Editing Frank Forde

{{short description|Prime Minister of Australia in 1945}}
{{Similar names|Francis Ford (disambiguation)}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2015}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[The Right Honourable]]
| name                = Frank Forde
| image               = Frank Forde 1945.jpg
| order               = 15th
| office              = Prime Minister of Australia
| term_start          = 6 July 1945
| term_end            = 13 July 1945
| monarch             = [[George VI]]
| governor-general    = [[Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester]]
| deputy              = ''Himself''
| predecessor         = [[John Curtin]]
| successor           = [[Ben Chifley]]
| office2             = [[Deputy Prime Minister of Australia]]
| primeminister2      = {{ubl|John Curtin|''Himself'' (acting)|Ben Chifley}}
| term_label2         = ''[[De facto]]''
| term_start2         = 7 October 1941
| term_end2           = 31 October 1946
| predecessor2        = [[Robert Menzies]]
| successor2          = [[H. V. Evatt]]
| office3             = [[Leaders of the Australian Labor Party#Deputy Leader|Deputy Leader of the Labor Party]]
| leader3             = {{ubl|[[James Scullin]]|John Curtin|Ben Chifley}}
| term_start3         = 16 February 1932
| term_end3           = 31 October 1946
| predecessor3        = [[Ted Theodore]]
| successor3          = H. V. Evatt
| parliament4         = Australian
| constituency_MP4    = [[Division of Capricornia|Capricornia]]
| term_start4         = [[1922 Australian federal election|16 December 1922]]
| term_end4           = [[1946 Australian federal election|28 September 1946]]
| predecessor4        = [[William Higgs (politician)|William Higgs]]
| successor4          = [[Charles Davidson (politician)|Charles Davidson]]
| office5             = Member of the [[Queensland Legislative Assembly]]
| constituency5       = [[Electoral district of Rockhampton|Rockhampton]]
| term_start5         = 12 May 1917
| term_end5           = 5 October 1922
| predecessor5        = [[John Adamson (Queensland politician)|John Adamson]]
| successor5          = [[George Farrell (politician)|George Farrell]]
| constituency6       = [[Electoral district of Flinders (Queensland)|Flinders]]
| term_start6         = 12 March 1955
| term_end6           = 3 August 1957
| predecessor6        = [[Ernest Riordan]]
| successor6          = [[Bill Longeran]]
| birth_date          = {{birth date|df=yes|1890|7|18}}
| birth_name          = Francis Michael Forde
| birth_place         = [[Mitchell, Queensland|Mitchell]], [[Colony of Queensland]]
| death_date          = {{death date and age|df=yes|1983|1|28|1890|7|18}}
| death_place         = [[Brisbane]], [[Queensland]], [[Australia]]
| restingplace        = [[Toowong Cemetery]], Queensland
| party               = [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]]
| children            = 4
| education           = [[St Mary's College, Toowoomba]]
| spouse              = {{marriage|Veronica O'Reilly|1925|1967|reason=died}}
| occupation          = {{flatlist|
* [[Schoolteacher]]
* [[telegraphist]]
* [[politician]]}}
| caption             = Forde in 1945
}}

'''Francis Michael Forde''' (18 July 1890{{spaced ndash}}28 January 1983) was an Australian politician who served as the 15th [[prime minister of Australia]] from 6 to 13 July 1945, in a [[Acting (law)|caretaker]] capacity following the death of [[John Curtin]]. He was deputy leader of the [[Australian Labor Party]] (ALP) from 1932 to 1946 and is the [[List of prime ministers of Australia by time in office|shortest-serving]] prime minister in Australia's history.

Forde was born in [[Mitchell, Queensland]], to Irish immigrant parents. He eventually settled in [[Rockhampton]], and was a schoolteacher and [[telegraphist]] before entering politics. Having joined the ALP at a young age, Forde was elected to the [[Queensland Legislative Assembly]] in 1917, aged 26. He transferred to the [[Australian House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] at the [[1922 Australian federal election|1922 federal election]], winning the [[Division of Capricornia]]. Forde was an assistant minister and minister in the [[James Scullin|Scullin government]] from 1929 to 1932, and was largely responsible for the government's policy of [[tariff]] increases during the [[Great Depression in Australia|Great Depression]]. He entered the cabinet in 1931 as [[Minister for Trade and Customs (Australia)|Minister for Trade and Customs]].

