![The new statue of caretaker prime minister John McEwen in the parliamentary zone. Picture: Sitthixay Ditthavong The new statue of caretaker prime minister John McEwen in the parliamentary zone. Picture: Sitthixay Ditthavong](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/36i7SKuzkApKRqnK2hWiW9n/1e461135-c33b-49a6-a2eb-844abed62f7e.jpg/r0_222_5000_3033_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Caretaker prime minister and long-serving Country Party leader John McEwen is said to have received the nickname "Black Jack" for his grim demeanour and occasional temper.
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When Governor-General David Hurley unveiled a new statue of Australia's 18th prime minister in Canberra on Friday, he revealed a McEwen smiling and holding grain in the palm of his hand.
National Party members gathered at Queen Victoria Terrace in Parkes to see the newest of statues, the work of sculptor Lis Johnson, in the national capital depicting Australian prime ministers.
The new sculpture coincides with 100 years since the party formed and, along with a new mosaic, is intended to represent regional Australia in the parliamentary zone.
Host at the unveiling and Nationals centenary chair Kay Hull said the statue showed the party luminary as he really was, rather than the "Black Jack" persona.
"He was a visionary, he was a person that actually was a very happy person. He had a sense of openness, so the open hand with the grain also demonstrates generosity and care for other people," Mrs Hull said.
The cast bronze full body statue stands at the centre of a new mosaic symbolising the states and territories, and industries important to regional Australia, with seven branches.
McEwen is depicted standing over bags of wheat, which Mrs Hull said acknowledged his critical role in striking the nation's trade deals and his background as a farmer.
"The statue rising up out of that shows that there was strength, and there was resilience, but most of all there was passion and commitment to make Australia great," Mrs Hull said.
![Governor-General David Hurley unveils the new statue of long-serving Country party leader John McEwen in the parliamentary zone on Friday. Picture: Sitthixay Ditthavong Governor-General David Hurley unveils the new statue of long-serving Country party leader John McEwen in the parliamentary zone on Friday. Picture: Sitthixay Ditthavong](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/36i7SKuzkApKRqnK2hWiW9n/49c78cae-bcab-43e5-a5a3-050432098887.jpg/r0_456_5133_3342_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Contracts to make and install the sculpture and other parts of the commemoration cost $500,000.
McEwen is known mainly for his 23 days as prime minister while the Liberal party chose a new leader after Harold Holt disappeared while swimming near Portsea in Victoria in 1967.
He was Country Party leader and deputy prime minister for nearly 13 years from 1958 until his retirement.
When unveiling the new statue, Governor-General Hurley recounted political journalist Laurie Oakes' observation that McEwen had been acting prime minister for 550 days over his career.
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The Governor-General said McEwen was a significant figure of Australia's recent history.
"As a former prime minister, it's appropriate that this statue of his joins the growing number of such statues in the parliamentary triangle," he said.
By all accounts, McEwen was equal parts fearsome, jovial, pragmatic and accessible, and had an immense intellect, the Governor-General said.
The statue stands alongside a path well-worn by McEwen, who as trade minister walked between the provisional Parliament House and his department's offices in East Block.
His sculpture joins those of four other prime ministers in Canberra's centre, including Labor wartime prime minister John Curtin, his treasurer and successor Ben Chifley, Australia's longest-serving prime minister and Liberal party founder Robert Menzies, and the nation's first prime minister, Edmund Barton.