Frank Wise

The Honourable Frank Wise AO
File:Honfrankjosephwise.jpg
16th Premier of Western Australia
In office 31 July 1945 – 1 April 1947
Preceded by	John Willcock
Succeeded by	Sir Ross McLarty
Constituency	Gascoyne
Administrator of the Northern Territory
In office 1 July 1951 – 1 July 1956
Preceded by	Arthur Driver
Succeeded by	James C. Archer
Personal details
Born	(1897-05-30)30 May 1897 Ipswich, Queensland Australia
Died
Nationality	Australian
Political party	Australian Labor Party

Frank Joseph Scott Wise AO (30 May 1897 – 29 June 1986) was an Australian Labor Party politician and 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.

References

Political offices
Preceded by John Willcock	Premier of Western Australia 1945 – 1947	Succeeded by Sir Ross McLarty
Preceded by Arthur Driver	Administrator of the Northern Territory 1951–1956	Succeeded by James Clarence Archer