Sarah Henderson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

It is my great honour to rise with my fellow senators to honour the life of the Hon. Anthony 'Tony' Staley AO. I want to acknowledge the very fine contributions made in the chamber today, including a beautiful contribution from Senator Hume.

Tony Staley was a man of great strength, resilience and conviction, and a fine example of the very best that the Liberal Party has to offer to the Australian people. Born in 1939 in Horsham in regional Victoria, Tony demonstrated a love for learning, poetry, and philosophy—a love that would later lead him to obtain a Bachelor of Laws and a masters degree in politics at the University of Melbourne.

After his studies, Tony went on to teach at Melbourne Grammar School before returning to the University of Melbourne, this time as a lecturer in politics. During his time as a lecturer, Tony became increasingly engaged in the fight to maintain freedom of speech on university campuses, a cause after my own heart. That was an issue that prompted him to nominate as the Liberal candidate for the seat of Chisholm.

In 1970, Tony was elected to the parliament as the member for Chisholm, the beginning of a decade of service to his electorate and many decades of service to the Liberal Party. As we've heard, Tony served in a number of eminent ministerial roles, perhaps making the greatest mark in a portfolio that he loved dearly, as Minister for Posts and Telecommunications. Apart from his great love of community broadcasting—he is till held up as one of the great people in this country to champion community broadcasting—he also had a particular interest in the ABC, another cause after my own heart. I was looking through some of the clippings and found one written by Michelle Grattan and Tony Walker, in the Age, from 23 May 1979, called 'Staley sets up ABC inquiry':

The Federal Government has approved a full-scale inquiry into the ABC. Yesterday's decision follows persistent criticism of the way in which the broadcasting body is run.

That was something that Tony had, and I have, a deep interest in—matters of public broadcasting. He was a great champion of broadcasting but also of accountability of our public broadcasters.

As we have heard in this condolence motion, Tony was pivotal in helping to bring down the Whitlam Labor government before his appointment as a cabinet minister in the Fraser government. Tony retired at a very young age, and that ended a decade-long service to the people of Chisholm. In 1990 he suffered very serious injuries in a car crash that would leave him very debilitated, but those closest to him noted that he demonstrated immense strength and he never complained about the accident or the painful and debilitating side effects that he endured.

After a period of recovery, Tony went on to serve as the federal Liberal Party president between 1993 and 1999, working tirelessly to secure John Howard's leadership of the party and, ultimately, the successful election of the Howard government in 1996. Tony Staley was duly appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2007 for his service to politics. There are many current and former members of parliament and senators, including myself, who owe a great debt of gratitude to Tony Staley for his friendship, for his service and for his guidance.

I, too, was honoured to attend Tony's funeral, which was a wonderful celebration of an exceptional life. I offer my heartfelt condolences to Tony's family, friends and colleagues, but especially to Susie and his children, Richard, Sam, Ali, Jon and Lucinda. Vale, Tony Staley.