After Labor's landslide defeat at the [[1931 Australian federal election|1931 election]], Forde was elected deputy leader in place of [[Ted Theodore]]. He was expected to become party leader after Scullin's retirement in 1935 but lost to John Curtin [[1935 Australian Labor Party leadership election|by one vote]]. He returned to cabinet in 1941 as [[Minister for Defence (Australia)|Minister for the Army]] in the [[Curtin government]], and as the ''de facto'' [[Deputy Prime Minister of Australia|deputy prime minister]] was one of the government's most prominent figures. When John Curtin died in office in 1945, Forde was appointed prime minister to serve while the Labor Party elected a new leader. He contested [[1945 Australian Labor Party leadership election|the leadership ballot]] against [[Ben Chifley]] and [[Norman Makin]], but Chifley emerged victorious.

Forde continued on as deputy leader and army minister in the [[Chifley government]], but lost his seat at the [[1946 Australian federal election|1946 election]]. He then was [[High Commissioner of Australia to Canada|High Commissioner to Canada]] from 1947 to 1953. Forde attempted to re-enter federal parliament [[1954 Australian federal election|in 1954]], but was unsuccessful. He won a state by-election in Queensland the following year – the only former prime minister to enter state parliament – but served only a single term before again being defeated. Forde died at the age of 92, and was accorded a state funeral. At the time of his death, he was the longest-lived Australian Prime Minister, a record surpassed by [[Gough Whitlam]].{{Citation needed|date=December 2024}}

==Early life==
[[File: Young Frank Forde.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Forde as a young man]]
Forde was born on 18 July 1890 in [[Mitchell, Queensland]]. He was the second of six children born to Ellen (née Quirk) and John Forde. His parents were both Irish immigrants – his father was born in [[Ballinaglera]], [[County Leitrim]], while his mother was from [[County Tipperary]]. His father was working as a grazier at the time of his birth, and later worked as a railway supervisor.<ref name=adb>{{cite news|url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/forde-francis-michael-frank-12504|title=Forde, Francis Michael (Frank) (1890–1983)|first1=Neil|last1=Lloyd|first2=Malcolm|last2=Saunderspublisher=[[Australian Dictionary of Biography]] (Vol. 17)|year=2007}}</ref>

Forde began his education at the local state school and later boarded at [[St Mary's College, Toowoomba]]. He qualified as a schoolteacher via the [[monitorial system]], but at the age of 20 joined [[Queensland Rail]]ways as a clerk in the telegraphy department. He later moved to [[Brisbane]] to work as a telegraphist for the [[Postmaster-General's Department]], at the same time studying electrical engineering. In 1914, Forde was transferred to [[Rockhampton]]. He was involved with the [[Australian Natives' Association]] (ANA), the [[Australian Workers' Union]], and the Rockhampton Workers' Political Organisation, and helped campaign for the "No" vote in the [[Conscription in Australia|conscription referendums]] of 1916 and 1917.<ref name=adb/> His role as president of the Rockhampton branch of the ANA "marked the beginning of participation in community debates and public life".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://apm-origin.moadoph.gov.au/prime-ministers/frank-forde|title=Frank Forde|work=Australian Prime Ministers|publisher=Museum of Australian Democracy|access-date=3 October 2023}}</ref>

==Early political involvement==
[[File:Frank Forde.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Forde early in his political career]]
===State politics===
Forde joined the Labor Party in 1915, at the urging of state MP [[James Larcombe]], who became his mentor. In 1917, aged 26, he won a by-election to the [[Electoral district of Rockhampton|seat of Rockhampton]] in the [[Queensland Legislative Assembly]]. It had been vacated by [[John Adamson (Queensland politician)|John Adamson]], who had resigned from the Labor Party in the wake of the [[Australian Labor Party split of 1916|1916 party split]] and unsuccessfully sought [[Nationalist Party (Australia)|Nationalist Party]] preselection for the [[Australian Senate|Senate]]. Forde was re-elected to Rockhampton at the [[1918 Queensland state election|1918]] and [[1920 Queensland state election|1920 state election]]s. He was a supporter of the Central Queensland Separation Movement, one of the many [[List of proposed states of Australia|new state movements]] active around that time.{{sfn|Brown|2000|p=241}}

