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Frank Joseph Scott Wise (Australian Labor Party)
31 July 1945 to 1 April 1947



Frank Wise was another West Australian Premier born in the Eastern States.

Wise was born in Queensland and finished school there to become a farmer, concentrating on tropical fruits. He chose agriculture rather than university even though he matriculated. After four years farming he joined the Queensland Department of Agriculture and then six years later came to WA as an adviser to the Department of Agriculture.

In 1928, he was appointed to report on agriculture in the Northern Territory and the North West of WA, and the following year went back to the department to supervise agricultural development in the North West as a tropical adviser. He was responsible for fostering banana growing in the lower Gascoyne Valley after he convinced the department to buy 500 banana suckers from his home State.

In 1933, he successfully contested the seat of Gascoyne in an election that also saw Albert Hawke and John Tonkin (who would later also become Premiers) win seats. He was appointed Minister for Agriculture and the North-West three years later.

He became Premier in 1945 after the resignation of John Willcock. He was the first Premier to be appointed from a North West electorate of the State, and to date, that still stands.

When his government was defeated in 1947, it brought to an end 14 years of Labor rule.

Frank Wise spent the next four years as Opposition leader before resigning to take up the job of Administrator for the Northern Territory which involved him taking on the position of as President of that State's Legislative Council.

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Page last revised: 30 May 2008