At the Imperial Conference in London in 1937 , the Australian government had agreed to form a War Cabinet on the outbreak of war . The Full Cabinet approved the formation of the War Cabinet on 26 September 1939 . As neither Earle Page 's Country Party nor John Curtin 's Australian Labor Party would join in a coalition government with Menzies ' United Australia Party , the War Cabinet initially consisted of : In November 1939 , the Department of Defence was split up . Street became Minister for Army , Menzies also became Minister for Defence Coordination , and three more ministers joined the War Cabinet : Following the deaths of Fairbairn , Stewart and Gullett in Canberra air disaster , 1940 and the loss of seats in the 1940 Australian federal election the War Cabinet of October 1940 consisted of : The government was replaced by a Labor one on 3 October 1941 . A new War Cabinet was formed , consisting of : Frederick Shedden , the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Defence , served as secretary of the War Cabinet , which met regularly throughout the war . It held its last meeting in Canberra on 19 January 1946
the Imperial Conference
1937 Imperial Conference
War cabinet