David Littleproud (Maranoa, National Party, Minister for Agriculture, Drought and Emergency Management) Share this | Hansard source

It's a great honour to stand in this place to speak on the condolence motion for a great Australian. Doug Anthony was part of the National Party family, and it is a great loss to our party and to our community. We all are privileged to stand in this place, but very few of us leave this parliament with the ability to say we have left a legacy. Doug Anthony was a titan, and not just of the National Party; he was a titan of this parliament, because of the dignity and respect that he held, not only from our side of the aisle but also from those opposite. That was because of the way he thought about his country and acted for his country, in a dignified manner, whether on the beach in the caravan in the summer or governing our country in a uniquely Australian way. Nowhere else in the world would a leader be able to do that, except here in Australia.

So, Doug Anthony was unique for his times but was not unique to our country. He personified what it was to be an Australian. Doug Anthony was probably always destined to come to this place. His father was a member of parliament. In fact, he grew up just down the road, in Old Parliament House. From a young age he got a very good grounding in what it was to be in federal parliament. And he was thrust into it at a young age, in the tragic circumstances of the loss of his father.

As a 27-year-old, to come into federal parliament, in the era of 'Black Jack' McEwen and all the other names that adorn this place—Menzies and all the names that Australia fondly looks back on as the titans of Australian politics—and to hold his principles, to hold his values true, all the way, and to rise to Deputy Prime Minister of this country, is a testament not just to Doug Anthony but to our country: that a young man from the bush can ascend like anyone else. And Doug Anthony did that. But he also made sure he took advantage of that opportunity. He wasn't intimidated by the fact that he came from a small country town. He wasn't intimidated when he came to Canberra, and he wasn't intimidated when he went on the world stage, because he believed in the people he represented. He believed in the values and principles of them and the values and principles of this nation.

That is why he has left a legacy that still lasts today—and not just for the National Party, not just in setting the values and principles that we sill live by today, but also a legacy of change in terms of trade. When you think of the National Party, there are many who say that we're a protectionist party. Well, it was the National Party that in fact forged new trade agreements, particularly with Japan, post the Second World War. We can think back to that era and understand the emotion across this country after the Second World War and understand the pain and hurt that came out of that. Under the leadership of Doug Anthony, we forged those relationships—thinking ahead, not just in a commercial sense but about how our place in the global community should stand. For a young bloke from northern New South Wales to lead his country in that is testament to our nation and testament to this great man.

We are forever grateful to Doug Anthony and his family and need to understand what he and his family have sacrificed for this nation, coming into this place and enduring the rigours of not only being a member of parliament but also being the Deputy Prime Minister. There were those rigours on his family. He was then able to retire on his own terms. He was able to decide when he wanted to go, when it was right. In fact, just after Doug Anthony announced his retirement, his wife, Margot, was meant to address a National Party branch meeting in Warwick, in my electorate of Maranoa. Doug had announced it. He rang the chairman of the local branch and asked if he was allowed to come along to this meeting with Margot. The whole town turned up to see Doug Anthony in Warwick. This great Australian who achieved so much and was no longer the Deputy Prime Minister decided to support his wife, who had supported him for so many years and had let him support the Australian people and achieved so much for us. For him to go along and be the sidekick in Warwick was something that people in Warwick still talk about today. Doug Anthony is still a legend, not just in Warwick but across the country.

This is the type of character that only comes along once in a while in a nation's history. It's important that we don't just celebrate his life but understand and make sure that his legacy isn't forgotten, not just in what he'd done but also in how we act and in how we represent the people who send us here, and, more broadly, how we represent the Australian people. That is the legacy that should last from Doug Anthony for each and every one of us. From a National Party perspective, that's the legacy when we sit in that sacred room that is ours. Those are the principles that guide us. It's our responsibility now as custodians to continue with that legacy and respect the great work and the legacy of one of the greatest Australians we have seen. He had respect from both sides of the aisle because of the way he interacted and because of the passion and commitment he had for his people and his nation.

As members of parliament, we have a privileged position. To be able to stand here and talk, trying to aspire to somebody like Doug Anthony, is something that I think every member of parliament should reflect on and understand. If we are guided by those values and principles that Doug Anthony took to this place and took to our nation, then we'll be a greater nation for it. He has given us the building blocks, not just from the National Party perspective but as a nation, because of all that he achieved for our nation. To him and his family, for all their commitment and sacrifice, I say: it was worth it. On behalf of a grateful nation, I say thank you and God bless.

See this speech in context