Doug Anthony

The Right Honourable Doug Anthony AC, CH
2nd Deputy Prime Minister of Australia
In office 5 February 1971 – 5 December 1972
Prime Minister	John Gorton (1971) William McMahon (1971–72)
Preceded by	John McEwen
Succeeded by	Lance Barnard
In office 12 November 1975 – 11 March 1983
Prime Minister	Malcolm Fraser
Preceded by	Frank Crean
Succeeded by	Lionel Bowen
Member of the Australian Parliament for Richmond
In office 14 September 1957 – 18 January 1984
Preceded by	Larry Anthony
Succeeded by	Charles Blunt
Personal details
Born	(1929-12-31) 31 December 1929 Murwillumbah, New South Wales
Nationality	Australian
Political party	National Party of Australia
Spouse	Margot Budd
Relations	Larry Anthony, Sr. (father)
Children	Larry Anthony
Occupation	Dairy farmer

John Douglas Anthony AC, CH (born 31 December 1929) is a former Australian politician. He was leader of the National Party from 1971 to 1984, and Deputy Prime Minister from 1971 to 1972 and again from 1975 to 1983.

Early life

Anthony was born in Murwillumbah in northern New South Wales. He was the son of Hubert Lawrence "Larry" Anthony, a well-known Country Party politician. Doug Anthony was educated at The King's School in Sydney and at an agricultural college in Queensland. After graduating he took up dairy-farming near Murwillumbah. In 1957 he married Margot Budd, with whom he had three children: Dougald, Jane and Larry.

Political career

In 1957 Larry Anthony sr., who was Postmaster-General in the Liberal-Country Party coalition government led by Robert Menzies, died suddenly, and Doug was elected to succeed his father in the Division of Richmond in the House of Representatives, aged 27. He was appointed Minister for the Interior in 1964. In 1967 he became Minister for Primary Industry. It was obvious that the Country Party leader, John McEwen, was grooming Anthony to succeed him.

When McEwen retired in 1971, Anthony was duly chosen as his successor, becoming Minister for Trade and Industry and Deputy Prime Minister in the governments of John Gorton and William McMahon. He was a shrewd, attractive figure, with considerable public speaking skills, and many people would have preferred to see him, rather than the bumbling McMahon, as Prime Minister. Such was not to be, but he showed his tough streak within the cabinet when he forced McMahon to accede to the Country Party's demands on petrol prices and other issues which affected rural voters.

After McMahon's defeat in 1972, Anthony was said to favour a policy of absolute opposition to the Labor government of Gough Whitlam. Despite this, the Country Party voted with the Labor Government on some bills, for example the 1973 expansion of state aid to under-privileged schools. He urged the Liberals to take a hard line against Whitlam thereafter, and welcomed his dismissal by the Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, in 1975. To broaden the appeal of his party beyond its declining rural base, he led its name change to the National Country Party, which began contesting urban seats in Queensland and Western Australia.

When the coalition parties were confirmed in power at the 1975 election, Anthony again became Deputy Prime Minister, with the portfolios of Overseas Trade and National Resources (Trade and Resources from 1977). But with the dominating Malcolm Fraser as Prime Minister, and the Liberals having a majority in their own right between 1975 and 1980, Anthony found that he did not have the same power he had possessed before the 1972 election. Even Fraser's near-defeat in 1980 did not significantly increase Anthony's cabinet standing.

After Fraser lost office in 1983, Anthony remained as party leader (now named the National Party) for less than a year. He resigned from Parliament in early 1984. By then, although still only 55, he was the Father of the House of Representatives. He returned to his farm near Murwillumbah and generally stayed out of politics. In 1996 his son Larry Anthony won his father's old seat, creating the first three-generation dynasty in the House of Representatives.

In 1981 Anthony was appointed a Companion of Honour (CH). In 2003 he was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) for service to the Australian Parliament, for forging the development of bi-lateral trade agreements, and for continued leadership and dedication to the social, educational, health and development needs of rural and regional communities.

References in popular culture

Doug Anthony's name was used by the anarchic Canberra comedy trio the Doug Anthony All Stars, who rose to fame with celebrated appearances at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in the 1980s and came to national prominence in Australia in 1990 with their popular performances on the TV comedy series The Big Gig.

See also

• Anthony family