Geoffrey Street

Australian politician

Geoffrey Austin Street, MC (21 January 1894 – 13 August 1940) was an Australian army officer and politician.He was a member of the United Australia Party (UAP) and served as Minister for Defence (1938–1939), the Army (1939–1940) and Repatriation (1940) in the early years of Australia's involvement in the Second World War.

Street enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on the outbreak of the First World War.He served in the Gallipoli Campaign and on the Western Front, winning the Military Cross and ending the war with the rank of major; he was later promoted to brigadier in the reserve of officers.

Street subsequently farmed near Lismore, Victoria, entering politics with the support of Robert Menzies.He won the Division of Corangamite at the 1934 federal election and was promoted to cabinet in 1938 by Prime Minister Joseph Lyons.

Following Lyons' death the following year, Menzies became prime minister and Street oversaw an expansion of the military.He was killed in the 1940 Canberra air disaster along with two cabinet colleagues and the head of the army.

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