Cabinet Posts


Minister for Trade and Resources
In office 20 December 1977 – 11 March 1983
Preceded by	Himself (as Minister for National Resources and Minister for Overseas Trade)
Succeeded by	Lionel Bowen
Minister for National Resources
In office 22 December 1975 – 20 December 1977
Preceded by	New department
Succeeded by	Himself (as Minister for Trade and Resources)
Minister for Overseas Trade
In office 22 December 1975 – 20 December 1977
Preceded by	Frank Crean
Succeeded by	Himself (as Minister for Trade and Resources)
Minister for Trade and Industry
In office 5 February 1971 – 5 December 1972
Preceded by	John McEwen
Succeeded by	Gough Whitlam
Minister for Primary Industry
In office 16 October 1967 – 5 February 1971
Preceded by	Charles Adermann
Succeeded by	Ian Sinclair
Minister for the Interior
In office 4 March 1964 – 16 October 1967
Preceded by	John Gorton
Succeeded by	Peter Nixon

Father of the Australian Parliament

In office
16 August 1983 – 18 January 1984

Preceded by

James Killen

Succeeded by

Tom Uren

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

John Douglas Anthony

31 December 1929
Murwillumbah, New South Wales, Australia

Died

20 December 2020 (aged 90)
Murwillumbah

Political party

Country Party/NCP/National Party

Spouse

Margot Budd

(m. 1957)

Children

Larry Anthony

Parents

Larry Anthony, Sr. and Jessie Anthony (née Stirling)

John Douglas Anthony (born 31 December 1929 – died 20 December 2020) was an important Australian politician. He was known for leading the National Party of Australia from 1971 to 1984. He also served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, which is a very high position, for a long time. He worked with Prime Ministers John Gorton, William McMahon, and Malcolm Fraser.

Doug Anthony was born in Murwillumbah, New South Wales. His father, Hubert Lawrence Anthony, was also a government minister. Doug became a member of the Australian House of Representatives in 1957, when he was only 27. This happened after his father passed away. Over 20 years, he held many important jobs in the government. These included Minister for the Interior, Primary Industry, Trade and Industry, Overseas Trade, National Resources, and Trade and Resources. He became the leader of the Country Party and Deputy Prime Minister in 1971. He left politics in 1984. His son, Larry Anthony, later became a politician too, continuing the family's tradition.

Early Life and Family
Political Journey
Retirement and Later Life
Awards and Honours
See also

Early Life and Family

Doug Anthony was born in Murwillumbah, a town in northern New South Wales, on 31 December 1929. His parents were Jessie Anthony and Hubert Lawrence Anthony, who was a well-known politician from the Country Party.

Doug went to school in Murwillumbah and then to The King's School, Parramatta in Sydney. After that, he studied at Gatton College in Queensland. Once he finished his studies, he became a dairy farmer near Murwillumbah. In 1957, he married Margot Budd. They had three children together: Dougald, Jane, and Larry Anthony.

Political Journey

Doug Anthony in 1958, soon after he was elected to parliament.

Starting in Politics (1957–1964)

In 1957, Doug's father, Larry Anthony Sr., who was a government minister, sadly passed away. Doug Anthony was then elected to take his father's place in parliament for the area called Division of Richmond. He was only 27 years old at the time.

In 1964, Prime Minister Robert Menzies made Doug Anthony the Minister for the Interior. This was his first big job in the government.

Minister for the Interior (1964–1967)

While Doug Anthony was the Minister for the Interior, there were talks about making Canberra more independent. Canberra is Australia's capital city. Anthony believed the city wasn't ready to govern itself yet.

He also worked to prepare for droughts in rural areas in 1966. Towards the end of his time as Minister for the Interior, he supported changes to how voting areas were drawn. These changes aimed to give more power to country areas. In 1967, he became the Minister for Primary Industry.

Minister for Primary Industry (1967–1971)

Doug Anthony with Billy Snedden and Jim Forbes in 1963.

As Minister for Primary Industry, Doug Anthony's first big speech was about the price of wheat in Australia. The amount of wheat grown had decreased, so the price needed to go up.

He also helped farmers get money when the British Pound lost value in 1968. This was important because Australian currency was still linked to it. When farmers were not earning much money, Anthony worked with Prime Minister John Gorton to help them. They introduced limits on how much wheat could be grown.

Becoming Deputy Prime Minister (1971–1972)

Doug Anthony with John Gorton and Ian Sinclair in February 1971.

In 1971, John McEwen, who had been the leader of the Country Party for a long time, retired. Doug Anthony was chosen to take his place. This meant he also became the Minister for Trade and Industry and the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia. He held these jobs under Prime Ministers John Gorton and William McMahon.

When William McMahon became Prime Minister in March 1971, Doug Anthony's job became harder. McMahon and Anthony did not get along well. Anthony disagreed with McMahon's decision to change the value of the Australian dollar. By mid-1972, McMahon stopped talking to Anthony about important decisions. Anthony even had to call the Prime Minister of New Zealand to find out the date of the 1972 election! This made Anthony lose faith in the government.

In Opposition (1972–1975)

After the government lost the 1972 election, Doug Anthony believed his party should strongly oppose the new Labor government led by Gough Whitlam. However, his party did agree with the Labor government on some things, like helping schools.

Under Anthony's leadership, the Country Party changed its name to the National Country Party. They also started trying to win votes in cities, not just country areas.

Deputy Prime Minister Again (1975–1983)

Doug Anthony visiting Romania in 1976.

Doug Anthony had a much better working relationship with Malcolm Fraser than with the previous Prime Minister. At first, Anthony was not sure about blocking money for the Labor Party in parliament. But he was soon convinced it was the right thing to do.

After the 1975 election, the Liberal and National Country parties won by a huge amount. Doug Anthony became Deputy Prime Minister again. He was in charge of trade and resources. It was well-known that when Prime Minister Fraser went on holiday, Doug Anthony would often run the country from a caravan in his home area!

In 1976, Anthony helped build strong trade relationships with Japan, especially for oil. He also believed that mining and exporting Australian uranium was important for the country's future. While he was acting as Prime Minister in 1976, he made the first phone call on a new line between Papua New Guinea and Cairns. In 1979, he threatened to stop a big workers' strike in Western Australia.

After Malcolm Fraser's government lost power in 1983, Anthony remained the leader of the National Party. He worked to explain the disagreements between the Liberal and National parties in Queensland.

Retirement and Later Life

Doug Anthony stayed in parliament for less than a year after 1983. He then retired from politics in 1984. Even though he was only 55, he was the longest-serving member of the House of Representatives at that time. He went back to his farm near Murwillumbah and mostly stayed out of politics.

In 1996, his son, Larry Anthony, won his father's old seat in parliament. In 1999, Doug Anthony said he supported Australia becoming a republic, meaning it would have its own head of state instead of the British monarch.

Doug Anthony passed away at an aged care home in Murwillumbah on 20 December 2020. He was 90 years old, just 11 days before his 91st birthday.

Awards and Honours

Doug Anthony received several important awards for his service:

In 1981, he was given the Companion of Honour (CH).
In 1990, he received the New Zealand 1990 Commemoration Medal.
In 2003, he was made a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC). This was for his work in the Australian Parliament, for helping create trade agreements with other countries, and for his dedication to helping rural communities with their social, educational, health, and development needs.

Doug Anthony facts for kids

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