet was created after war was declared – initially composed of Prime Minister Menzies and five senior ministers including Hughes. Labor opposition
Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1949–1951 led by Arthur Fadden won a net of 48 additional seats, allowing it to form government. The incumbent Australian Labor Party led by Prime Minister of Australia Ben Chifley won a net of four additional seats and the four representatives of minor parties and an independent were all defeated. Members of the Australian House of Representatives, 1949–1951 This is a list of the members of the Australian House of Representatives in the 19th Australian Parliament, which was elected at the 1949 election on 10 December 1949. In the first of two significant expansions, the house was expanded by 48 seats,