===Election to federal parliament===
In 1921, the state Labor government of [[Ted Theodore]] passed controversial legislation that allowed state MPs to run for federal parliament and automatically return to their seat in state parliament if they lost, without having to face a by-election. It was widely reported that Forde was intended to be the primary beneficiary of the new legislation. However, the federal Nationalist government responded by amending the ''[[Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918]]'' to overrule the state law. In October 1922, Forde resigned from state parliament to run in the [[Division of Capricornia]] at the [[1922 Australian federal election|1922 federal election]]. He was successful, defeating [[Nationalist Party of Australia|Nationalist]] incumbent and Labor defector [[William Higgs (politician)|William Higgs]].{{sfn|Brown|2000|p=241}} Forde's successful foray into federal politics triggered the [[1923 Rockhampton state by-election|1923 Rockhampton by-election]]. The bitterly fought by-election was successfully contested by Labor's [[George Farrell (politician)|George Farrell]], who had worked on Forde's federal campaign.<ref>[http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/54014349 Rockhampton Election: Mr Farrell's Campaign], ''The Morning Bulletin'', 25 January 1923. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 13 November 2017.</ref><ref>[http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/54015702 The By-Election: Victory for Mr. Farrell], ''The Morning Bulletin'', 19 February 1923. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 13 November 2017.</ref><ref>[http://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/53989231 Labour Gatherings: New Branch Formed], ''The Morning Bulletin'', 4 November 1921. Retrieved from National Library of Australia 13 November 2017.</ref>

Forde took his seat in the House of Representatives at the age of 32, becoming one of the youngest members of the new parliament.{{sfn|Brown|2000|p=241}} He soon became known as a champion of the sugar and cotton industries. Despite the party's dominance in state politics, he was the only Labor MP in Queensland to be re-elected at the [[1925 Australian federal election|1925 federal election]].<ref name=adb/> He remained the only Queenslander in the ALP caucus until August 1928, when [[John MacDonald (Australian politician)|John MacDonald]] was appointed to a casual vacancy in the Senate. In 1927, Forde was appointed as his Labor Party's representative to the Royal Commission on the Moving Picture Industry. He and the other commissioners travelled around Australia interviewing 250 witnesses.{{sfn|Brown|2000|p=242}} The royal commission recommended the establishment of a national film censorship board, with films able to be refused registration on morality grounds.{{sfn|Darby|2013|p=182}}

==Scullin government (1929–1932)==
[[File:Frank Forde and James Scullin.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Forde and James Scullin]]
The Labor Party won the [[1929 Australian federal election|1929 election]], with [[James Scullin]] becoming prime minister. Forde was elected to the [[Scullin Ministry]] as an [[assistant minister]], and was also appointed to the Committee of Public Accounts. His superior minister was [[James Fenton (Australian politician)|James Fenton]], the [[Minister for Trade and Customs (Australia)|Minister for Trade and Customs]]. Fenton was absent from the country or otherwise occupied for most of 1930, including as Acting Prime Minister for five months while Scullin attended the [[1930 Imperial Conference]] in London. Forde oversaw the [[Department of Trade and Customs (Australia)|Department of Trade and Customs]] in Fenton's absence, and also deputised for [[Parker Moloney]], the [[Department of Markets (1930–32)|Minister for Markets]] and [[Department of Transport (1930–32)|Transport]].<ref name=adb/>

Forde remained loyal to the Scullin government during the [[Australian Labor Party split of 1931|ALP split of 1931]], supporting the [[Premiers' Plan]]. When Fenton and [[Joseph Lyons]] resigned from cabinet in February 1931, Forde was elected to one of the vacancies and appointed Minister for Trade and Customs.<ref name=naa-before>{{cite news|url=http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/forde/before-office.aspx|title=Australia's PMs > Francis Forde > Before office|publisher=National Archives of Australia|access-date=11 December 2018|archive-date=3 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130403215818/http://www.primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/forde/before-office.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> At the [[1931 Australian federal election|1931 election]], the ALP suffered a landslide and returned only 14 MPs, the lowest total in its history. However, in Forde's state of Queensland the party actually increased its representation, winning an additional two House seats and all three seats in the Senate.<ref name=adb/>

