Doug Anthony

John Douglas Anthony PC (31 December 1929 – 20 December 2020) was an Australian politician.

Anthony was born in Murwillumbah in northern New South Wales, on 31 December 1929, the son of Jessie Anthony (Stirling) and Hubert Lawrence ("Larry") Anthony, a well-known Country Party politician.

Doug Anthony was educated at Murwillumbah Primary School and Murwillumbah High School, before attending The King's School in Sydney (1943–1946) and then Gatton College in Queensland.

After graduating he took up dairy farming near Murwillumbah.

He was elected to the House of Representatives at a 1957 by-election, aged 27, following his father's sudden death.

In 1957 he married Margot Budd, with whom he had three children: Dougald, Jane and Larry.

In 1957 Larry Anthony Sr., who was Postmaster-General in the Liberal–Country Party coalition government led by Robert Menzies, died suddenly, and Doug Anthony was elected to succeed his father in the ensuing by-election for the Division of Richmond, aged 27.

These tensions were also fuelled by the narrow majority with which the Liberal Party was returned to power in the 1963 election; without Country Party support they could not have guaranteed parliamentary supply.

He was appointed to the ministry in 1964 and in Coalition governments over the following 20 years held the portfolios of Minister for the Interior (1964–1967), Primary Industry (1967–1971), Trade and Industry (1971–1972), Overseas Trade (1975–1977), National Resources (1975–1977), and Trade and Resources (1977–1983).

Anthony was elected deputy leader of the Country Party in 1964 and succeeded John McEwen as party leader and deputy prime minister in 1971.

He was appointed Minister for the Interior in 1964 by Menzies in a reshuffle, replacing Senator John Gorton.

During his tenure in the Interior portfolio, there were several pushes for Canberra to become independent and self-governing in some capacity.

The Menzies government had not yet established a clear policy for Canberra's future, and Anthony stated that the city was not yet ready for self-governance.

At Narrogin in August 1966, Anthony relayed to several rural communities that drought would probably soon sweep the region, and that he was prepared to take precautions to prevent as many negative effects as possible.

1966–67 had yielded a smaller amount than the 1965–66 season, and accordingly the price of wheat had to be raised.

He was unable to comment on protests that took place outside the Canberra Hotel on 2 February 1967.

Anthony was one of the leading forces against the 1967 nexus referendum, which was seeking to increase the Senate's power in parliament.

Senator Vince Gair revived the debate around the introduction of such a law in early 1967.

Anthony and the County Party decided it would be “unwise” to increase the power of the upper house.

Towards the end of his term as Minister for the Interior, Anthony supported a federal redistribution with conditions so restrictive that it favoured country seats and would increase Country Party representation.

Splits within the Liberal and Country coalition were causing such issues to be raised and considered by parliament.

In 1967, he became Minister for Primary Industry.

His first speech in this portfolio was made regarding the wheat price in Australia.

Controversially, in May 1968, Anthony initiated a payout of $21 million to offset the devaluation of the British Pound by Prime Minister Harold Wilson; the currencies were not yet independent of each other.

Anthony's popularity in the Industry portfolio was damaged when rural production was down $450 million in 1968 and little change had occurred in the return that farmers were getting for production.

Anthony worked with Prime Minister John Gorton to try to create as many economically viable options as possible to deal with the “wheat crisis”.

Eventually quotas were introduced to limit production.

By mid-1969, it was thought that John McEwen, leader of the Country Party since 1958, was going to retire sometime in late 1970.

The three members of the party considered to have the greatest chance of succeeding McEwen as leader were Anthony, Shipping Minister Ian Sinclair and Interior Minister Peter Nixon.

He served as leader of the National Party of Australia from 1971 to 1984 and was the second and longest-serving deputy prime minister, holding the position under John Gorton (1971), William McMahon (1971–1972) and Malcolm Fraser (1975–1983).

Anthony was born in Murwillumbah, New South Wales, the son of federal government minister Hubert Lawrence Anthony.

When China stopped importing Australian wheat in 1971, Anthony advised against communication with the country, saying it could be “politically and commercially dangerous".

When McEwen retired in 1971, Anthony was chosen as his successor, taking McEwen's old posts of Minister for Trade and Industry and Deputy Prime Minister in the government of John Gorton, portfolios he retained under William McMahon.

Anthony was made a member of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom by Queen Elizabeth II on 23 June 1971.

When McMahon became Prime Minister in March 1971, only a month after Anthony had taken the Deputy Prime Minister position, Anthony lost power as McMahon disliked him and the two had a poor working relationship.

Anthony opposed the revaluation of the Australian dollar by McMahon in 1971–72.

In mid-1972, McMahon stopped talking to Anthony and he was oblivious to many decisions that were occurring outside cabinet.

When McMahon announced the 1972 election, he left Anthony in the dark and he was unaware of the date on which it would take place and the campaign techniques the coalition would use.

He retired from politics at the 1984 election.

His son Larry Anthony became the third generation of his family to enter federal parliament.