Jason Falinski (Mackellar, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

John Doug Anthony was born in Murwillumbah, New South Wales, on 31 December 1929. Having attended school locally, he finished his education at The King's School in Sydney and Gatton College in Queensland. His father, Larry Anthony Sr, was the member for Richmond and a minister in the Menzies government. Despite his father's political interests, the path of politics did not originally call to him. It wasn't until his father's death that, despite his self-described reluctance, Doug entered the political theatre.

Although he may have been a reluctant politician, that did not stop Doug leaving an impressive legacy. Entering parliament at the young age of 27, leaving a full-time job managing his farm, 1957 marked the beginning of a long and successful political career. By 1964, Doug had been appointed Minister for the Interior and three years later he became Minister for Primary Industry.

When portrayed by some in the media as a bit of a country bumpkin, Doug said, 'I loved it; that was me.' He was an approachable, relatively relaxed politician, but he was also a sharp political operator who fought hard for his electorate, region and rural Australia. Doug's parliamentary career spanned more than 26 years, 16 of which involved service as a government minister. Doug held a variety of portfolios during this time, including trade and industry, energy, resources and, of course, Deputy Prime Minister. At 41 years of age, Doug was the youngest-ever leader of the National Party, formerly the Country Party, elected as leader in 1971 to 1984. He served as Deputy Prime Minister to Malcolm Fraser throughout the years of the coalition government, from 1975 to 1983.

Doug was renowned for fighting hard for his party and constituents and for never taking a back seat as the junior coalition partner. He flexed his political muscle in the early 1970s, when former Prime Minister Billy McMahon was pushing to increase the value of the Australian dollar. Fearing the plan would hurt rural exports, they stormed out of cabinet three times and even considered leaving the coalition. He tackled the big farming issues of wool and wheat and publicly lambasted Britain in the early 1970s when it left Australian farmers high and dry by joining the common market.

Doug retired from federal parliament in January 1984 and subsequently served on the Old Parliament House Governing Council. He campaigned for an Australian republic at the 1999 constitutional referendum and for a time even advocated for a formal merger between the Liberal and National parties. Doug is survived by his wife, Margot, whom he married the same year he was elected, in 1957. The have three children and nine grandchildren. Doug's son, Larry, carried on the family tradition by serving in the seat of Richmond for three terms in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Although in the humble Anthony fashion, Larry never liked to refer to it as a dynasty—or 'dynasty' if you were in Texas—but as a responsibility. Doug's legacy will forever live on in this place and across the country.

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