===Tariff policy===
{{external media| float = right| video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeMDtHmPD_Q Newsreel footage of Forde as Minister for Trade and Customs] promoting [[Efftee Studios]] in 1931.}}
Forde was the "principal architect" of the Scullin government's policy of high [[tariff]]s, which aimed to reduce the effect of the [[Great Depression in Australia|Great Depression]] on secondary industries.<ref name=adb/> He introduced what ''[[The Canberra Times]]'' called a "tariff extravaganza", and was known as a staunch protectionist.<ref name=naa-before/> However, the government's measures had little effect on the economy.{{sfn|Brown|2000|p=242}} Forde was a supporter of the emerging Australian motion picture industry. Despite his reputation as a protectionist, he agreed to reduce the tariff on imported sound equipment from 60 percent to just 10 percent, after vigorous lobbying from [[F. W. Thring]].<ref name=fitzpatrick>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XQvWBQAAQBAJ|first=Peter|last=Fitzpatrick|title=The Two Frank Thrings|year=2012|publisher=Monash University Publishing|page=131|isbn=9781921867248}}</ref> In June 1931, he was invited to officially open [[Efftee Studios]], Thring's production studio in Melbourne.{{sfn|Fitzpatrick|2012|p=551}} He was "shamelessly cultivated as a good friend of Efftee, with an open invitation to look in on shooting and mingle with the stars".{{sfn|Fitzpatrick|2012|p=132}} One of Thring's investors was Tom Holt, the father of another future Australian prime minister [[Harold Holt]].<ref name=fitzpatrick/>

===Censorship===
As acting customs minister in 1930, Forde played a key role in the banning of [[Norman Lindsay]]'s novel ''[[Redheap]]'', the first occasion on which the federal government had banned the importation of a book by an Australian author.<ref>{{cite journal|first=Robert|last=Darby|title=The Banning of Redheap: Sober Facts about an Inflammatory Fiction|journal=Labour History|year=2013|url=http://jstor.org/stable/10.5263/labourhistory.105.0171|volume=105 |page=185|doi=10.5263/labourhistory.105.0171|publisher=Liverpool University Press|jstor=10.5263/labourhistory.105.0171 }}</ref> Unusually, Forde sought advice on the matter not only from his departmental head [[Ernest Thomas Hall|Ernest Hall]], but also from solicitor-general [[Robert Garran]] and private barrister J. V. Gould.{{sfn|Darby|2013|p=176}} As a "pious Catholic", he was persuaded by Garran and Gould's advice that ''Redheap'' was "indecent and obscene [and] blasphemous as well".{{sfn|Darby|2013|p=178}} His decision to ban ''Redheap'' was controversial and came under attack from libertarian and anti-censorship elements within his party, particularly from Lindsay's home state of Victoria.{{sfn|Darby|2013|p=182}} However, at the 1930 [[Australian Labor Party National Conference|ALP Federal Conference]], attempts to censure Forde failed, and a watered down resolution was passed supporting freedom of expression but allowing for censorship of "licentious and pornographic literature".{{sfn|Darby|2013|p=184}} Forde later authorised the banning of [[Frederic Manning]]'s ''[[The Middle Parts of Fortune]]'', overriding departmental advice, and refused an appeal from [[Jean Devanny]] to unban her novel ''The Butcher Shop''.{{sfn|Darby|2013|p=185}}

==Opposition (1932–1941)==
[[File:Frank Forde and John Curtin.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Forde and John Curtin at a meeting of the Advisory War Council in 1940]]
One of the MPs defeated at the 1931 election was Treasurer [[Ted Theodore]], the ALP's deputy leader. A ballot for the party's leadership positions was held on 16 February 1932, at which Scullin was re-elected unopposed as leader and Forde was elected as his deputy. He thus became [[Leader of the Opposition (Australia)|Deputy Leader of the Opposition]]. With Scullin suffering frequent bouts of ill health, Forde was Acting Leader of the Opposition on a number occasions. Notably, after the [[Second Italo-Ethiopian War|Italian invasion of Abyssinia]] in 1935 he announced that the ALP would pursue a policy of non-participation, as "the control of Abyssinia is not worth the loss of a single Australian life".<ref name=naa-before/>

When Scullin retired in 1935, Forde contested the leadership ballot but [[1935 Australian Labor Party leadership election|was defeated by one vote]] by [[John Curtin]], eleven votes to ten. ''[[The Age]]'' called it "one of the greatest surprises in federal political circles during recent years". It has been suggested that some MPs viewed Forde as too closely linked with the activities of the Scullin government.<ref name=naa-before/>

In 1940, Forde was one of three Labor MPs elected to the bipartisan [[Advisory War Council]], along with Curtin and [[Norman Makin]].{{sfn|Brown|2000|p=242}}

