Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move:

That the Senate records its sorrow at the death on 25 October 2022 of the Honourable Anthony (Tony) Austin Street, former Minister for Foreign Affairs and Minister for Industrial Relations and former member for Corangamite, places on record its gratitude for his service to the parliament and the nation and tenders its sympathy to his family in their bereavement.

I rise on behalf of the government to express our condolences following the passing of the Hon. Anthony Austin Street, known as Tony Street, a former Minister for Foreign Affairs, who passed away on 25 October at the age of 96. I start by conveying the government's condolences to all of his family and friends.

Tony Street took on big responsibilities as a federal minister, guiding the Fraser government's policies in both industrial relations and foreign affairs. He did so as a conciliator and as a moderate, working to bring consensus and agreement. This approach served him well in both of these policy areas and, as an instinctive consensus builder, he was a natural fit for both of these portfolios. In particular, he was clear in his support of multilateralism, recognising that Australia's national interest would be advanced by working in cooperation with other nations.

However, his story begins in 1926 in Melbourne. He grew up on the family property in Lismore, roughly halfway between Geelong and Hamilton and just north of Lake Corangamite in south-west Victoria. He didn't have to look far for political inspiration; his father served as both the member for Corangamite in Victoria and a federal minister. Geoffrey Street became Minister for Defence in November 1938 and played a major role in the expansion of military and munitions production prior to his death in the Canberra air disaster in 1940. His son would eventually take the same political path in the same seat.

Tony Street was first elected to represent the electorate of Corangamite in 1966. In a seat that nowadays is known for changing hands, he was re-elected seven times prior to his resignation in 1984, serving for over 17 years. He was briefly a minister in the McMahon government, serving as assistant minister in the Labour and National Service portfolio from August 1971 until the election of the Whitlam government in 1972.

When John Kerr appointed Malcolm Fraser as caretaker Prime Minister on Remembrance Day 1975, Tony Street found himself as the senior Minister for Labour and Immigration and in the cabinet. Following the election the portfolio name changed to Employment and Industrial Relations. He held this position through to 1978, and then Industrial Relations alone until 1980. At various times he concurrently held additional portfolios, including the Public Service, and, perhaps somewhat oddly, he was the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister in Women's Affairs. We are reminded that it was not actually until Bob Hawke appointed Susan Ryan to that role that it was actually held by a woman.

Regarded as a conciliatory politician, as industrial relations minister Tony Street supported the idea of closer relationships between unions and employers, recognising that it would not be possible to increase productivity without good labour relations. He didn't always win plaudits from the union movement—and I don't think anyone would describe the Fraser government as pro union—but he did work concertedly to change the policy approach, having been a critic of the coalition's previous attitude to industrial relations management.

In 1980 Tony Street was appointed to succeed Andrew Peacock as Minister for Foreign Affairs. Of course there was a direct swap between them, and Mr Peacock took over the Industrial Relations portfolio. Andrew Peacock's time in the Foreign Affairs portfolio was a time in which the Liberal Party was turned in a direction that was less partisan and more focused on the national interest than it had been under former Prime Minister Billy McMahon. This was an approach that Tony Street continued.

As I said earlier, he was a proponent of multilateralism. He said:

In its role as a middle power, Australia needs a foreign policy which encompasses not just bilateral relations but the multilateral diplomacy of international organisations and blocs of countries acting together.

Wise words then and now.

Tony Street was active in critical foreign policy decisions in the region and around the world. One of his first tasks was to denounce Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge regime, which, at the time, was still recognised by the United States, the United Nations and ASEAN. In 1981 Tony Street was heavily involved in Australia's boycott of the Springboks' rugby tour to New Zealand. Crucially, he was also an early builder of Australia's relationship with China, following on from the foundations set by Gough Whitlam. Continuity in our early engagement with China across partisan lines was a crucial decision in the national interest.

Tony Street knew that it was not just sufficient to talk about Australia as a middle power but that to maintain and advance Australia's position required active engagement and investment in our relationships. He said:

A middle power must acquire those qualities by its own efforts, then it must make a conscious effort to maintain them.

They are words as important today as they were 40 years ago.

Concluding his time as a minister with the defeat of Malcolm Fraser's government by Bob Hawke in 1983, Tony Street left the parliament in 1984. With his death, we see two eras of Australian politics coming closer to their conclusion. He had been the last surviving assistant minister of the McMahon government and the last surviving Liberal minister of the first Fraser ministry. Tony Street was a parliamentarian and he was a minister of substance. He combined pragmatism with a desire to forge cooperation and consensus. Australia is better for ministers, like Tony Street, who look to advance the national interest first.

In closing, can I, on behalf of the government, again express our condolences following the passing of the Hon. Anthony Austin Street and, again, convey my sympathies to his family and friends.