John Dorman Elliott (3 October 1941 – 23 September 2021) was an Australian businessman and state and federal president of the
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
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. He had also been president of the
Carlton Football Club
The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition.
Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Me ...
. He frequently provoked controversy due to his political affiliations, his brushes with the law, and his abrasive personal style.
Early life and education
Elliott was born in Melbourne on 3 October 1941. He was the son of Frank Elliott and his wife, Anita.
He completed his secondary schooling at
Carey Baptist Grammar School in
Kew
Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...
. He then attended the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb no ...
and graduated with a Bachelor of Commerce (Hons) degree and later completed a
Master of Business Administration
A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accoun ...
degree at the
Melbourne Business School.
Career
Elliott joined
BHP
BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...
for two years. He then left to do an MBA, before joining global consulting firm
McKinsey & Company in 1966
and worked in both Australia and the United States for six years. In 1972, he acquired control of
IXL, a food manufacturer listed on the
Australian Securities Exchange. From there, he and his team built the company up through a string of acquisitions throughout the late 1970s and 1980s, including Australian corporate icons
Elders Limited
Elders Limited, formerly known as Elder, Stirling & Co., Elder Smith and Co. and Elder Smith & Co. Ltd, is an Australian agribusiness that provides agricultural goods and services to primary producers in Australia.
History
Early history (183 ...
(an agricultural services concern) and
Carlton & United Breweries
Carlton & United Breweries (CUB) is an Australian brewing company based in Melbourne and owned by Japanese conglomerate Asahi Breweries. Its notable brands include Victoria Bitter, Carlton Draught, Foster's Lager, Great Northern, Resch's, Pu ...
(now part of the
Foster's Group). The acquisition of
Courage Breweries in the United Kingdom, followed by
Carling O'Keefe Breweries in Canada- and UK-based Grand Metropolitan Breweries, made the Foster's Group the fourth-largest brewer in the world. During this time, he was also a high-profile president of the
Carlton Football Club
The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition.
Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Me ...
(1983–2002) and federal president of the Liberal Party.
He was an effective advocate for the club on a range of issues. During his presidency, the club won two VFL (now AFL)
premierships.
In 1985, Elliott's company, by then called
Elders IXL
Elders Limited, formerly known as Elder, Stirling & Co., Elder Smith and Co. and Elder Smith & Co. Ltd, is an Australian agribusiness that provides agricultural goods and services to primary producers in Australia.
History
Early history (183 ...
, played an important role as a
white knight in fending off
Robert Holmes à Court's attempted
takeover of diversified mining company
BHP
BHP Group Limited (formerly known as BHP Billiton) is an Australian multinational mining, metals, natural gas petroleum public company that is headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
The Broken Hill Proprietary Company was founded ...
. Elders bought a large share in BHP, which blocked Holmes à Court's attempt to take control.
As a result, Elliott joined the BHP board. He then attempted a
management buyout of Elders, but this was unsuccessful and left his A$80 million fortune considerably reduced.
Subsequently, the
National Crime Authority of Australia
The National Crime Authority (NCA) was an Australian law enforcement agency established in 1984 and wound up on 31 December 2002. History
The NCA was set up in 1984 in the wake of the Costigan Commission, which investigated tax evasion and orga ...
(NCA) investigated a foreign exchange transaction undertaken by Elders.
Elliott was cleared of criminal charges. He accused the NCA of a vendetta inspired by the then-
Labor
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the la ...
government, motivated by his position as
Liberal Party
The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left.
__TOC__ Active liberal parties
This is a li ...
president. He later launched civil action for damages, which was ultimately unsuccessful.
He was also a director of a number of public companies, including BHP,
National Mutual, Bridge Oil and
North Limited. Elliott was a member of the Liberal Party for over thirty years. He held multiple positions in the party, including president (1987–1990), party treasurer and vice president of the Victorian division.