==Government (1941–1946)==
===Curtin government, 1941–1945===
[[File:Frank Forde signing the UN Charter.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Forde signing the [[United Nations Charter]] as Australia's lead delegate to the 1945 [[San Francisco Conference]]]]
Forde was a loyal deputy, and in 1941 when Labor returned to power he became [[Minister for the Army (Australia)|Minister for the Army]], a vital role in wartime.<ref name=naa-before/> He was the ''de facto'' [[Deputy Prime Minister of Australia|Deputy Prime Minister]], but was disappointed not to be appointed [[Treasurer of Australia|Treasurer]] in the new government; that position was instead awarded to [[Ben Chifley]]. Forde chaired the [[Australian War Cabinet|War Cabinet]] and Advisory War Council when Curtin was ill or absent, and was Acting Prime Minister on a number of occasions.<ref name=naa-before/> He strongly opposed the [[Brisbane Line]] proposal, which would have seen a strategic withdrawal of troops from northern Australia in the event of a [[Proposed Japanese invasion of Australia during World War II|Japanese invasion]] (and also included abandoning his own division of [[Division of Capricornia|Capricornia]] to the Japanese).{{sfn|Brown|2000|p=243}}

As army minister, Forde held responsibility for internment of enemy aliens during World War II and administration of the [[List of World War II prisoner-of-war camps in Australia|prisoner-of-war camps]]. In February 1942, following mounting concerns over a possible Japanese invasion, he authorised a mass round-up of enemy aliens in Queensland – primarily Italians – and imposed a curfew on any enemy aliens in Queensland not interned.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://italianprisonersofwar.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/behind-the-barbed-wire.pdf|title=Behind Barbed Wire: Internment in Australia During World War II|first=Margaret|last=Bevege|publisher=University of Queensland Press|year=1993|isbn=0702224928|page=157}}</ref> In the same month Forde delegated authority to the army's [[Northern Command (Australia)|Northern Command]] to detain all enemy aliens suspected of "anti-British sentiment".{{sfn|Bevege|1993|p=171}}  His use of "master warrants" to detain enemy aliens brought him into conflict with attorney-general [[H. V. Evatt]], a civil libertarian, who concluded some internments were "unjustified or frivolous".{{sfn|Bevege|1993|p=201}} Forde did begin to release enemy alien internees in 1944 on the grounds they were needed for food production, although many remained in detention until the end of the war.{{sfn|Bevege|1993|p=217}} He supported the principle that detainees could become naturalised citizens after the war's end,{{sfn|Bevege|1993|p=222}} and also opposed suggestions that Japanese prisoners-of-war who died in Australia should not be buried in the same cemeteries as Australians.{{sfn|Bevege|1993|p=145}}

In March 1942, Forde authorised the internment of twenty people connected with the [[Australia First Movement]], including writer [[Percy Stephensen]] and suffragette [[Adela Pankhurst]], announcing in parliament that the detainees intended to collaborate with the Japanese and had plans to carry out industrial sabotage and political assassinations.{{sfn|Bevege|1993|pp=161-164}} Only four of the Australia First detainees were charged with offences, with the others remaining detained without trial until the end of the war in spite of legal advice received by Evatt that they had not committed crimes or breached any regulations.{{sfn|Bevege|1993|p=200}} A committee of inquiry appointed by the government concluded in 1945 that the detention of eight of the Australia First detainees was unjustified and recommended compensation payments be made.{{sfn|Bevege|1993|p=218-219}}

===Caretaker prime minister, 1945===
{{further|Australian Labor Party leadership election, 1945}}
[[File:Evatt, Forde, and Bruce.jpg|thumb|right|Forde in April 1945, a few months before he became prime minister, conversing with [[H. V. Evatt]] (left) and [[Stanley Bruce]]]]
In April 1945, Forde left Australia to attend the [[United Nations Conference on International Organization]] in San Francisco. Late that month, Curtin was admitted to hospital; in the absence of Forde and [[H. V. Evatt]] (the [[Minister for Foreign Affairs (Australia)|Minister for External Affairs]]), he designated [[Ben Chifley]] as [[Acting prime minister#Australia|acting prime minister]]. Forde did not return to Australia until 2 July, but then immediately took over from Chifley. The prime minister's health had severely declined in the meantime, although he had been able to go home to [[The Lodge (Australia)|The Lodge]]. Curtin died in his sleep in the early hours of 5 July, at the age of 60.<ref name=mcmullin>[[Ross McMullin]], ''The Light on the Hill: The Australian Labor Party 1891–1991'', pp. 234-235</ref>

