Editing Earle Page (section)

==Bruce–Page government==
[[File:Earle Page first cabinet document in Canberra.jpg|thumb|upright|Page in 1924 as acting prime minister signing the first cabinet document prepared in Canberra]]

===Government formation===
Page was elected leader of the Country Party in 1921, replacing [[William McWilliams]]. At the [[1922 Australian federal election|1922 federal election]] the party campaigned on a platform which included the establishment of a national [[sinking fund]], national insurance scheme covering "sickness, unemployment, poverty and age", and conversion of the [[Commonwealth Bank of Australia]] into a full [[central bank]].{{sfn|Hawkins|2009|p=57}} The party emerged from the election with the [[Balance of power (parliament)|balance of power]] in the House; the [[Nationalist Party of Australia|Nationalist]] government of [[Billy Hughes]] lost its majority and could not govern without Country Party support. It soon became apparent that the price for that support would be a full coalition with the Nationalists. However, the Country Party had been formed partly due to discontent with Hughes' rural policy, and Page's animosity toward Hughes was such that he would not even consider supporting him. Indeed, he would not even begin talks with the Nationalists as long as Hughes remained leader.  Bowing to the inevitable, Hughes resigned.<ref name=naamc>{{cite web|title=Earle Page, Member for Cowper 1919|work=Australia's Prime Ministers|publisher=[[National Archives of Australia]]|url=http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/page/before-office.aspx#section3|access-date=19 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100718002920/http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/page/before-office.aspx#section3|archive-date=18 July 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Page then began negotiations with Hughes' successor as leader of the Nationalists, [[Stanley Bruce]]. His terms were stiff; he wanted his Country Party to have five seats in an 11-man cabinet, including the post of [[Treasurer of Australia|Treasurer]] and the second rank in the ministry for himself. These demands were unprecedented for a prospective junior coalition partner in a Westminster system, and especially so for such a new party. Nonetheless, Bruce agreed rather than force another election.<ref name=naamc/> For all intents and purposes, Page was the first [[Deputy Prime Minister of Australia]] (a title that did not officially exist until 1968). Since then, the leader of the [[National Party of Australia|Country/National Party]] has been the second-ranking member in nearly every [[Coalition (Australia)|non-Labor government]]. Page was [[Acting Prime Minister of Australia|acting prime minister]] on several occasions, and in January 1924 chaired the first meeting of [[Cabinet of Australia|Federal Cabinet]] ever held in [[Canberra]], at [[Government House, Canberra|Yarralumla]]. Parliament did not move to Canberra until 1927.<ref>[http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/timeline/results.aspx?type=pm&pm=Stanley%20Melbourne%20Bruce National Archives of Australia, Australia's Prime Ministers: Timeline] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330133320/http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/timeline/results.aspx?type=pm&pm=Stanley%20Melbourne%20Bruce |date=30 March 2019 }}. Retrieved 14 December 2015</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16124454 |title=Cabinet meeting today |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=30 January 1924 |page=13 |access-date=14 December 2015 |via=Trove}}</ref>

===Treasurer===
[[File:Earle Page 1929 02.jpg|left|thumb|Page in 1929]]
As Treasurer, Page formed a close working relationship with Bruce.{{sfn|Hawkins|2009|pp=58–59}} Due to favourable economic conditions the government was able to abolish [[land tax]], cut income tax, and establishment the national sinking fund that Page had campaigned on. The government also established an investment fund for the [[CSIRO|Council for Scientific and Industrial Research]] and sponsored the first national housing program.{{sfn|Hawkins|2009|p=59}} The final years of Page's treasurership were marked by the beginnings of an economic downturn. The budget went into [[Government budget deficit|deficit]] in 1927 and his 1929 budget speech referred to a "temporary financial depression".{{sfn|Hawkins|2009|p=60}} He was a strong believer in orthodox finance and conservative policies, as well as a "high [[protectionist]]" supporting tariff barriers to protect Australian rural industries.<ref name=adb/><ref name=naadpm>{{cite web|title=Earle Page, Deputy Prime Minister 1923–29|work=Australia's Prime Ministers|publisher=[[National Archives of Australia]]|url=http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/page/before-office.aspx#section4|access-date=19 March 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100718002920/http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/page/before-office.aspx#section4|archive-date=18 July 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Page introduced a series of reforms to the Commonwealth Bank to enhance its central banking functions. In 1924, he announced that the government would place the Commonwealth Bank under an independent board, comprising a governor, the [[Department of the Treasury (Australia)|Treasury]] secretary, and representatives of industry. The same bill placed banknotes under the direct control of the bank, whereas previously it had been under a nominally independent Note Issue Board.{{sfn|Hawkins|2009|p=61}} Later reforms saw the establishment of a Rural Credits Department within the bank, the profits of which were partly hypothecated to agricultural research.{{sfn|Hawkins|2009|p=62}} In March 1925, cabinet decided to return Australia to the [[gold standard]], which it had left during World War I. It delayed its announcement until the United Kingdom had decided it would do the same, which "disguised what was arguably Australia’s first explicit macroeconomic policy decision".{{sfn|Hawkins|2009|p=61}}

In 1924, Bruce and Page established the [[Loan Council]] to coordinate public-sector borrowings between the state and federal governments. It was given constitutional force with [[1928 Australian referendum (State Debts)|an amendment]] passed in 1928. The government abolished the previous system of per-capita grants to states that had been implemented in 1911 and began introducing [[tied grant]]s, initially for road building.{{sfn|Hawkins|2009|p=62}} It also established a [[royal commission]] into the proposed [[National Insurance (Australia)|National Insurance]] scheme, chaired by Senator [[John Millen (Australian politician)|John Millen]]. Page was one of the chief supporters of the ''National Insurance Bill 1928'', which would have provided "sickness, old age, disability and maternity benefits", as well as payments to orphans and a limited form of [[child endowment]]. It was to be paid for by compulsory contributions from workers and co-contributions from employers. The government took the policy to the [[1928 Australian federal election]] but failed to pass the bill by the time of its defeat in 1929.{{sfn|Hawkins|2009|p=63}}

As Treasurer, Page continued his professional medical practice. On 22 October 1924, he had to tell his best friend, Thomas Shorten Cole (1870–1957), the news that his wife Mary Ann Crane had just died on the operating table from complications of intestinal or stomach cancer, reputed by their daughter Dorothy May Cole to be "the worst day of his life".{{Citation needed|date=April 2010}} Due to a shortage of surgeons in Canberra, in 1928 Page performed an appendectomy on fellow MP [[Parker Moloney]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/237788309|title=Earle Page saves life of Labor member|newspaper=Labor Daily|date=18 September 1928}}</ref>