Anthony Allan Staley (born 15 May 1939) is an Australian politician. A member 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 This is a li ...

, he held the Victorian seat of Chisholm from 1970 to 1980 and served as Minister for the Capital Territory (1976–1977) and Minister for Posts and Telecommunications (1977–1980) in the Fraser government. He later served as national president of the Liberal Party from 1993 to 1999.

Early life

Staley was born on 15 May 1939 in

Horsham, Victoria Horsham () is a regional city in the Wimmera region of western Victoria, Australia. Located on a bend in the Wimmera River, Horsham is approximately northwest of the state capital Melbourne. As of the 2021 Census, Horsham had a population of 20 ...

. He was educated at

Scotch College, Melbourne (For God, for Country, and for Learning) , established = , type = Independent, day and boarding , gender = Boys , denomination = Presbyterian , slogan = , ...

. He completed the degree of

Bachelor of Laws Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Ch ...

at 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 ...

Parliament

Staley was elected to parliament at the 1970 Chisholm by-election, which followed the death of the incumbent Liberal MP

Wilfrid Kent Hughes Sir Wilfrid Selwyn "Bill" Kent Hughes (12 June 1895 – 31 July 1970) was an Australian army officer and politician who had a long career in both state and federal politics, most notably as a minister in the Menzies Government. He also ...

. He was the Member for Chisholm from 1970 to 1980 and was Minister for the Capital Territory from February 1976 to December 1977 in the Fraser Government and then Minister for Post and Telecommunications until his retirement from Parliament.

Subsequent activities

He later served as Federal President of the

Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United A ...

. In May 1994 when Liberal Leader

John Hewson John Robert Hewson AM (born 28 October 1946) is an Australian former politician who served as leader of the Liberal Party from 1990 to 1994. He led the Liberal-National Coalition to defeat at the 1993 Australian federal election. Hewson wa ...

called a leadership spill, Staley as Liberal President caused controversy when he withdrew his support for Hewson. The controversy was due to the expectation that the organisational wing of the party which Staley was in charge of as president did not interfere with the parliamentary party in selecting the leader. In the subsequent leadership spill Hewson was defeated by

Alexander Downer Alexander John Gosse Downer (born 9 September 1951) is an Australian former politician and diplomat who was leader of the Liberal Party from 1994 to 1995, Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1996 to 2007, and High Commissioner to the United King ...

but it was expected that Staley would not have survived as party president if Hewson had won the spill. He did continue on in the position and supported John Howard's bid to become Leader of the Opposition and ultimately Prime Minister.

Personal life

In 1990 he was involved in a serious road accident, which left him needing to use calipers to walk.

References

External links

Great Scot article
1939 births Living people Liberal Party of Australia members of the Parliament of Australia Members of the Australian House of Representatives for Chisholm Members of the Australian House of Representatives People educated at Scotch College, Melbourne 20th-century Australian politicians Officers of the Order of Australia {{Australia-Liberal-politician-stub