On the day that Curtin died, Forde issued a brief statement announcing the death, and then in the afternoon moved a condolence motion at a brief sitting of parliament. On the morning of the following day, 6 July, he led a procession of MPs past Curtin's coffin at [[Old Parliament House, Canberra|Parliament House]], where his body was [[lying in state]]. In the afternoon, Forde attended a memorial service, and then went to [[Government House, Canberra|Government House]], where he was formally sworn in as prime minister by [[Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester]], the [[Governor-General of Australia|Governor-General]]. He was appointed as prime minister with the understanding that he would resign if the Labor Party elected someone other than him as leader at its next [[caucus]] meeting. Forde was the Labor Party's sixth prime minister. He is the only Australian prime minister to have never led a political party. There was little precedent for his appointment, as only one previous prime minister ([[Joseph Lyons]]) had died in office, and Lyons had been succeeded by the leader of the smaller party in his governing [[Coalition (Australia)|coalition]] ([[Earle Page]]).<ref name=mcmullin/>

On 8 July, Forde accompanied [[Elsie Curtin]] to [[Perth]] to attend her husband's funeral. Two days later, Ben Chifley told him that he would be contesting the leadership; that evening, they both issued statements announcing their candidacies. [[Norman Makin]] announced his intention to stand the following day. On the morning of 12 July, [[Les Haylen]] informed Forde that he did not have the numbers to win. In response, Forde said "I must say a little prayer for Ben. It's not an easy job". In [[1945 Australian Labor Party leadership election|the leadership ballot]], Chifley received 45 votes to Forde's 16, Makin's seven, and Evatt's two. Several MPs were absent (including Evatt), and [[Rowley James]] unsuccessfully proposed that the ballot be postponed. Forde resigned as prime minister on 13 July, after one week in office. He is Australia's shortest-serving prime minister.<ref name=mcmullin/>

===Chifley government, 1945–1946===
After losing the leadership contest to Chifley, Forde was re-elected unopposed as deputy leader and remained as ''de facto'' [[Deputy Prime Minister of Australia|Deputy Prime Minister]]. He remained Minister for the Army and Minister for Defence, having assumed the latter portfolio after Curtin's death. As the Pacific War [[Victory over Japan Day|ended on 15 August]], Forde's primary responsibility was to oversee the [[Demobilisation of the Australian military after World War II|demobilisation of the Australian military]]. At this time service men and women were spread around the country and across the Pacific. He handled the issue in a way that was unpopular with the general public, refusing appeals to release servicemen early but also making public statements about the rate of demobilisation that turned out to be inaccurate.{{sfn|Brown|2000|p=243}} At the [[1946 Australian federal election|1946 election]], Forde unexpectedly lost his seat to the [[Liberal Party of Australia|Liberal]] candidate [[Charles Davidson (politician)|Charles Davidson]], a returned soldier. He suffered a 10-point swing against him, compared with a nationwide 0.2-point swing against the Labor Party. As well as the concerns over demobilisation, he had been criticised for moving his family to Sydney during the war and his electorate was experiencing a severe drought.{{sfn|Brown|2000|p=244}}

==High Commissioner to Canada==
In November 1946, it was announced that Forde would become the new [[List of High Commissioners of Australia to Canada|High Commissioner to Canada]], cutting short the term of [[Alfred Stirling]]. His appointment was the "first major executive act of the new Federal Cabinet" after the election.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/187254210|title=Canada post for Forde|date=5 November 1946|newspaper=[[Telegraph (Brisbane)|The Telegraph]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/71424553|title=Mr. Forde for Canada|date=11 November 1946|newspaper=[[The Australian Worker]]}}</ref> Forde and his family left Australia on 7 December,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/229545349|title=Forde leaves for Canada|date=8 December 1946|newspaper=[[The Sun (Sydney)|The Sun]]}}</ref> and arrived in [[Ottawa]] on 18 January 1947.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/60996704|title=Forde in Canada|date=20 January 1947|newspaper=[[The Examiner (Tasmania)|The Examiner]]}}</ref> In October 1951, the [[Menzies Government (1949–66)|Menzies Government]] announced a nine-month extension to his initial five-year term.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/18236064|title=Forde's term extended|newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]]|date=22 October 1951}}</ref> From May 1952, he was the ''doyen'' (longest-serving head of mission) of the [[diplomatic corps]] in Canada.<ref>{{cite book|author=Lorna Lloyd|title=Diplomacy with a Difference: the Commonwealth Office of High Commissioner, 1880-2006|publisher=Brill|year=2007|page=163|isbn=978-9047420590|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QeqwCQAAQBAJ}}</ref> He returned to Australia in July 1953.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/230350411|title=Forde back from Canada|newspaper=[[The Sun (Sydney)|The Sun]]|date=23 July 1953}}</ref>