He was chairman of the 500 Club, which he formed in the 1980s, and was the biggest donor to the Liberal Party in Victoria.
His various political involvements led to him being caricatured in ''
Rubbery Figures
''Rubbery Figures'' was a satirical rubber puppet series and segment that screened in Australia in various forms from 1984 to 1990. The series ran on the ABC until 1988, when it was axed and subsequently revived as a segment on Seven Network's ...
'', a satirical rubber puppet series that screened in Australia
during the late 1980s. He was often depicted holding an Elders IXL beer can while belching or exclaiming "
pig's arse".
In 1990, Elliott was a vocal supporter of the
Multifunction Polis (MFP), a controversial concept to build in Australia a new "technology city" with a population of 100,000. At the time, the leader of the Liberal Party,
Andrew Peacock
Andrew Sharp Peacock (13 February 193916 April 2021) was an Australian politician and diplomat. He served as a cabinet minister and went on to become leader of the Liberal Party on two occasions (1983–1985 and 1989–1990), leading the pa ...
, was vehemently opposed to the plan, claiming the Multifunction Polis would become an "Asian enclave".
Sports administration career
Carlton Football Club President
Elliott became the president of the
Carlton Football Club
The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition.
Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Me ...
in 1983, when he replaced
Ian Rice. During Elliott's tenure as president of the Club, he oversaw a significant period of on and off field success for the club. Elliott also oversaw Carlton's two premiership victories in
1987
File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, ...
and
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The Great Hanshin earthquake str ...
.
After the 2002 AFL season, Elliott was voted out of office as president of the Carlton Football Club, a position he had held for two decades.
The club, after having finished last for the first time since 1894, was later found to have
committed serious long-term breaches of the Australian Football League salary cap regulations, which resulted in a fine of $930,000, forfeited draft picks including the prized number one draft pick, and an ongoing prolonged period of poor results on the field. Further, in a move some thought to be ungracious given his long service to the club, his name was also removed from all signage at Carlton's home ground at
Princes Park.
Elliott was then replaced by
Ian Collins as President of Carlton Football Club.
Later life
In January 2005, he declared himself bankrupt, to be discharged in July 2008.
On television, Elliott was a regular guest panelist on the ABC televion program ''
Q&A''. In 2010, he appeared on the televised
Dick Smith population debate, where his vision to harness Northern Australia’s excess rainfall via pipeline to the
Murray–Darling headwaters in Queensland received wide support .
In 2012, he featured on the ABC's ''
Agony Uncles'' program. On radio, he regularly appeared on a program presented by his son Tom on talkback station
3AW.
Elliott was the inaugural chairman of the Committee for Melbourne and a director of the foundation of the University of Melbourne Business School. In September 2015, he was made an honorary fellow of the school.
Personal life
He was divorced from the late
Lorraine Elliott, a former Victorian state parliamentarian for the Liberal Party. They had three children. The eldest is
Tom Elliott (born 1967), an investment banker and radio and television presenter.
His daughter Caroline Elliott is vice-president of the Liberal Party in Victoria.
He also had two children from his second marriage, which also ended in divorce. His second wife, Amanda Elliott, later became the first female chairperson in the
Victorian Racing Club's 153-year history.
Known for his "eccentric, crass and often controversial style of business and politics", Elliott was also a long-term cigarette smoker and claimed to have considered running for the 2016
Australian Senate on a platform of "Smokers' Rights".
Elliott was admitted to the
Epworth Hospital in Richmond after suffering a fall in September 2021. He died on 23 September 2021, 10 days before his 80th birthday.
References
External links
John Elliott Full Biographyat ICMI.com.au
The John Elliott Report
{{DEFAULTSORT:Elliott, John
1941 births
2021 deaths
Carlton Football Club administrators
Businesspeople from Melbourne
People educated at Carey Baptist Grammar School
Corporate raiders
McKinsey & Company people
University of Melbourne alumni
Australian brewers
20th-century Australian businesspeople