==Later life==
After returning to Australia, Forde was given a civic reception at [[Brisbane City Hall]] by Lord Mayor [[Frank Roberts (Australian politician)|Frank Roberts]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/71402694|title=Welcome Frank Forde|newspaper=The Worker|location=Brisbane|date=10 August 1953}}</ref> He was soon invited to re-enter federal politics by [[Arthur Calwell]], on behalf of the party's federal leader [[H. V. Evatt]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/118421782|title=Mr. Forde invited to re-enter federal politics|date=6 August 1953|newspaper=Queensland Times}}</ref> In August 1953 he accepted an appointment as paid organiser for the ALP in Queensland.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/71405415|title=Frank Forde new ALP organiser|newspaper=The Worker|location=Brisbane|date=24 August 1953}}</ref>

In February 1954, Forde nominated for ALP [[preselection]] for the [[Division of Wide Bay]], following the withdrawal of the previous endorsed candidate.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/50569457|title=Forde nominates for Wide Bay seat|newspaper=The Courier-Mail|date=9 February 1954}}</ref> He was defeated at the [[1954 Australian federal election|1954 federal election]], in a seat which the Country Party had held since 1928. In 1955, at a by-election, he returned to the Queensland Parliament as MP for [[Electoral district of Flinders (Queensland)|Flinders]].<ref name= APMao>{{cite web|title=Frank Forde, After office |url=http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/forde/after-office.aspx | work=Australia's Prime Ministers|publisher=[[National Archives of Australia]]|access-date=6 February 2010 }}</ref> He is the only Prime Minister who later served in a State Parliament.

At the [[1957 Queensland state election]] the [[Australian Labor Party split of 1955|Labor Party split]] resulted not only in Labor falling from power, but also in Forde being defeated in his own seat by [[Bill Longeran]] of the [[National Party of Australia – Queensland|Country Party]] by one vote.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/91596994|title=Forde Beaten By One Vote|newspaper=The Canberra Times|date=28 August 1957}}</ref> Forde disputed the result and the election was declared void on 4 March 1958. However, at the by-election held on 17 May 1958, Longeran defeated Forde by over 400 votes.<ref name=APMao/><ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/members/former/bio?id=1938180609|title=Longeran, Hon. William Horace (Bill)|website=Former Members|publisher=[[Queensland Parliament]]|access-date=3 November 2016}}</ref> Had Forde been elected, he would probably have become Labor leader in Queensland, given that Premier [[Vince Gair]] and most of Gair's followers had been expelled from the party.

In 1962, Forde was nominated for Labor preselection for the Senate vacancy caused by the death of [[Max Poulter]]. He received three out of 66 votes in the ballot,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/104296866|title=Election of new senator seen as A.L.P. victory|newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]]|date=11 October 1962}}</ref> with his age probably a factor in his low tally.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/104296116|title=In Queensland This Week|newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]]|date=4 October 1962}}</ref>[[File:Toowong Cemetery Forde headstone 1.jpg|thumb|left|Frank Forde's headstone at Brisbane's [[Toowong Cemetery]]]]

Forde retired to [[Brisbane]] where he devoted himself to Catholic charity work. In his living room hung a large portrait of wartime US General [[Douglas MacArthur]]. On 11 April 1964, at the request of Prime Minister [[Robert Menzies]], Forde represented Australia at MacArthur's funeral in [[Norfolk, Virginia]].<ref name=APMao/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMSDNpGLMiU |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/sMSDNpGLMiU| archive-date=2021-12-11 |url-status=live|title=General Macarthur's Funeral (1964)|date=13 April 1964|publisher=[[British Pathe]]|access-date=3 November 2016|via=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

[[File:Forde.jpg|right|thumb|upright|Bust of fifteenth Prime Minister of Australia Frank Forde located in the [[Prime Minister's Avenue]] in the Ballarat Botanical Gardens]]
Forde died in 1983. He was accorded a [[state funeral]] which, on 3 February, proceeded from St Thomas Aquinas Catholic Church in [[St Lucia, Queensland|St Lucia]] to the [[Toowong Cemetery]],<ref name= funeralnotice>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article116446799 |title=Family Notices. |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |date=31 January 1983 |access-date=16 January 2016 |page=10 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref> the same day that [[Bob Hawke]] was elected ALP leader. Indeed, it was at Forde's funeral that Senator [[John Button (Australian politician)|John Button]] told then Labor leader [[Bill Hayden]] that he must step aside in favor of Hawke, which he did. Forde was the last surviving member of the Scullin, Curtin and his own Cabinet. Furthermore, he was the last surviving MP from when [[Stanley Bruce]] was prime minister.

Forde was the only deputy Labor leader who served under three leaders (Scullin, Curtin and Chifley) until [[Jenny Macklin]] ([[Simon Crean|Crean]], [[Mark Latham|Latham]] and [[Kim Beazley|Beazley]], 2001–2006). The electoral [[Division of Forde]] and the [[Canberra]] suburb of [[Forde, Australian Capital Territory|Forde]] are named after him.

==Personal life==
Forde married Veronica (Vera) Catherine O'Reilly in 1925 and they had four children:<ref name= APMvf>{{cite web |title=Frank Forde, Vera Forde |url=http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/forde/spouse.aspx |work=Australia's Prime Ministers |publisher=[[National Archives of Australia]] |access-date=6 February 2010 |archive-date=10 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130310115440/http://primeministers.naa.gov.au/primeministers/forde/spouse.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

* Mary Therese (1927–2016)
* Mercia (b. 1930)
* Clare (1932–2010)
* Francis Gerard Forde (1935–1966); his widow, [[Leneen Forde]], became [[Governor of Queensland]].

Forde was widowed in November 1967.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/106981762|title=Former PM's wife dies|newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]]|date=10 November 1967}}</ref> During the years that he spent in Ottawa as High Commissioner to Canada two of his daughters (Mary and Mercia) became married to Canadians. Mary (m. [[William Robert Thompson]]) eventually settled with her husband in Kingston, Ontario, Canada while Mercia (m. Ian Ferrier) returned to Australia and settled with her husband in St. Lucia, Brisbane. Francis Gerald Forde (m. Leneen Forde) also settled in St. Lucia, while Clare (m. John Attridge) settled in Canberra. Between their four children, Frank and Vera Forde had 15 grandchildren.{{cn|date=September 2023}}

==See also==
*[[Forde Ministry]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20120601220842/https://online.brisbane.qld.gov.au/cemeteries/cemeteries_step3.jsp?mapdisplay=159939 Forde, Francis Michael] – Brisbane City Council Grave Location Search

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|title=Australian Prime Ministers|year=2000|isbn=1-86436-671-0|publisher=New Holland|chapter=Francis Michael Forde|first=Elaine|last=Brown|editor=Michelle Grattan|editor-link=Michelle Grattan}}
* Carroll, Brian, ''Australia's Prime Ministers: From Barton to Howard'', Rosenberg Publishing, 2004, {{ISBN|1-877058-22-X}}
* {{cite thesis|first=D. A.|last=Gibson|type=B.A.(Hons) thesis)|title=The Right Hon. Francis M. Forde PC|publisher=University of Queensland|year=1973}}
* [[Colin Hughes|Hughes, Colin A]] (1976), ''Mr Prime Minister. Australian Prime Ministers 1901–1972'', Oxford University Press, Melbourne, Victoria, Ch.16. {{ISBN|0-19-550471-2}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Frank Forde}}
*{{cite web|title=Francis Forde|url=https://www.naa.gov.au/explore-collection/australias-prime-ministers/francis-forde|work= Australia's Prime Ministers |publisher=[[National Archives of Australia]] |access-date=14 February 2022}}
*{{Australian Dictionary of Biography
|last=Saunders
|first= Malcolm
|author2=Lloyd, Neil
|id=A170399b
|title= Forde, Francis Michael (Frank) (1890–1983)
|access-date=29 June 2010 }}
*{{cite web|title=Frank Forde |publisher=[[National Museum of Australia]]|url=https://www.nma.gov.au/explore/features/prime-ministers/frank-forde |access-date=14 February 2022 }}

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